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Robin John Morgan shares his thoughts on Life, Writing, Publishing and HTTK

Posts Tagged self publishing

Revue of 2012.

Dec 27

Posted by Rob in Revue of 2012, The Writer | No Comments

Its that time of year again, where most of us look back at the year gone, and look in hope to the coming New Year. I think there will be a very large amount of people around the world this year praying for something to change, as 2012 has been for just about everyone a very turbulent and difficult year. The global financial melt down of a few years ago has finally kicked in, and this year all of us felt the bite as people of the every nation have had to pay for the mistakes and greed of the very rich few. Talking as I do to people online or on the streets, the feeling of injustice is rife, and I think it is warranted, although knowing how the bankers have used their influence over the years, I think that they will wriggle out of it as they have in the past.

For everyone its been difficult, and for myself personally it has been a bit of a roller coaster year that started with some terrible news of a family member struck down with the threat of a terminal illness that had a very profound effect on me deeply, and changed some of my ways of thinking. That was followed up with troubles for my mother that stretched throughout the year making life at times very stressful to deal with, and for a while in the middle of the year, I lost my ability to focus and write, something that has never happened to me before, and that really tested my limits of endurance, as I fought my frustrations to redefine my focus and continue with the writing. There has been a lot more than usual for the shredder this year, poor thing, I think I have pushed it to the limit.

Summer was wet, again a frustration that encroached on my time outdoors in the garden, although I was still able to walk with the trees above my head, and watch my children splash in the puddles. I spent a great deal of time watching the rain run down the windowpane making notes for the moment when I could focus my mind on reaching the climax to the series of Heirs to the kingdom.

The landscape in the book world has changed again this year, and in the early part of the year printed books sales appeared to die, casting a bad omen for every writer. Like all other writers, I thought about digital books, and when I was emailed to inform mw that the Moby site had been taken down, I contacted my Publisher to discover that I no longer had digital copies of my books available. Over the month that followed and subsequent emails the New Digital Kindle editions were made available via the publisher, and I was pleased to see that in that first week quite a few copies were being downloaded, I must confess I am not a fan of Digital, and was sceptical as to whether or not the books would look decent on such a small screen, and although I am not 100% happy with how they look, the feed back from those who bought them was positive and gave me a lift.

Early winter saw a big change for me, as my wife took the Jaded Opals stall out on her own for the first time, its not been the best of years for bookings, but when the chance came up to run it for seven weeks, she took it and left me at home to look after the kids and focus on the writing. It felt so strange not having her there as I wrote to comment on my thoughts, and although I had written a few new things, I made the most of the quiet moments to look at HTTK and think of ways to improve on we have available to date.

Income has been hard to find this year, creating the largest frustration of all for me, as I have not been able to get the fourth book in the series out. Behind the scenes I have gone through a wide spectrum of emotion as I stressed myself out trying to force an issue that was not going to happen. I was bent all out of shape not wanting to let the readers down, and it did me no good as it just added to my frustrations, but finally with a few calming words from my wife, I accepted my fate and found I had clarity to move forward. With no book out, I have had to focus on promotion, and so for the last quarter of the year that has been my plan. On Facebook there has been an increase in what we post, which has included excerpts from the first three books, and behind the scenes I have worked on changing some of the pages to the website, as well as including some new ones.

I think a more positive outlook had a big effect on the world around me, as I saw my family member who had fought all year with ill health grow steadily stronger and better, there is still some way to go, but I feel positively thrilled that they have come through the worst and have it under control. My Mum who has struggled in terror, has moved to a new house, and that has solved most of her issues talking a huge load off my shoulders, and the best thing of all is that I found my stride and continued with a renewed vigour on the final book in the series, completing a full 24 chapters to date, with enough notes to write possibly another six books (Just joking this is the last one).

Feeling a lot more at ease and more creative than I have been in a long time, I took my notes and began work in mid December on a new aspect of the web site. On Boxing Day I put up the first of a series of interviews and situations experienced by a man I have named Gordon Waggstaff. He is a writer who runs the postal service out of Mottram on the edge of the Peak District. The idea behind this project is that this allows me to run a blog like newssheet from the heart of the woodland realm. I know I run the blog from the HTTK website, but this news letter known as the Tribune Today, allows me to give a view of life directly from the woodland realm at the moment the story happens. I have a quite a bit of work to do back dating some of the articles, but this also allows me to fill in the time gaps between some of the books, as well as provide more details and information of the life our hero and those around him live.

Editing HTTK always sees the loss of a few things, so the Tribune is a way of including them using the website as a vehicle to do so. Its still very early days, but hopefully it will bring another fun and interesting aspect to the whole of the HTTK experience. In my mind, I can only try and hope that you all enjoy it. Some early feedback has been positive, so I can only hope it continues that way as the articles open up and expand on the storyline.

Facebook has been difficult this year, they have made a lot of new changes of which most of them have restricted the way in which I send out posts and updates. They are starting to show their corporate credentials as they push to make page holders like myself pay for the content I post. I have to confess that if that becomes the case, I will not have the income to continue on Facebook, and so I have tried and will be trying a few methods to help get round the difficulties. The most obvious first attempt is with the free books giveaway, The Kingdom Christmas Giveaway, which although is still quite small scale, has proven that there are a lot of people out there who are not aware of the books and would be interested in reading them, hopefully over the coming year I will find a few more ideas that will do something similar. It has always been the goal of my wife and myself to try and get the books into the mainstream to attract the attention of the public, as I do believe there are a lot of people who would enjoy what I write, so each time a books sells we are one step closer, and can only hope that they recommend the books to a friend or two. It is a long-term view of things, but for a relatively unknown author such as myself, it is the only way I can move my work forward. I have been given a great deal of hope this year, as I have seen authors similar to myself make giant steps forward in the book world by using social media to promote, and so at this point I must say a very special thank you to each and everyone of you who has given a moment of your time, to like a post, comment or recommend my books to a friend, I really cannot put into words how grateful I am to those who have supported me, and helped me spread the word of my writing. There have been some pretty dark moments for me this year, and it is through your efforts that I have felt the greatest encouragement and resisted the urge to throw in the towel and get a proper job, so thank you to all of you, it really is a heart warming aspect of my long days sat here at the desk.

So the New Year is almost here, and what do I have in store for you all? My priority is the fourth book, I want it out like yesterday, and so my attention and focus is to drive hard and do everything in my power to get the book out there and continue the story for all of you. I personally think each book has a feeling all of its own that is very different to the previous book, Dunnottar as those of you who have read it know was quite dark at times, so I am really excited about the fourth book, which was for a long time my favourite book to write. The book is very bright and quite fast paced compared to the previous books, and I think its quite emotional in parts as our hero has many changes in his life to deal with, Jade and Jett take on a whole new depth, as more of their future’s is revealed and some of those characters around the edges will come forward and shine as you learn more about them. There a some new villains to personify the evil ways of the Knox family, and as always the Dark One has been cooking up a few new frights for the Woodland fighters. So hopefully I will be able to bring it all to you as quickly as possible, and in between I will be posting on the Blog, Facebook and the website to hopefully thrill and entertain you to the best of my ability. Behind the scenes I want to finish the series and then look at a few other things I have plotted out, and maybe if things run a little smoother than 2012, I will be able to introduce you to other realms and other people living life in a whole number of differing ways.

As always I thank you for staying loyal to HTTK, and I hope that as we turn the corner of another year, that you all find peace and happiness, and enjoy your life in safety. My very best wishes to you all for 2013… Robin.

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The writers reality.

Sep 25

Posted by Rob in The Writer, The writer's reality | No Comments

It is often very interesting to see what people actually think you do as a writer, compared to what it is actually like to do it. I find it interesting that a great many people take a step back when they discover what it is I do, in most cases they wear a look of surprise, which does then turn to slight admiration, and the nicest thing about it is that they change their approach in the way that they treat me. I must admit it is a very pleasant aspect of what I do, being treated with courtesy and respect is a very nice way to be, and I prefer it to the condescension that I often see others shown. In many ways it is a sign of how false the world can be, as the implication here is that being a writer who has been published, makes one something better than the rest, and with that I do feel very uncomfortable.

The world is preoccupied with celebrity culture, and to be honest the perception is far more glamorous than the reality. Society implies that writers are rolling in money and have no cares at all in the world; they are free to sit around all day and do very little, people just assume that knocking a book out is a part time occupation that pays high dividends for the least amount of effort. The reality really is so far removed from the view that people share, and that is probably the reason why so many who could achieve great things in writing choose not to do so.

Moving away from the admiration shown by strangers and getting into the day to day mechanics is so very different, as those around you do not quite understand what can only be phrased as a form of obsessive compulsion. Half my family and friends, either think I am insane for doing this, and the other half I am sure think I sit around doing nothing enjoying a life of leisure. Being simply published is not a right of passage into wealth, just because your book has been put out there, does not provide any assurance that every bookshop in the land will stock your books, and tell every customer who enters the shop your work is there to be read. Selling books is actually one of the hardest professions I have ever been involved with, and I was always sure that like in my past, I could sell just about anything to anyone, the reality is it is a long and difficult task with fierce competition from the big boys who completely control the industry, doors do not open easily in the literate world, and unlike many professions, this is one field where you really do have to earn your stripes, by constantly pushing forward and not giving an inch to your rivals.

So why do it? I mean let’s face it, most writers with books out there barely earn enough to cover a week’s rent, let alone afford a normal life. It feels at times very much like the life of the poor writer from the times of Dickens has changed very little. The reality can be very off putting, and those who surround us have no understanding at all of why we appear to suffer as we labour at our craft. I think if I was paid one pound for every time I have been told I should get a proper job, I would indeed be far richer, and living to a much a higher standard, but the simple truth is there are few who really do understand why we choose to take the longest road to achieve our goals in life. For those who watch from the wings, they fail to see that the reality of writing goes so much deeper than money or material wealth. In a nutshell the world is far too obsessed with money and material gain to fully comprehend the love and joy of working with words.

Writing for everyone I have found is a deeply personal thing. I have spoken with quite a few other writers in my time, and I find that everyone has a very unique and different reason for what they do. From my own point of view, I love doing it because I like the person it has allowed me to become.

It may sound strange, I realise that, but if I elaborate a little, you will see what I am getting at. I think to be honest I not a terribly bad person, in fact I hope people have taken note of my life and the way I conducted it, for I will say that I have always tried hard to help people if I felt they needed it, but within that has lain a trap, and it is one I walked into many years ago without realising. For many years I ran my own business, and in my spare time I tried very hard to be there for those around me. I was a parent and in a relationship and doing my best to juggle all that was expected of me. It was not the easiest situation as I ran round taking care of business and helping out the family with endless duties related to caring and the building a better life, and everything that goes with it. I still lived at home alone, as my daughter had moved into her own place, and I spent my time in a relationship between two houses. For many years I seemed to be able to juggle it all and everyone was relatively happy, although there was always another task to do, and as soon as I finished one thing, I wasted no time getting involved with another, it was a busy and hectic life, and I think like many other people in the world today, I just assumed that it was appreciated and had meaning to those that I laboured so hard to help

Life ticked on, I was not wealthy, but I had a few pounds tucked away and enjoyed my annual holiday and a few small luxuries in life. Looking back today I was pretty much your average guy living the same sort of life as most other men in the world, but I found over time I was spending less and less time at home. My days were long, and I rose with the sun to go to work, which was quite manual and hard, and then after work I would spend my evening running around until late, and finally arrived home in the darkness and collapsed into bed, only to rise with the sun and begin it all again. It was very rare to spend a great deal of time at home, although on the few occasions I did, they felt like precious and special times.

After twelve years of this I clashed with the local authority and ended up in a fight to save my premises and business, fighting a fight I could not possibly win. It was a long drawn out, stressful and exhausting time, which resulted in the end of a relationship and the loss of all my savings. I finally won a small victory after two years of living hell, and returned home tired exhausted and very ill, and very much alone. That was at Christmas 2007, which is without doubt the worst one of my life; I was at braking point and felt very much like there was nothing in life worth continuing for. It was the darkest moment of my life, talk about landing with a bump! It is a sobering moment when you realise nothing you have done has meaning, and even though you have given everything, it was never appreciated. I had lost touch with my whole life, I had no idea where my friends were, I forgotten who the hell I was, and suddenly understood that I had sacrificed everything and every part of who I was in the hope of being the person everyone expected me to be. Talk about deep empty loneliness, it really was the bleakest time I have ever lived.

There comes a time in everyone’s life where you sit and look back and take stock of your life, well that was mine, and it was a very unpleasant experience. I tried to work out who the hell I was, and just what exactly I wanted out of life, nothing seemed to have meaning, even thirty years of working in Horticulture, which had always been my biggest passion laid dead before me, I struggled to think of one thing I had left that had the remotest glint of happiness attached to it.

The moment it hit me was like a bolt of lightening flashing through my mind, the one thing that I had always enjoyed was writing. Writing for me had been a way to channel the creative bursts that flowed through me from childhood. It was an unexplained phenomenon that had been the most consistent aspect of being me, something I was secretive and guarded about all my life. I guess I have a very insecure streak and so even though it had been something I loved, I had never actually shared it with that many people up until recently that was.

A year earlier when I had split up from my then long term girlfriend, I found myself alone at home, and used a little of that time writing to try and relax and distress. I had shared one story with a very small and trusted circle of friends who I worked with. To be honest I did it because all of us were caught in the same fight with the local authority and we needed a slight break from the endless stress and worry. But funnily enough, even through such a time of darkness and destruction it had brought a new life to the bleak life we ere enduring, and had served to help me unwind and relax a little whilst away from the shop. Writing down stories had been a long time hobby, I was never serious and honestly thought people would laugh at me if they found out, but as I looked back I remembered some of the things I had written, and how happy and contented I had been at those times. It did not take long to work out that I was too ill to go back to work, and needed a little time to get myself sorted out, and so I decided to take a few months to rest up and use the time to finish the story I had been working on for years. That was five years ago and I am still to this day writing with three tales from that story published and available for purchase.

To return back to my point a little earlier, why do I do it? I think it has become more than apparent. Becoming a writer may have surprised a lot of people; there are those who think I am insane so late in life to change my career. There are those who simply think I have lost it completely, and think now I have done it for a bit I should stop and get a real job. I simply will reply that I have given everything for years at great sacrifice to myself, and it ended up meaning nothing at all, and so I sit here alone at my desk and I do something that fills me with life, and gives me great joy. It makes me feel happy and contented, and for the first time in years, I actually feel like I am doing something that has meaning. I feel for the first time since I was a teenager that I truly understand who I am deep down inside, as the writing has given me the time to explore myself as I examine the world around me, and I have grown to like the person I know as me.

I have no idea if I am a good writer; I just know I feel good about doing it; I have sold books, so ask those who have read them what they think. Will my books continue to sell? Yes I think they will, I will not say you will see them on any best sellers list soon, but does that really matter? I think not. Writing cannot be about personal material gain; it can only be about those secret moments a writer has alone, where the magic creates something so wonderful it must be shared, and that is the reward of the creativity. My payment is being able to live my life on my own terms, probably for the first time ever, and all that came before is not as wasted as I thought, but it has become a rich mix of experience to serve my creativity in future stories.

I wake up each day with a mind racing to go, as ideas swirl endlessly around, I often get caught day dreaming, as I slip away from a conversation as something sparks inside and new ideas flow to the surface. I find my fingers twitching for want of a keyboard, and I know that something else that is very unique and special is about to come up and flow out of me. Life is suddenly exciting and wonderful, and filled with the thousands of emotions that I can lock onto paper, as I hear the rattle of the keys and excitedly pound them like a child waiting to find out what his present will be as he tears off the gift wrap. I write and research, or I spend my days trying to promote and spread awareness of what I have done, It is a longer day than I have ever worked, but somehow it feels so much more rewarding than anything I have ever done. That is my reality, and for me that is the pulse of life, I contain a deep passionate obsession that flows from my head and my heart into my fingers, and it beats in tune with the person I am today.

My writing has allowed me a chance to unload and release a lot of what was trapped within me, it is hard to explain the process, because at times even I get surprised at what ends up on the pages. All I can say is it is a part of my newly discovered personal happiness, and finally after some long years of wandering, I feel I am no longer lost. I feel that I am a very lucky man today, as I have a very supportive wife, who does indeed understand a great deal of why I write. She has been the one who has helped me and supported me in my writing, and even though life can be a struggle at times, I think she sees how much of difference it has made, and how happy I am to have her there at my side.

I write for the joy it brings, hopefully as a published story I can share it with others, and in some way they too will feel the joy of the process of writing as they read it. At the end of the day if people like it enough to encourage another to read it, then I am happy with that. I doubt you will ever see my books in the top 100, but for me personally that is not what writing should be about.

 

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In Search of Hooded Men

Sep 20

Posted by Rob in HTTK, In Search of Hooded men | No Comments

A Romantic view of the Hooded Man

A more theatrical view of Robin Hood given us through early 1950′s Film

I have harboured a fascination with the legend of Robin Hood and his merry men since I was very young, I think being named Robin helped, as it provided me with a wonderful chance to identify with the hero of the people, and fuelled many sessions of play as a child. I remember when I was young being shown an old walking stick carved from the branch of a tree by my grandmother, who told me this was the stick Robin Hood used when he was injured, and had been passed down through her family line since. As you can possibly imagine, I have spent a lifetime looking for that link that placed me in the family line of my hero, but today having come to a dead end, I can only surmise that my grandmother was stringing me on, and doing her bit to add to the magic of my childhood games.My search for a family connection did however lead me to some family connections in Chapel on le Frith in Derbyshire, which placed me on the old road that ran through the village towards Castleton, and then across the valley towards Loxley, and on to York. This was a road well used by the king and the church alike, a place that back in the eleventh century would have been densely wooded, and most suitable for ambushes and robbery. I think that back in those times, the talk would have centred a great deal around the actions of the hooded man, and maybe some of it has been passed down, and with time the story got altered and like so many others across this land, a claim to Robin Hood was made and romanticised over the years until it was told to myself by my grandmother.

Whatever the truth there is no doubt that it has become a sort of preoccupation with me over the years, and when my daughter was young I continued to tell my own tale of Robin, albeit a very different story. Robin Hood formed the background of my tale as I made up a story to tell her at bedtime, and in my version of events, a young boy who was the direct descendant of Robin Hood became the focus of attention in the country as his distant ancestor had. Looking back I can see that the reason the story I made up for my daughter stuck with me, was it was all a big part of my preoccupation with the hooded man, and maybe that is why I laboured for so long until I finally published my first book, which I entitled the “Bowman of Loxley.”

Everyone is aware of Nottingham’s claim to Robin Hood, and it is true that in those times the city was surrounded by Sherwood Forest, a forest that was huge and would indeed have provided many places for Robin to hide. The thing I have always had difficulty with was why would he have been named Loxley? Most people in those times were named after their place of birth, and Loxley is miles away from Nottingham. There is in fact two, the first close to Stratford upon Avon (Place A), which is easily found on a large map of the country, and Loxley near Sheffield in Barnsley (Place B), which is only marked on the more local maps. Neither of them relate to Nottingham, and as I found out in my travels, Place A does not have too many connections with Huntingdon, which after all is very significant, as Robin Hood was reportedly the son of the Earl of Huntingdon.

It did not take too long to work out that the Loxley I needed to focus on was in the Bradfield area of Sheffield, right on the edge of Derbyshire and Yorkshire, and situated very close to Hathersage and Castleton which are both very relevant to the legend of the Hooded Man. Hathersage is the birth place of John Little, and to this day his grave can been seen in the church yard there, and Castleton hosts the ruins of Peveril Castle, a castle built by William Peveril who was a Sheriff of Nottingham, and it was also a Castle that served as a hunting lodge for the king.

A Map dipicting the area of Hallamshire (Today named as part of Barnsly in Yorkshire

This map shows how closely related Loxley, Hathersage and Peveril castle at Castleton are, giving credibilty to the connection of Loxley to the legend

Rodger Dodsworth the famous historian quotes around 1600-1640AD “Robert Lockesley, born in Bradfeild parish of Hallamshire (Loxley)” which for myself was proof enough I was on the right track. He goes on to describe how Robin injured his father at the plough and ran into the woodlands to hide. He later was forgiven by his mother and returned to Clifton upon Calder, ( Barnsdale or Bansley as it is known today) and there he became acquainted with John Little. The Sloane manuscript in the British Museum contains the entry, “Robin Hood was borne at Locksley in Yorkshire.” These discoveries gave me great heart, after all I wanted to know the truth of my hero, and if I was as I have, used the background of the hooded man in my writing, I wanted to have it as factually correct as possible.

The picture was starting to form as I searched, but the frustrating thing was I found it hard to link Robin of Loxley with the earldom of Huntingdon. My big break came when I found a wonderful website http://robinhoodloxley.net in 2007. A surviving member of the Loxley family built this site, and it is filled with some extensive research about the legend of the hooded man. For me it was like a eureka moment having invested years of following wrong leads out of Nottingham, and with a great deal of joy I read a passage that mentions Robert of Loxley agreeing to support a Henry de Leke for the rest of his life in 1245AD. The man at least really existed.

Further into the site it mentions that Robert de Loxley was a close friend with William de Lovetot, Lord of the manor of Sheffield, and both of them held “Possessions in Huntingdon” It appears that that Williams’s brother was the Sheriff of Nottingham, and his land in Huntingdon bordered the land of Robert de Loxley, which was the missing link I had been searching for as it placed Loxley, Peveril Castle and Huntingdon together in a circle of connection. David, King of Scots was the Earl of Huntingdon and he was the tenant in chief of Loxley in Hallamshire (Barnsley) so I now had an Earl in the forest of Loxley. I have not been able to formally provide a concrete family connection with the Earl and Robert of Loxley, but I found several leads from a Robert Fitzooth, who was son of the Earl and related back to William the Conqueror, and took up residency in Peveril Castle as game keeper to the kings forest, which contains Loxley. Maybe this would explain why Robert of Loxley was such a defender of the king and opposed the crowning of Prince John, as he had a direct family connection to the king, in this I cannot be sure, but it does help strengthen the case for a link between Robin and Huntingdon.

I have spent years looking into Robin Hood and I am convinced he was a Yorkshire man and had very little to do with Nottingham, apart from his very well documented dispute with the sheriff. My biggest hurdle of course has always been Sherwood, the vast forest, which surrounded the city and is still present in a much-depleted form today. To find an answer I began to search through as many maps as possible, so I could get a clearer picture of the lay of the land in medieval times, and I was quite surprised at what I found. We forget how much has been destroyed over the years and none more so than the great forests of the past. Looking at old maps I think I much prefer Britain as it was back then, for there were a lot less roads and more wide-open and forested spaces. Most of Britain in medieval times was wild unspoilt natural countryside and woodland that believe or not covered two thirds of the country.

The Kings Forest as I have mentioned is what we today call the peak district. It’s hard to fully comprehend at first because that in itself covers most of Derbyshire and a little of Yorkshire. It was indeed a vast forest, and from what I have read it was the largest breeding ground of Sparrow Hawks, and has tales of there being so many deer, that some people were killed when they stampeded. To say the least it was one of the most important areas of wild game in the country, and was a very important asset to the king who shared a passion for hunting with Hawks. The Kings forest and Sherwood bordered each other, in fact there are many documented disputes over the boundaries of the forests and who had jurisdiction. We know that the Sheriff of Nottingham lived at Peveril Castle, which is at Castleton in Derbyshire, but it appears to me that back then it was held as territory of Nottingham, so maybe the borders of the City of Nottingham have shrunk away over time and with it the borders of Sherwood. I think that the two were in fact one large forest that were fought over by the lords who governed it, and like all things in medieval times the borders shifted with the fights for supremacy. I think it is clear that to an outlaw it would not make that much difference whether they were in Sherwood or the Kings Forest (Peak District), it would pretty much feel the same and so maybe most of that area was known as Sherwood.

The important fact is that the whole area from Loxley to Nottingham was forested, and patrolled by the Sheriffs bailiffs who enforced the laws and collected the taxes. Derbyshire certainly has a great many areas that carry the name of Robin Hood and have many legends relating to him, so much so that I do think it is more than just coincidence that so many places carry his name and in a greater concentration than anywhere else in the country. The legend and a search for facts is still an ongoing thing for me, and so hopefully over time I will add to the endless piles of paper I have collected to piece together yet more parts of my puzzle, of which only the basics are contained here. This land is filled with tales, and finding any grain of truth is not an easy task. For my own enjoyment and pleasure I do hold to the idea of him being a real live hero of the people, and in many ways I suppose, I like thousands before me, have carried on the tradition of keeping his name alive, even if it is the few facts contained within my books of a young boy in the future who finds out he has a link to him from the past.

We live in times where all of us see and feel the injustice of those who misuse power for their own gain, and in that I think is the wonder of this man of legend. All of us can identify with someone who fights for us and defends us when we cannot defend ourselves, it is a tale filled with the romance of a past time, yet very much applicable to our time now. I think it shows that even though we have progressed forward as a race into this world of ever changing technology, that some things will always remain the same, and no matter what happens in the future, there will always be those who steal for greed and power, and hopefully there will be those who will make a stand and fight for us. Long live the tales of the past and tales to come; the Hooded Man is an important part of our heritage as a nation, and I for one want to see it remain so.

When I feel I have finished my search, I may even put it all together in a small book, although there again, I may leave it all for my children to do, and thus continue the legacy of passing on the tale.

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The real price of something for nothing.

Jul 26

Posted by Rob in The real price of something for nothing, The Writer | No Comments

There is quite the debate going on at the moment about the price of digital books, and the question is being asked why it is that they are being offered for such a low amount of money. I have heard all the arguments, the most quoted being that the consumer has grown use to low prices, and therefore demand cheaper books, and also that it is a cheaper route to publication, and so therefore should be cheaper, but somehow I feel sat here isolated from the rest of the world at my writing desk, that out of all the arguments within the debate, the one thing that appears to be lacking is the point of view of the Authors.

I cannot really speak for other author’s as I have only my own experience of writing, but I can say that for myself it is a very worrying trend and I do feel concerned about the way the larger global companies discount books and offer them at such low prices, often below the price they have paid themselves. Discounting is and has always been a large part of the printed book selling industry, but recent trends in the movement to digital has seen a sharp fall in the sales of printed books, and as more and more people switch over to one of the many digital devices, I fear my time as an author may be coming to an abrupt end, because with digital books selling at lower and lower prices, I find it hard to see how I will earn enough revenue to actually stay afloat.

I have just finished writing the latest in the series of books I have been working on since 2006, (Heirs to the Kingdom) and currently have three of the series out and the fourth is ready for publication. Obviously because this is a detailed series and I had been writing long before I got the first published in 2009, I am at an advanced stage in the writing process, and as you can see I am six years into it. I work every day of the week on the books, and due to the plot and the many layers within the books, I have a constant run of threads weaving through the series that have to be picked up and woven into them. The latest book in the series has taken me just over a year at 14 months to research and write, it has been a long drawn out process checking every step of the way that I have not missed out vital key issues from the previous books, and has also involved a great deal of research and fact finding missions, to ensure that the book comes across as being realistic, even though it is a work of fiction.

The research for the books can consist of Internet searches, book purchasing and reading up, or visiting locations that allow me to take photographs to aid in the process of writing accurately. All of this has a cost that is borne out by myself, I am like so many other writers out there working hard to establish myself in the world of fiction and trying to build a reputation for myself. I have used a self publishing company to get the books out, which not only has a cost for production, it also means I have to fund the costs of promotion, which has many related extra costs. I pay for the web site to remain up and running, and I also have to pay many of the various sites that feature my books, I try wherever possible to use as much free publicity as I can, but that is a shrinking market and so more often than not, a new site to help me promote comes at a cost.

I have spent six years writing almost full time, earning extra income selling jewellery which my wife makes, and purchasing my own books at wholesale to sell at events, its a low income way of living, but with some clever budgeting we survive as a family and push forward.  When I first decided to publish this series, I sat for a great deal of time with my wife, and we looked at our prospects, having researched the subject in full, it was never going to be easy, but we have managed and have taken the long term view of slowly building up the reputation and taking it one sale at a time. To date we have invested quite a sum of capital into this project, its pretty much almost everything we had, and we have after three years of hard work, recovered around 5% of what we have spent, it is indeed a very long term investment.

This article is not a complaint, its an honest appraisal of what myself and others have done, for I know that in this I am not alone. I love writing, it has taken me a very long time to pluck up the courage to put my work into print, and now that I have, I can honestly say I am happier than I have ever been, as I have finally found something that I love and adore as a working lifestyle. I do not mind that its taken the last 14 months to put together the latest episode of my series, I have no qualms at all knowing I will now move forward to check the book over and over to ensure it is to the highest possible standard before it goes of to be proof read, a process that will take possibly another six months of constant scrutiny, because at the end of the day I know that there is growing readership of people who will read my words and gain a great deal of enjoyment from them, but I have to ask one very important question.

Why is it when it comes to the world of books and writing, that my efforts have so little value?

My books are not in a digital format yet, and even though this is going to be the future of books, you must agree that to sell what will finally reach 20 months of work for less than the price of a birthday card is somewhat insulting?

I know of no other industry where a man’s life and work have such little value, and yet that is what the digital readers demand, which in my case is a detailed book of over 200 thousand words for less than £4. The mad thing is that is not even my share, as profits have to go to the distributor etc… I think it works out about the total value of a cheap cup of poor coffee per copy sold. I must have drunk over a million whist sat here writing the thing. I suppose the question is… If I offer you a job and pay you the same, would you consider it for more than a millisecond? Of course you wouldn’t, who would?

Publishing is one of very few industries that exploits its most valued asset, the creative source, and no matter what happens in the future that will remain unchanged. All writers know that the odds of making a living that can sustain life are very slender indeed. There are a few very lucky writers who hit at the right moment and they are the 3% that make it as a full time writer reaping the rewards of their labour, the rest of us keep going in hope that one day someone out there will read our work and hopefully recommend it to their friends, which at the end of the day is how books become known, its no different to acting or dancing, all of us are waiting for that all important break, and some of us will never get it, but we live in the slim hope we may if we persevere. We love what we do, and we are happy doing it, but do not insult us beyond that, have the decency to understand how much time and effort goes into the process, and offer us a fair price for it. Digital may appear a cheaper option, but the costs are not really that much different from print for an author, it should be a cheaper version I agree, but lets keep the price a little fairer. It matters not how you read a book, whether its print or digital it has value, because for the reader it an experience that provides joy and excitement, and for the author it is often more than a year of their life.

Hopefully this will shed a little light which I feel enlightens the view, I shall remain a writer no matter what happens, and I shall see where that takes me, one thing I do know is that its going to be an interesting journey.

 

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Will many writers survive Digital?

Jul 29

Posted by Rob in The Writer, Will many writers survive Digital? | No Comments

I often wonder what peoples perception of what a writer actually does is, because when people find out that I write, it appears that they just naturally assume that somehow I am loaded and raking in masses of money, if only that was true.

In 90% of cases a writer barely earns enough to give their family a weekend away, let alone provide them with a luxurious lifestyle, and they have to take on extra jobs just to make ends meet. People really have little idea of how hard it can be to survive on book sales, they really only see the very lucky few who make it up the mid-lists and into that top bracket where life at the top has its privileges.

I was talking recently to a few friends who just naturally assumed I was making well over five English pounds per copy of my book sold. Oh if only that was the case, they were stunned to find out that the average author earns just fifty pence per copy sold, and therefore need massive sales just to cover the costs of living whilst writing, let alone any future plans.

From my own experience of writing, when I look at the amount of money spent on researching, travelling and reading to prepare my books before I even write a word, never mind the costs of a family containing a wife and two children, it is amazing how much money goes in long before you finally get that illusive publishing deal, and that was just to get the book finally printed.

The sad fact is that for most writers money is not the motivation behind the work, for myself it is the joy of preparation, researching and writing, to that point where you sit back and know that you have created something unique and feel satisfied that you have accomplished your goal. It is a wonderful feeling that stirs deep inside and you have a final result that you can look at with pride, knowing you gave it your all, and also knowing that somewhere it will bring a moment of escape and delight to those who read it and live in a world you created, there really isn’t any other feeling like it in the world. It is something that is very easily exploited by those who run the industry.

It is well documented that the publishing industry has used it for years to line their own pockets, stating their costs as justifcation and takeing the lion’s share of the money, leaving the author with the smallest amount of the profits, and I think we are all intelligent enough to understand that it has always been the way of things, and maybe we have all sat back and accepted it when we should have asked for more. The biggest problem with that though is that publishing deals have always been hard to come by, and we are also smart enough to realise that if we push too hard, we could end up out of deal, left high and dry with no contract.

There is no shortage of writers, if anything the numbers have risen steadily for years, so one wrong move and you can very easily be replaced, and that has always been something that has in a way acted as a deterrent to writers rebelling against the system. However things have been changing now for several years, and to be honest one has to question if there is even going to be a future for writers, as the digital age forces rule changes and working methods across the globe. The publishing industry is in a shambles at the moment, I spend most days reading the various Blogs and newsletters emailed to me from inside the trade, and I find it very hard to see how the future of books printed or digital, will survive without some radical changes of thought from not only the industry, but also from the consumers, because lowering prices are squeezing the life out of everyone.

Without readers there is no need for books whether they be on a page or a digital screen, but it looks to me like we are all heading for a very big stalemate, as consumers demand cheaper books, especially digital ones, but as the price falls, so do the royalties paid to the author. I am a bottom list author and believe it or not I am in the largest bracket, as there are many like myself out there all trying to get the word out about their books, and we all know our sales will not be huge. As much as we all dream of that freak moment when we get discovered, we do not have the support of a large company who will spend thousands on us to publicise our work, and most of us promote from home with the help of a few friends using the internet and social networks to try and increase our sales. Our print runs are low or use print on demand, which means the costs of our books is higher than the big names, and although we have publishers, we still only get the nominal royalty, so for us digital is a huge fear.

Its bad enough so much of the price of our books goes to the retailer, wholesaler and publisher, but recent trends show how little value our work has in this modern time, as the price of digital downloads is pushed into the floor. The bigger online retail companies are very aggressive; they list millions of books and are not reliant on massive profits per book to stay afloat, and so they have created an atmosphere of cheaper and cheaper in order to rival their competition, and the book buying public has sold into its practice to such a point that it is becoming impossible for any author to realistically get any return for their effort.

One very large online presence in particular pushes masses of books for just $0.99, and I see it on the screen and feel this must be madness. I am told this is what the consumers of books demand, and they are unlikely to pick your book if it is valued much higher, because digital is cheaper easier and faster, and therefore should be cheaper. I am sorry to disagree with the worlds leading book seller of the moment, but I got no discount when writing it because one day it would be appearing as digital download. My hours of dedication have not lessened because it will eventually be delivered via an inbox rather than a post box. To be honest it is insulting, how would the consumer feel if I asked them to work all week as I have for just $0.99? I am pretty sure they value the jobs they do to earn their living, so why has mine become so worthless? Is it not bad enough that I have to live with an industry that puts my creative ability as its last priority, whilst it makes twenty times more money from my work than I do? Do all writers now have to suffer the ultimate humiliation of being told by the consumer that their efforts rank lower than everyone else’s?

It’s a very sad truth that in the capitalist society we live in writers have no worth at all, and with the onset of digital, and the so called death of the book, the future for writers just became very dark indeed, and one can only wonder how long it will be before the writer has no choice but to stop publishing simply because they can no longer afford to. We could simply leave publishers and go the self publishing route, and upload our books directly, which is starting to happen, especially since publishers today are cutting their lists and courting the already rich and famous for their biographies and cookbooks, but even then, when the retailer takes their cut of the $0.99 there is little left to live on for the author.

Will we reach a time when writers have to write for free and just accept it? Or will we one day see a time when all there is to read is a classic that has gone out of copyright and so is available to download free, it is a very real possibility, because in the scramble to gain control of the digital book reading world, it looks to me like every single area is being scrutinised except the most important one of all, and that is the role of the future author.

I have no choice but to be a spectator at the moment, and I am watching very carefully, as depending on how things go, I may have to make a very difficult decision in my future. Will I stop writing? No, its not possible for me. Will I stop publishing? That is a question I will eventually face, and I am sure there are many out there who like myself will face the very same question. All I can say for now is, I am watching…. I will have to wait and see.

 

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A Solitary Writers Life

Feb 28

Posted by Rob in A Solitary Writers Life | No Comments

In a little over a month, I will have been a published author for two years, although I have been writing for as long as I can remember. I have been lucky enough to have published three books, and have spent my days writing more and promoting those that are out there, and I have reached that all important point, where I have sat back and taken a long look at how things have gone. As this blog is a record of my experiences, to share especially with other new writers, and those who love to read, I have set out some observations that may or may not help or interest you.

The first thing that is the most noticeable is the way I live my life, three years ago I left my shop to the demolition workers, and gave up my business to spend everyday at home dedicated to finishing the series I had started, so the good thing is that life has got quieter and warmer. It’s a move I do not regret, as I think it has done me a lot of good, I have worked hard with little time off for years, and I am not getting any younger, so its nice to slow down and spend more time at home with my family, although there are those odd days when I miss the hustle and bustle of the markets, and the flood of the different people I had contact with.

Looking back at my life then as a horticulturalist, and my life now as a writer, it suddenly impacts on me how much time I spend alone these days. For all writers this is factor of their working day, I am pretty reclusive and have had to live most of my life in the throng of market life, rushing around from dawn until dusk, so the tranquillity of my desk is actually a wonderful retreat for me. It may sound bliss, but this does have drawbacks not just for myself, but for every writer as the disconnection to write, also removes the ability to talk and interact, and so therefore it can be very hard to actually get a real gauge of how the books are received, especially if you are a new writer.

Being the new kid on the block, alongside the other million or two published authors vying for shelf-space and sales, can have huge drawbacks, the most obvious being that local bookshops who are under pressure from everywhere in the book selling world, rank you as the lowest priority, and its hard getting them to include your books. The most difficult thing is getting out the word of your published work, and most importantly actually meeting people who have read your work to give you their honest opinion.

I have looked at hundreds of writer’s forums over the years, and it does appear to be one of the hardest areas of writer’s life. A good well thought out book takes tens of thousands of hours to write, and there are days when there does not feel like there are enough hours in the day to fit everything in. I work more now than I ever have, often working until the early hours of the morning writing, promoting and posting wherever I feel the word is needed, and then hoping at some point, someone will take a few minutes to send me a message to let me know what they think.

Most of the writers I associate with or talk to on the forums, all suffer from the same massive lack of confidence in their work, as they know if the slightest thing is not right, the critics will attack and be merciless in their scorn, something that can kill a books sales dead. If like me, you are a recently new writer, that can kill your writing career before you even get it off the ground.

I am a pretty upbeat person, having worked for myself for well over ten years I have no problems motivating myself to work, I love writing, so for me it’s a simple pleasure emptying my thoughts onto the page, but even I have found that there are some days it feels like the weight of the world is on my shoulders. Feedback is the key, but it’s not so easy to find it.

Like all writers I use Facebook, Twitter and other social networks, but these in themselves can be traps if you are not careful. I have a Facebook page which I update as appropriate, I do make an effort not to fill it with the mundane routine of my life, or make it one long tiresome advert for the books, I do actually put a great deal of effort into keeping it up to date with just the specifics. People can access it through my Twitter or website, and also from FB itself, and when I first started out it seemed to flow as the numbers rose rapidly, and it was pleasing to see that I had what looked like some solid support. Two years later with three books out, and the numbers have fallen, not because I am doing anything wrong or different, its just that the trends have changed, and people spring clean their profiles once in a while. Two years ago I was trying to get published and was finding it very difficult, as most writers do these days, those on Facebook liked the idea of supporting a struggling author, today I have done it, and I am working on a fourth, its much less appealing and so they click off and follow someone else. It’s a fickle thing and so hard to use as a gauge of your writing achievements.

I will add that its not all bad news, as I do get people who post or write a review in the reviews section, and that can lift my day and make everything feel so much more worthwhile as I sit here alone, knowing that my words connected with another human being, is a tiny moment of triumph that brings the all important extra motivation to continue. Emails and feed back are the source of extra inspiration and the only benchmark we loners in front of the keyboard have to guide us forward. It sounds sort of sad, but it does make a world of difference, those few comments from the mass are a permanent source for others to tap, and that is how slowly over a great deal of time, a writer finds his way through the media jungle to get noticed and begin to make a living out of his solitary creativity.

Out of the millions of people sat writing in this world, just two percent will actually earn enough money to live off, if they are self published it can take years just to earn back the money they have invested, as every aspect of writing costs the author before the book is finally produced, and as a new writer I know it could be years before I break even, but one post at a time, I will move forward until I do.

If you love to write or follow other writers,  and like myself have sought to find the books of those you have followed, think about what they have done alone in front of a desk, and if you purchased online or know of a social network group they are on, take a moment to look them up and write a few words to them. All writers give their words freely to anyone who takes the time to read them, if you enjoy them, send a few back, and tell them of your enjoyment, believe me, it really does make a huge difference.

Most writers don’t write for vanity or prestige, they write because for them it is compunction, and a release for their creative abilities. It’s a hard thing to do as it takes a massive amount of will power and determination, to set your own deadlines and stick to them. Getting published is hard work, and with all the changes and uncertainty of life in the industry today it is getting a whole lot harder, we work the long hours in solitary conditions, and usually we get the smallest share of the profits, which are swallowed up by the retailers, wholesalers and publishers. We do it because we love to read, and we love the freedom of creation, it is a joy and one of the most satisfying things I have ever done, even if at times it feels like I forget that.

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Simple Symbolism (Writing depth)

Dec 18

Posted by Rob in HTTK, Simple Symbolism (Writing depth) | No Comments

Blue Butterfly

The butterfly

      When I first began to write The Heirs to the kingdom, I wanted the story to be a simple tale that would captivate and inspire the reader. But being the person I am, and a lover of tales with many meanings, I also wanted to create a story, which could have many layers that if the reader so wished, they could strip them away to look deeper into the story and the characters.

     In the heirs to the kingdom, I have employed many different techniques to add greater depth, such as word play, name meanings, and cryptic rhymes, although in most cases I have kept them very simple, but in one area more than most I have used a great deal of symbolism. The Character of Runestone comes across in the books as being a simple living, deeply caring, attractive young woman, in whom my lead character is very much in love with, and yet she is without doubt, the hardest character to write as she is the most complex of all the characters in the books.

     For Runestone I have employed a huge amount of simple symbolism around her, to help reinforce whom she is as the complex woman learning to deal with the many talents for magic and life buried deep within her. I spent a long time putting her character together as I took small parts of many people with whom I had interacted over the years, and then looked for a symbol that would encompass of the qualities that fitted her. The symbol I chose was one that at its most basic level, everyone could identify with, and as I began to work on the second book, I started to weave it into her story and created the union of Runestone with the Butterfly.

     I love butterflies, I am sure you do too, for me and many ancient civilizations, it is the ultimate symbol of freedom and the beauty of the wild countryside, and also the most identified symbol of Nature, all of which are important in linking in with Runestone. The butterfly can be seen almost on a daily basis in today’s modern life, as it is used in a million different ways in our culture today, such is the power of this insect for which many of us only manage to get a fleeting glimpse each year. 

     For thousands of years it has been heralded as the ultimate natural symbol of women, and it has been linked with the qualities of serene beauty and feminine demure. It was once thought of as the carrier of knowledge, due to the fact that it possessed the ability to travel freely within the world and evade the watchful eye of man. Runestone use it to carry messages and also her magical power of life to her grandfather, and also the high lord of the woodland. The Celts linked it with the power to transcend this world and visit other realms to explain its fleeting sightings in the summer, mainly due to the fact that its life was so short lived and therefore it was absent from the landscape for the majority of the year, and explained away as being in another world.

     The most important link with Runestone and the butterfly is that of the transformation from one being into another. As the story of HTTK begins, Rune is a young girl approaching womanhood (A physical transformation) and as the story proceeds throughout the entire series, she embarks on a change from the young woman into the female magical entity her destiny has preordained for her. Nothing symbolises this more than the transformation of a plain nondescript caterpillar, into the creature of abject beauty and wonder that it becomes when it emerges from the chrysalis. It paints a potent image, and helps explain what is really going on mentally, physically and spiritually with Runestone.

     One thing that has always appealed to me, is this transformation from one state of being into another, helps mankind understand that change is always possible. No matter what we do, or where we end up, we have this wonderful symbol to inspire us, and yes, we can all change if we want to.

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Alternative venues for Authors.

Oct 18

Posted by Rob in Alternative Venues for Authors. | No Comments

     For most writers the experience of actually writing is a very solitary one, and that is very much the case for myself. I find that I need a certain amount of isolation when writing just so that I can fully concentrate on the story and nothing else, after all writers want to do their very best for their readers.

     Having said that, it is a wonderful and in many ways liberating experience to switch off the computer and head outdoors, to meet and greet those who are actively interested in what I write about. Such was the case last weekend where I packed up my computer and a box or two of stock, and headed to Bolton in the northwest of the UK to participate in the Autumn Festival, a medieval based markets event.

     Bolton has a rich medieval past and was once my home, so for myself it is a place that is close to my heart. I have been involved with this festival for some time now as a trader, I began by selling my plant stocks there, and as my horticultural business dwindled, I continued by using the event to help publicise my HTTK books. I share a modest stand with my fiancée who has her Jaded Opals jewellery business, and we don our costumes and join in to help make the event fun for everyone. It is a wonderful family event and our two children join in, and in many ways I suppose it is an odd sort of place to find an author and his work, but for me that is part of the appeal.

     With two books on display and a third being heavily advertised for release in the coming month, I am now in a position where I can talk to people who have read the first two books, and it is without doubt a rich and very enlightening experience. One particular member of the public already comes to mind as I write this, I think it was the way that her eyes sparkled, and her smile as she spoke to me about my second book, which has kept the memory of her visit so prominent in my thoughts. Seeing the enjoyment of someone who has read the books is simply wonderful to behold, to hear another person actually talk with great affection for those characters I have spent so many hours creating, really does warm my heart.

     In many ways it reminds me so much of my youth, and when I read some of my favourite books, and I do feel a little cheated, as I have never had the opportunity to talk to those great authors who I admire so much about their own work. I must confess I would have loved nothing more than to sit with Tolkein, or Harper Lee and let them know of the excitement I felt stir deep inside me as I ingested every line of their stories, and so as a new author especially, I feel that being available to those who wish to share their thoughts of the books is particularly important. I have never expected to be the biggest selling author, but to those few of you who have read the books and come along to support me, I am happy that you have enjoyed them, and it was delightful to have had the experience of meeting you all at such a wonderful event.

     Today’s publishing industry is in a state of flux, and many authors like myself are experiencing the wastelands, as publishing houses shrink their lists of authors and focus on household names. Self publishing is becoming the fastest growing area of publishing as more and more of us find it impossible to get a foot in the door, events such as the Autumn Festival may seem like an odd place to promote, yet more and more authors are now being forced to go it alone, and seek out places that they can meet and sell directly to the public. With large online and chain store retailers slashing the prices of books, it does look like it is a good deal for the public, but it is getting harder for authors to make a living, and our only means of survival will be to find other venues. I think this will become a fairly standard practice for authors, especially new one like myself, as it is our only means of being able to earn enough money to continue writing. On a more personal note I actually think it is better for us, listening and responding to the readers is the life blood of a writer, and that public engagement is actually immensely inspiring. I have really enjoyed my chance to get out there and be seen, and I hope there will be many more events in the future to set up my pitch alongside my family, and let all of you see what I have done and maybe give you a few hints about what I am about to do.

     To have your support is very humbling, and it adds to the joy of writing, and I feel very grateful for it, until we meet at yet another event I wish you well, and send you my deepest thanks, and look forward to our next encounter.

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