Scott Moon

Three of my favorite books on writing faster are 5000 Words Per Hour by Chris Fox,2k to 10k by Rachel Aaron, and Writing In Overdrive by Jim Denney. Each has valuable insights of their own, but also share a common theme. Fast writing is not bad writing. We don’t have to agonize over each word before moving on.Some legendary authors do it that way. I read that Kurt Vonnegut perfected each page before moving on. Personally, I tend to start from the beginning when writing organically, which results in the first three chapters being heavily polished. The words come harder after 30k words, because it becomes more and more time consuming to read from the beginning as the novel grows.It is a good method and I like it. So does the author of Story Trumps Structure, Steven James. Writing organically is sometimes fast and often slow, but there are many real advantages, assuming you don’t get stuck. I will talk more about this in a separate article.This article is not about plotting versus pantsting, but about productivity.The Number One Reason to Write FastThe best reason to write quickly is not just to make your word count everyday, but to find continuity. There is a high probability that a rapidly written story (a novel in one month or two weeks or nine days…) will need a lot of revision and editing. Parts may be destined for the circular file. But you will learn a lot about your characters and their journey. There is also a good chance that the first draft will be better (and more consistent) than you could have hoped for. As a bonus, all those rabbit trails might be the start of other stories with real potential.So try this to jumpstart your writing:1) Brainstorm an outline in one day; create a list of scenes and characters.2) Set that outline aside and refer to it only when necessary if at all.3) Set a high word count goal for each day am meet it.4) Do not edit anything.5) Take a break before revising.The results may surprise you.

This has been one of the hardest decisions I have made in years. After putting a lot of time effort and money into the Grendel Uprising project, I have decided to pull the first to episodes (Proof of Death and Blood Royal) from publication. My original goal was to publish one episode a month. Other projects and obligations have interfered. So today I removed them from Amazon.I will begin working on the Grendel Uprising projects after completing the final two books of the Chronicles of Kin Roland Series (Weapons of Earth and King of Hellsbreach).I’d like to thank everyone up to this point for their support and assure fans of the Grendel Uprising series that once complete, it will be a story to remember.Thanks,Scott Moon

Last week I did a soft launch of Blood Royal and experienced good results with this and other titles. Sadly, sales and shares have dropped off for the last few days. No worries, because I had already planned a KDP Free Day promotion for 8-7-15.Which brings us to the oft asked question; do free days still work?My experience is that they do, but not like before. There is simply too much competition. In a free market, that means the consumer wins. So to look at the bright side I reminded myself that I am more of a book consumer than producer. For every book I publish I must read between twenty to one hundred fiction and nonfiction titles, depending on the length and complexity of my work-in-progress.As usual, I am breaking some promotional rules. The best practice in the past has been to do at least two days free to build momentum. I think that works, but only if you have quality paid advertising on both days. Due to budget constraints, I am doing one day and using Bknights as my paid advertiser. With luck, I will combine Bknights with Freebooksy for my next promotion.Other writers do giveaways and actively pimp their newsletter. These are promotional methods I should use, and will, when I have more time. In the mean time I mostly write and play at designing book covers.In other news I am strongly considering putting up some of my titles for audiobook audition on ACX because my current narrator is between studios. He’s really good. Finding someone new has many dangers, but we’ll see, won’t we?If you haven’t scored a copy of Blood Royal, tomorrow (8-7-15) would be a good time to check the series out (keeping in mind that Blood Royal is episode 2).

Kin Roland and his companions move beyond the Battle of the Bleeding Ground to uncover the mystery of Earth Fleet versus the Mazz Empire. With the Crashdown wormhole closed, everything is changing. Aefel has friends in high places, in this case, the space station above Grendel. Are they willing to sacrifice everything to join him in a fight that can’t be won?
Today is going to be a busy but good day. I’ve committed to working on two projects. This seems like a bad idea, until I admit that I often have three to five stories going at once. And I am usually listening to an audiobook while driving and reading something on my Kindle phone app whenever I get a chance. So in the grand scheme of things, this is like focusing on the task(s) at hand with laser intensity.Last night I moved Weapons of Earth (Book Three in the Chronicles of Kin Roland) back into Scrivner. The complexity of the project requires a lot of notes. Scrivner, for all the headaches it causes me, is good for that kind of thing. I also have a really fun start on  episode three of the Grendel Uprising series, Heavy Weapons. I would like to have WOE ready for publication by my birthday month in October and HW ready in September. It’s doable, I think.The reason I started the Grendel Uprising series, was to stay fresh. The Chronicles of Kin Roland is a four book series with two currently in print. Each book is about 85k to 90k. About 51k of Weapons of Earth is done. About 20k of book four, King of Hellsbreach, is complete as well. I really enjoy writing in this universe. It is a big project and a lot of work.For variety, I started the Grendel Uprising series with Proof of Death. The goal is to produce and publish one professionally edited story of 15k to 20k words a month. The June and July editions came out on schedule. I am crossing my fingers for August.Anyway, I should be writing fiction right now. So thanks for stopping by and have a great day.Scott

How Not to Launch a Book (or in this case a 19,000 word short story)There are dozens of things a writer should do when releasing a new book or novella. I know this because, like many modern day authors, I have read all the books on how to self-publish and promote. I know that releasing a new title should be a huge deal with lots of bells and whistles, ARCs flung to all corners of the globe, and swag piled high. There should be pre-scheduled reviews and paid marketing on all the reputable sites for the genre.Should be, but isn’t. Not this time.I love the Grendel Uprising universe. Creating it has sparked some of the most fun I’ve had in years. I just can’t wait to share the story, so as soon as I satisfied my editor and did a final proofread, I started the upload process. Blood Royal, Episode 2 in the Grendel Uprising series, is now winging its way through cyberspace toward an Amazon outlet near you.So let’s review. Proof Death is the first installment. Blood Royal is the second. The third, Heavy Weapons is a work-in-progress. The entire series has been outlined and is under constant development.So without further adieu, please welcome Blood Royal to publication.Grendel Uprising: Episode 2: Blood Royal Loyal servants of the Earth System Commonwealth must pick a side. The assassination of Emperor Dan Uburt-Wesson has thrown civilization into chaos and no interim government will have the strength to hold the galactic empire together. Rumors of betrayal and rebellion spread from star system to star system as the real battle begins in the most unlikely place. Official news sources have (wrongly) confirmed that every member of the Imperial family is dead. The formation of a new galactic order is imminent. The Earth System Commonwealth has outlived its usefulness.Only a handful of powerful people know that Aefel 70391, a decorated veteran of the First Armored-infantry Lightning Division, has located four juveniles that will change history. Can Aefel and his unlikely allies protect the Blood Royal? Has he chosen the wrong side?Grendel Uprising: Blood Royal sets the stage for a war of rebellion, domination, and what it means to be human in the age of the Earth System Commonwealth.The Grendel Uprising series combines science fiction and historical fiction. The setting is at once a world similar to England and Scandinavia during the time of the Danelaw and a pan galactic empire of advanced technology and deadly political upheaval. During a more prosperous time, entrepreneurs developed entire worlds as historical reenactment societies and allowed nature to take its course. Financial disaster took the planet of Grendel completely offline. There are precious few men or women who remember how they came to the alien world. Now they will face the godlike destruction of modern warfare.