Frank Scully's Blog

I have not been writing lately and also have not been doing anything to market my books. Can’t expect to get anywhere being lazy. Just was a bit frustrated about progress, both in my writing and also in sales. It would be easy to give up and quit. Too easy. I hear my conscience telling me to plug on like a good trooper. It is what I have to do. Then I hear another part of me saying what the hell for? I am just getting older and not much father along. Too close to retirement and too short of money. And this is helping. Lot of time and effort goes into the writing and not much comes out of it. But I can’t measure success by sales. I have tales to tell and that is why I write. If only one person reads it that is okay. So I will start to clean up my day and get back to work.

I wonder if all blogs accumulate as much junk spam comments as mine does. Nothing but crap sales ads or creepy weird stuff. How did I get on the list for these? Just the noise of the internet. Would be nice if there was a way to shut it off.

Sometimes I wonder when I am supposed to have the time to do all the promotion work necessary to get my books noticed. Blogging, blog touring, advertising, posting on boards, finding new places to promote. There are a lot of helpful articles here and there with suggestions, but the same things don’t work quite the same way for everyone. Where do you catch that bit of lightening that sparks the sales? It almost seems like magic is necessary and if you don’t find that special spark your books don’t get noticed. It can be frustrating but I spent so many years hunting for a publisher back in the dark ages before eBooks with so many rejections from agents and publishers I am not going to be discouraged now.

My Goodreads advertising is getting a few clicks and some shelf adds. Can’t see that it has turned into sales yet but that will come. I need to do more with other promotion also to keep building brand. If anyone can provide some help with places to promote my mystery books I would appreciate hearing form you.

I am on Goodreads now and doing some advertising to promote my books. As with anything, it takes time and constant effort. I am hopeful it will lead to some sales in the future. I am also working on a short story that looks like it might turn into a novella and another novel in the Decade Series. If only I had to the time to concentrate on it but earning a living comes first. Gotta have that paycheck. Thanks for stopping by.

I don’t spend a lot of time developing my characters. They seem to spring out of my mind almost fully developed and ready to take part in the story I have waiting for them. It is the edges of the characters that I work on to make sure they are original and fit the circumstances of what I hope to accomplish with the story.

Take Mike Johnson, the hero of Dead Man’s Gambit, as an example. He is someone I would know from my own experience. We both are veterans although with different experiences. Also Lawyers again with different careers. Parts of him come from people I know and parts come from what I believe his set of experiences and family background would have developed in him.

Once I have a characer set in my mind that is fully developed, I get into his mind and think like him and use his eyes to see the action I am generating in the story. Sometimes I have to do that with all the characters in a scene. I will have to see the action from all of the points of view to make sure it works not just for that scene but for all the others that led up to it and that will follow. Once it all fits then the scene becomes real and I am “witnessing” it and recording it.

Then I hope that the reader when reading it will have the movie going in his/her head seeing the action and the characters in a way that fits.

When it all works it is exciting to write. When It isn’t working, words may flow but it just doesn’t feel right.

I am working up the courage to begin doing some real promotion work to develop sales for my books. Up to now I have been relying on friends and family to carry the sales and the results are, of course, not the greatest. So I will be doing some advertising and more web presence work to develop a following. It is not my favorite kind of endeavor. Just have to work up the courage and grit and get to it.

I will be on a two week virtual blog tour and invite all to join me as I wander the digital universe to promote EMPTY TIME. Here is the link to the sites.

http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2011/11...

I will be starting a blog tour soon to promote my latest release, Empty Time. I hope everyone will follow me through the tour and perhaps buy my book. If you do and you enjoy it, please leave a review. Positive reviews are very important to drive sales. Thanks,

I will miss Andy. He had a unique mind and a way of stating the things we all felt in our hearts. His life should be celebrated for the things he has done and said that made a difference to all of our lives. May God open his arms and take him into the next part of his journey with love.