The Amazon Hate Game

I've been over at Konrath's blog and reading about all those who are mad at Amazon for offering thousands of writers a chance at their dreams. Konrath (love this guy) has it right. Go check it out.

He sites a few articles that are bashing Amazon including Patterson's attempt to come to the aid of his publishing house. Wait, I thought I read somewhere that Patterson had a team of ghosts and didn't even write his own books anymore? (Hey Jim! It shows!) I have to wonder; what's the point? Why wouldn't an author want to control his own work? Is Patterson so rich that it doesn't matter anymore?

I went Indy a few years ago and don't have half the stuff up that I should have by this time. I worry too much about the polishing and I'm always working on my next book. There are too many books to write and too little time. There are several reasons I went Indy and none had to do with money. Don't get me wrong, any money would always be nice, but that didn't push my decision. I went Indy because I just want to write. There is where the joy lives.

If I were with a publishing house and scored the contract as a romance writer, I doubt they'd like it if book two of three were a mystery or a zombie book, or that vampire idea I've been cooking. If I had a contract I'm sure I'd lose a bit of control. My work would be a shared decision with someone in an office that makes decisions, not on my work alone, but on several factors. Climate of the industry, length of the book, what's hot, and their own personal preferences.

Bah!

How many ditched the the Harry Potter book for some of those reasons? Why did they make that decision? The quality of the book was probably not the issue, yet they still rejected it.

One of the criticisms of Indy books is the quality of the book, but that doesn't really fly, does it? I've seen books come from the big publishing houses that had typos and grammatical errors. I've read lots of traditionally published crap. Sometimes my hand itches for that red pen! Then I've read Indies who are outstanding and some with problems. There's really not a big difference in quality between traditional and Indy.

So why go Indy? Or better yet, why not?

Control is an awesome thing when it comes to your own work. 

The Balancing Act

One of the hardest things in writing is everything else in life. The day job, the kids, hubby or wife, extended family, doctor visits, and on and on...

So how does a writer find the time to write? It's always hard to clear the head enough to get the words flowing. Is this more of a problem for women? Traditionally, women are the care givers and are constantly thinking about others. Do the kids have what they need? Laundry done? What to cook for dinner? Carpool? Take care of that fiverr gig. (Check out my fiverr in the right column!) Oh yeah, write the book!

I started a new job which, so far, I'm loving. The people are great and I get to write stuff for their website. I do a lot of other things too but I'm most excited about the writing. Like all jobs there's a learning curve and between that and finals, my book has fallen to the way side. I haven't touched it in three weeks.

THREE WEEKS! Yikes! I can't believe that. Its so sad. I have such high hopes for this book. No Apologies was fun to write. It came from writer's block and to break through I just let myself write badly. As I read through my pages I found I liked the book. It has tension, some funny parts, and a little romance.

I need to find balance. Carve out that writing time and stick to a new schedule to get this book edited and off my desk. I think every change in our lives calls for a new writing schedule.

What's your schedule? When do you write? Has change ever knocked you off your book?