Amanda Hocking

I’ve been sitting on this for what feels like forever (but it’s really only been a month), and today I got word from agent that I can FINALLY tell people about it.

The Trylle Trilogy has been optioned for a film. Terri Tatchell – Oscar nominated screenplay writer and Bradbury Award winner for District 9 – is going to adapt the screenplay for the trilogy.

Now, before you get too excited, I’m going to clarify – she’s only optioned to write the screenplay. This is no guarantee that this will be a movie. Things fall apart all the time for various reasons. And I have no idea how long it would be before a movie would be released, if it were to even come to frution.

With all that said – I am still very, very excited. Terri Tatchell is tremendous. Regardless of how this all turns out, it really is an honor that she wants to do this, and it’s still pretty neat that this happened, even if Switched never becomes a film.

Will Switched ever be a movie? I honestly don’t know. What I do know is that I’m very excited, and at this point, I’m cautiously optimistic. Also, Terri Tatchell thinks Michael Wincott is awesome. And she’s Canadian. And District 9 was a really rad movie.

So that’s some of the big news I’ve had going on. It is really awesome.

I wrote a blog a couple days in hopes that I had said everything I could possibly say about publishing, and then I would have one nice big blog that I could point everyone back to when they had questions. (And if you want to check it out, here it is: Pretty Much Everything I Have to Say About How I Do What I Do). But with the recent influx of emails in my inbox and some of the buzz I’m hearing on the interweb, I feel like I have something more I need to say.

Self-publishing is NOT is the easy way out. If you simply want to be published, and do not care if everyone reads or enjoys your work, then yes, self-publishing is easy. If you want to be sucessful and make a living as a writer, then it is hard work. In a lot of ways, I suspect it is harder than being traditionally published.

I’m just under the impression that a lot of people are now looking at this as a Get Rich Quick scheme, and this is no such thing. 

So much of what people are saying about me is, “Look what Amanda Hocking accomplished in a year,” when they really should be saying is, “Look what Amanda Hocking accomplished in twenty years.” Because that’s how long I’ve been writing, that’s how long I’ve been working towards this goal.

Most of my life has been spent in front of a keyboard or with a pen and paper. I have spent more of my life writing than I have on any other singular activity (with the exception of sleeping). I easily work over forty hours a week, just on writing, editing, networking, reading, etc.

Other ewriters that I know that are doing well – like David Dalglish and HP Mallory, among others – are doing as well as they are for the same reasons. They treat their writing like a career, something they they work hard for every day. If you do not have the time to devote to working at your writer the same way you would a full time job, then the sad truth is that self-publishing probably isn’t the right fit for you.

Another thing I’m hearing a lot is that a writer is finishing writing their first novel today and planning to publish it next week. There is no way a first time novelist can have it completed, edited, and formatted properly in a week. That writer may be a fantastic novelist, like truly fantastic, but rushing a product out will only hurt them.

There is a common misconception that I published the first novel I ever wrote, and that is not true. The first book I ever published was My Blood Approves, and that was the eighth novel I’d written.

Here’s a list of all the books I’ve written, in the order they were written:

1. Dreams I Can’t Remember
2. House I Grew Up In
3. Mistakes
4. Lost Without You
5. Violet 1996
6. Paper Doll
7. Clandestine
8. My Blood Approves
9. Rejection
10. Fate
11. Switched
12. Flutter
13. Hollowland
14. Honalee
15. Virtue
16. Torn
17. Wisdom
18. Ascend
19. Letters to Elise

The books that have been struck through are books that will never be published, because they’re just not very good. The ones that are purple are ones that I think with some editing and time will get to a publishable level. But of the nineteen books I’ve written, only nine have been published.

Readers are asking for more of my books. So why don’t I just throw out any of the books? Because they are not ready yet. And if I put out books that are not ready, I risk alienating readers. I have worked hard to establish a style and a name for myself that readers recognize and enjoy. I would never want to sully that or irritate fans by just throwing out something.

The point is that if you want to be successful with this and have a career as a writer, you need to do all the same work you would do if you were traditionally published. You just need to do it all yourself. The goal of being a professional writer is to produce a quality product, and that product should be indistinguishable from self-published and traditionally published.

I still think self-publishing is great for writers. But writers have to be careful not to shoot themselves in the foot. That means polishing your work and acting professional in the blogosphere.

Another thing people keep asking me is – how do you self-promote? The answer: I don’t. I spend a lot of time on Twitter, Facebook, and my blog, but with the exception of my blog, I hardly talk about my books or writing. My blog I do more so because if you came here, I figure you want to know about them, at least sometimes. I mostly talk about whatever I find interesting and entertaining. If I have a book coming out, of course I mention it, but it can’t just be a long infomercial.

My tips for marketing online: just be present, be funny, and be kind. Try not to say anything offensive to about anyone. You never know who’s reading or if/when it’ll come back to bite you.

Also, someone commented on my blog with this:

“I googled you after your name came up in a discussion on Absolute Write (a writer’s board). The discussion came about after someone posted about “augmenting” his own sales on Amazon by buying copies of his own book to make it seem like he was a best seller.

I’m not suggesting argument, but maybe some facts from someone who’s actually had success with legitimate self-publishing could help him out.”

I couldn’t find the thread about this, but the reason I’m mentioning it here is because this is NOT standard practice among legitimate self-published authors. I have never done this. I have heard of people doing this, but every successful self-published author I know has not done this. Which means that it does not really work. You might get a temporary boost in rankings, but unless you get the reviews and word-of-mouth to go along with it, it doesn’t really matter. Word-of-mouth is the best way to sell books, and it is something you cannot fake.

There are no tricks or schemes with self-publishing. It’s just about writing a good book, polishing it really well, getting a good cover, pricing it right, and putting it out there. There are no short cuts. If you want to be successful at this, you have to do the work.

I wrote a whole blog and just deleted it. It was a bit of an industry post, but you know what? I don’t want to write an industry post.

My shoulder is feeling better (thanks everybody for your well wishes). I do think I’m going to see about getting a massage or something this week, because it’s still sore and weird. I also ordered one of those back support things that pulls your shoulders back. I think I slouch too much when I write.

Anyway, my back was feeling good enough so I could some of the writing done that I needed to get done. So yay to that!

But mostly what I want to talk about is how neat Daniel Johns is. Every few months, I remember how much I enjoy Daniel Johns and Silverchair, and I start getting really antsy for a new album. If you caught my Top Ten Albums of 2000 Through 2010 list, then you saw that Silverchair’s Young Modern is #1 album on my list.

Look, America, I get it. It’s confusing at first. Frogstomp was all grungy, and it was these three pretty kids that look like a cross between Hanson and Nirvana. And then they had Freak Show, which musically was along the same lines, but when Neon Ballroom came out, it started changing. But expect these pretty grunge boys, and Young Modern comes out, it’s on a completely different level.

When I downloaded Young Modern, I instantly thought it was a mistake. That did not sound like Silverchair. But it was. Once you get past that it’s Silverchair, and you get past that’s it not completely what you expected it to be, you realize that it’s something even better.

After I got it, I had to set Young Modern away for awhile. I was like, “No. I don’t enjoy this.” But I was wrong. For some reason, I listened to the album again a few months later, and I’ve been in love ever since. I just think it’s totally and completely brilliant, and the most underrated album in America in the last decade.

Sometimes, when I listen to it, and realize that most people in the US don’t listen to it or haven’t even heard of it, I think I really need to move to Australia. And that’s not drastic at all. The album is so good I would be completely justified in moving across the world to live where the album is appreciated.

According to what Wikipedia told me that Daniel Johns said, they were working on their next album in late 2009. Now, I don’t want to rush the process (not that I think I am, because I sincerely doubt Daniel Johns reads my blog), but I am ready for a new album. Beyond ready. 

Also, I am a massive fan of Daniel Johns, but my fandom is very complicated. I can’t even explain it. But all my feelings about him are positive, even if I don’t understand them. They feel all tied up in other emotions and nostalgia for something that I don’t even know what it is.

Anyway – the moral is: Silverchair should come out with a new album. You should all go buy and listen to Young Modern. Daniel Johns is really pretty.

(I unexpectedly find his new scruffed up black-eyed look more attractive than his effeminate pretty look.)

Here’s “Straight Lines” by Silverchair for your listening/viewing pleasure (hey, if my mom is reading this, this is the song that’s been your ringtone on my phone for the past four years.)

Today I planned to blog about Jacqueline Susann, and how she really is a huge inspiration for me (be charming, be everywhere, work hard, and write romance). I think there’s some really good advice in there for aspiring authors, and I’ve been getting a lot of questions from them lately.

But because I really, really need to turn of the internet and get some serious work done, I’m going to keep it brief, but give you the best advice for authors that I have in a nice bullet point form.

-If you’re looking for good advice on how to be a better writer, check out Stephen King’s On Writing. It’s a great book, and he’s a better writer than me, so his advice is more sound.

-If you’re looking for info on how to e-publish your books and get into it, check out J. A. Konrath’s book A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing. Also, check out Smashwords style guide for tips on formatting, as well as the KBoards (formally Kindleboards).

-If you’re wondering how I managed to self-publish and end up being a best seller, you can check out my post about I got started in an epic tale of how it all happened.

-If you’re wondering if/how you should publish your book, you can check out a couple posts I did My Thoughts on Indie Publishing and Indie vs. Traditional. And you might possibly want to check out How Everything Went the Opposite of What I’d Been Told.

-I pointed out a lot of great places that helped me out when I started in this, but the stuff I’m showing you is only the beginning. The number one thing you need to do before you decide to publish is RESEARCH. Look up and learn everything you can about everything involved with writing and publishing, even if you think it doesn’t affect you. It’s vital that authors understand the market and their readers. And if you think you don’t have the time or inclination to do that much research, then the sad but brutal truth is that you do not have time or inclination to self-publish.

-And if you want the best piece of advice I’ve ever gotten, watch this video.  I posted it before, but it really, really bares repeating. You can watch the whole interview if you want, but the question/answer starts at about :55 seconds in and goes until about 2:10, so it’s short and sweet. They’re talking about music, but it applies to everything.

And, now, I have to step away from the tantalizing interwebs, and go do what I do: write.

I love Fabio. Not the shirtless blond guy on romance novels. I mean Top Chef‘s Italian Stallion Fabio Viviani.

Here’s how super bizarre my life is: I made the USA Today Bestelling ebook list, and I was thinking that I should write a blog about that, and link to some articles and the TV interview, and talk about … well, me. But I’d much rather talk about Top Chef.

This season is Top Chef All-Stars, meaning they picked people who’d been on previous seasons but didn’t win. And it is crazy awesome. It’s all my favorites, and some people who really deserved a second chance at winning, namely Richard Blais, Dale T (who I still think should NOT have been eliminated when he was the first time around), and Angelo.

But, even though I don’t think Fabio is necessarily the best chef on the show, he was my favorite. Because he’s very funny, charming, and nice. And the accent is kind of adorable. I didn’t think so at first, but I love him now. (Somebody else I didn’t think I’d like at first is Mike Isabella, but you watch the show for awhile, and you see that’s he actually very funny and sweet.)

SPOILER ALERT Fabio got voted off of Top Chef tonight. He really is great for TV, though, so I don’t think this is the last we’ll be seeing of him. (Hint hint: Food Network and OWN). Meanwhile, he has an ebook out now on Amazon, which you can check out: here. I think it’s self-published, which only makes me love him more. But he is still a good cook. Ask Richard Blais. Blais would never lie.

Check out Fabio’s adorable “thank you” video he made tonight. He’s like the sweetest thing ever.

So that’s what happened on the TV tonight that I saw. I also forgot to tape Mr. Sunshine, starring Matthew Perry and it bummed me out. Interesting aside – Matthew Perry was featured in the life section of USA Today Wednesday, along with yours truly. To read that article (the one about me, not Perry), click: here. To read the one about Matthew Perry, click: here.

Also, in further fun news, six of my books made it to USA Today’s top 150 ebooks that’s in Thursday’s issue of the periodical. You can see the full list: here.  So I can officially list Best-selling Author in my title. A big shout out to USA Today for being so awesome with the interview and actually including me in the ebook list, even though I’m self-published. The consideration is very much appreciated, not just by myself, but the indie community as a whole.

I also  have an itsy-bitsy tiny mention in an article in Entertainment Weekly, so if you want to read a little granule about me, click: here. (While you’re there, also check out the article about ladies in literary. It makes me sad that only 3 of my top 10 favorite authors are ladies).

And for those of you that like looking at me, here is the KTTC interview that aired last week with the great Tom Overlie. Tom is fab. For reals.

I will also being doing a follow up interview with the Post Bulletin today (Thursday). They did my first ever interview back in May of 2010, but stuff’s changed since then, so they’re interviewing me again. I have no clue when that one will publish, though.

Also – and I kid you not – I just discovered a thread discussing my books at pregnancy.org. I think that the right is the proof that I’ve finally made it.

In case you’re wondering what I’m up to other than talking incessantly about myself to the press, I am writing a couple books. I’m trying to juggle two projects at once, and it’s a bit harder than I thought.

The first one I’m cowriting with David Daliglish (but he might use a pen name when we publish), and I’ve never really written a book with another author before, but this is fun. Different, but fun. It’s called Ethereal, and it’s a paranormal romance. That’s about all I want to say about it for now.

The other thing I’m working is something I’ve been dying to work on for almost a year now. So when I say I write a book in a few weeks, that doesn’t mean I come with up an idea and then bang it out the next day. This idea has been percolating for months, and I’ve finally got it all just right. I’m not sure exactly when you guys will see it, but I can tell you right now that it’s going to be fun. It’s YA paranormal romance, and the title right now is Wake, but I’m not sure if it will change.

I tweeted this youtube video below a few days ago. If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth a look. It’s a fan made video of their dream cast, and I think it’s pretty accurate (although, I’m still holding out for Michael Wincott as Oren, even if I do love Gary Oldman). Plus it has Interpol in it. Me and my roommate Eric were watching it last weekend, and he goes, “Oh wow. This is neat. You have the neatest fans.” And I was like, “I know.” You guys truly are awesome. Thanks for letting me do what I do!

Oh, and P. S. Contrary to what some things on the internet have been saying, me self-publishing and doing well is not a middle finger to traditional publishers. I’d like to think me doing well isn’t a middle finger to anybody or anything. It’s feels more like a high five to me.