Posts
2/9/2011
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
I am completely abandoning the format of my blog for tonight. I have a couple things I need to write about and I am curious if anyone is even reading this. I see that only SEVEN people read my last post. SEVEN. That will not do! I need to be more interesting. I am going to reinvent this blog completely. How? Who the fuck knows!?!?!?! Not me. But I need to do it. I need a traffic of about 1000 people a day to hit my page. I'll get to why later.
First of all: My taxes are DONE!!!!!!!! February 9th is a new record for me. I've been filing my taxes since 1992, and this year is the earliest I have ever gotten them submitted. Ok that was a bit anticlimactic for anyone reading this, but I am pretty fucking jazzed about it! I consider myself a professional procrastinator and I got my W-2 TODAY! I don't know what the hell is wrong with me!
Ok, onto topic #2: Writing platforms! I read this article last night and it scared the fuck out of me: http://www.andrewjackwriting.com/2011/02/what-the-word-platform-means-for-writers/. Basically the article boils down to the simple rule of business: in order to get published you need to prove to the publisher that you have an audience. How do you prove that? Well, you have to have a platform. I am pretty new to this whole writing thing. Or at least trying to get published. So WTF!? is a platform? Let's use a metaphor shall we? I know my wife isn't tired of me using those. NOT!
Let's look at the word: PLATFORM! What does that make you think of? The initial image in my head is a gallows, but let's remove the sick fuckery that is in my head and move on to the second thing that comes to mind. Which in this case is actually the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Funny how my fucked up mind works isn't it? I picture two presidential candidates standing on pedestals trying to convince a group of onlookers why they would be the better choice to represent them in the White House. That analogy works better for the purposes of this one sided discussion. These two candidates had a platform to stand on to reach a group of people. Each town they stopped in gave them a platform to stand on in order for them to be heard. The people that heard them, then got to decide which candidate was right for them. A platform for a writer is similar. Not quite as glamorous, but similar. We need a group of individuals that are going to be predisposed to buy whatever slop we may be putting into print. Or at least a group of people that are willing to listen to us pitch whatever it is we have to offer. I can't say it any better than the article that I have linked to (mainly because I am drunk, tired and generally lack the motivation to try tonight when someone else has done a great job). So, after you read the article (and come back to read my ramblings), leave me some feedback. what do you think would be a good way to create a platform. What type of blog would you like to read on a daily basis. Or would you rather it be not that frequently? I don't know. I started this blog for mainly therapuetic purposes, and it has been mainly that since October. Well, it is time to start playing like a grown-up. I gotta play the publishers game until I prove to them that I am a great writer (sober at least).
And last but not least, I would like to know if there is anyone out there that would like to start a Horror Writers Critique Group with me. I need semi-anonymous people to help me edit my work, until I have made the next couple steps into the realm of becoming a professional writer. If anyone is interested, please send me an email.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
I am completely abandoning the format of my blog for tonight. I have a couple things I need to write about and I am curious if anyone is even reading this. I see that only SEVEN people read my last post. SEVEN. That will not do! I need to be more interesting. I am going to reinvent this blog completely. How? Who the fuck knows!?!?!?! Not me. But I need to do it. I need a traffic of about 1000 people a day to hit my page. I'll get to why later.
First of all: My taxes are DONE!!!!!!!! February 9th is a new record for me. I've been filing my taxes since 1992, and this year is the earliest I have ever gotten them submitted. Ok that was a bit anticlimactic for anyone reading this, but I am pretty fucking jazzed about it! I consider myself a professional procrastinator and I got my W-2 TODAY! I don't know what the hell is wrong with me!
Ok, onto topic #2: Writing platforms! I read this article last night and it scared the fuck out of me: http://www.andrewjackwriting.com/2011/02/what-the-word-platform-means-for-writers/. Basically the article boils down to the simple rule of business: in order to get published you need to prove to the publisher that you have an audience. How do you prove that? Well, you have to have a platform. I am pretty new to this whole writing thing. Or at least trying to get published. So WTF!? is a platform? Let's use a metaphor shall we? I know my wife isn't tired of me using those. NOT!
Let's look at the word: PLATFORM! What does that make you think of? The initial image in my head is a gallows, but let's remove the sick fuckery that is in my head and move on to the second thing that comes to mind. Which in this case is actually the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Funny how my fucked up mind works isn't it? I picture two presidential candidates standing on pedestals trying to convince a group of onlookers why they would be the better choice to represent them in the White House. That analogy works better for the purposes of this one sided discussion. These two candidates had a platform to stand on to reach a group of people. Each town they stopped in gave them a platform to stand on in order for them to be heard. The people that heard them, then got to decide which candidate was right for them. A platform for a writer is similar. Not quite as glamorous, but similar. We need a group of individuals that are going to be predisposed to buy whatever slop we may be putting into print. Or at least a group of people that are willing to listen to us pitch whatever it is we have to offer. I can't say it any better than the article that I have linked to (mainly because I am drunk, tired and generally lack the motivation to try tonight when someone else has done a great job). So, after you read the article (and come back to read my ramblings), leave me some feedback. what do you think would be a good way to create a platform. What type of blog would you like to read on a daily basis. Or would you rather it be not that frequently? I don't know. I started this blog for mainly therapuetic purposes, and it has been mainly that since October. Well, it is time to start playing like a grown-up. I gotta play the publishers game until I prove to them that I am a great writer (sober at least).
And last but not least, I would like to know if there is anyone out there that would like to start a Horror Writers Critique Group with me. I need semi-anonymous people to help me edit my work, until I have made the next couple steps into the realm of becoming a professional writer. If anyone is interested, please send me an email.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
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