Louis Shalako
Here’s what I’ve learned by publishing my own works,
as well as making submissions of novels and short stories since January 1,
2010. That was almost six years ago. On that day, one of my New Year’s
resolutions was to publish a book, ‘…no matter how bad it was, no matter what
it took or what it cost, no matter what anyone said, no matter how hard it was, no
matter how painful success or more likely failure might be…’
That book still sells in minute numbers and has a few
nice reviews. That’s quite an accomplishment for a kid who originally dropped
out of school halfway through grade ten.
During that time I have made approximately 1,031
submissions, mostly short stories, although there were at least 125 novel
submissions. Those would have mostly been my first six manuscripts, which I already
had, on that New Year’s Day.
I spent ten months editing two books side by side and
digitally-published them around the end of September 2010. In six years, I've learned a lot about editing.
Since that time, I’ve sold a few books. I’ve written
twelve more novels and I’m just in the middle of writing another. I written
almost a thousand blog posts and hundreds of short stories. Over the five or
six years, I’ve written something like two million words. Back in 2010, my
writing wasn’t necessarily bad. It was loose and undisciplined. I knew nothing
of literary style—the use of punctuation, apostrophes, and those little marks
that help to make sense of the text on the page.
I've learned a lot more than I can put in one blog post, that's for sure.
Six years later I’m a phenomenal writer. I’m a
fantastic writer, ladies and gentlemen. This only comes from training and
experience. It is not a matter of luck. With a hundred and twenty-seven
products, maybe more, plus another twenty titles issued in paperback, you have
to admit that I have gotten some experience.
I’ve learned a lot about the business. I’ve had
contracts offered to me, and have had a partial requested, and I’ve had short
stories published in for-pay markets. Some of them have since gone defunct, and
pretty much all of them are obscure.
I’ve learned how to format a simple ebook and design a
simple cover. I’ve learned how to write an effective blurb, I’ve learned a lot
about metadata. I’ve learned a lot about social media. I’ve learned a lot about
a dozen different publishing platforms.
I’ve learned how to write, every day, and produce a
new book in two months or less in some cases. I’ve learned about the internal
logic of the story, and the internal logic of the series.
I’ve learned how to
keep going when things aren’t going well. I’ve learned how to finish the damned thing, walk away, don’t
look back, and get on to the next one.
I’ve written and published a couple of online serials.
What was really challenging was to begin publishing something in installments
when the thing wasn’t done—I still had twenty or thirty thousand words to go
and I didn’t even have an ending.
Those serials were illustrated, something I’d
never done before.
I have built my own digital publishing machine, and
learned how to use it.
I have learned much by reading other people’s
opinions, testing my own theories, and watching my own analytics and
statistics. I have learned how to listen and when not to listen.
I’ve learned
how to spot a phony.
I have learned how to tell a good story. I have
learned how to create a living, breathing character, and ultimately, I have
learned how to build a whole new world.
It’s a pretty darned good world, and that’s a good
thing, because I built it, and I am still building it, for you.
Thank you for reading.
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