On "Cheating"

A long time ago I set out three goals for my writing. Here they are/were...

1) The novel is published by a legitimate publisher. I will not self-publish.
2) I have to do a book signing. I don't care if the only people who show up are my family members. I will do a signing.
3) I have to get a photograph of me pointing at my book on the bookshelf at a bookstore. My last name is Heppe. This lands me right between Robert Heinlein and Frank Herbert. I'll be insane with joy at the sight of Eternal Knight on a shelf between The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Dune.

WAHOOOO! SUCCESS!

Sort of.

Kinda.

I cheated.

1) I self published.
2) I didn't hold my book signing in a book store.
3) The photo (above) was taken in my school library.

How do I feel about cheating? GREAT!

1) I used to think self-publishing was for the riff-raff. Maybe it was. But the times are 'a changin'. "Real" authors are self publishing and the walls are crumbling. Getting published by a "legitimate" publisher was my goal because it would have meant that I had proven myself to the powers-that-be in the industry. I would have passed a test of acceptability. I didn't pass the industry test.

What is the test now? Before I truly feel that I have attained goal #1, I have to pass, not an industry test, but a reader test. Will the readers tell me that I have succeeded? Will the readers tell me that I am an author? That is the true test.

2) The book release party at Wissahickon High School was a blast. It felt real, even though it was a party I threw for myself. It was a coming out party for Eternal Knight. For the most part it was attended by people I know, all of them supporting me in my efforts. Did I attain goal two? I think the true test will be on the 24th, when I do my book signing at the Doylestown Bookshop. There will be a lot of friends, but a lot of strangers as well. And the event will be held in a real brick and mortar book store.

3) The photo. I LOVE that photo. Robert Heinlein, Matt Heppe, Frank Herbert. Soooo cool. But there is only one place in the world where that photo is legit: the Wissahickon High School Library. Will that photo ever be taken in a Barnes and Noble, or in a Borders, or in any other big bookstore? I don't know. I'd like to think so. However, I'm not so sure this goal is as important to me as it once was. More important is the feedback I get from readers who say that they have enjoyed Eternal Knight. It is hard to express how much enjoyment I get every time a reader tells me that they liked something I wrote.

Even more fun is when they ask, "When is the next one coming out?"

I'd better get to work.

Book Release Party

The Eternal Knight Book Release Party was a great success. Thanks to everyone who came out!

Me signing books. I don't see getting tired of this. 

Mike Shultz (in light blue) was instrumental in getting Eternal Knight 

into publishable form. Janis (red) and Karen (green) are two of my 

biggest word of mouth and Facebook supporters.

Because of my (former) student Claire (lt. green) I met 

her mother Ann (white). Ann's critique group (which included Lisa [in blue]

took my amateur writing, ripped it apart, and rebuilt it from the ground up. 

I can't thank them enough.

Me, speechifying about Eternal Knight.

More speechifying!

Next up: Doylestown Bookshop

Book signing event on June 24th 

starting at 7 PM.

WINNER!

The winner of the Eternal Knight Kindle/Nook/$100 Amazon Gift Card Contest is....

Emily Smith

Emily wrote a wonderful review of Eternal Knight on Amazon.com. She also tweeted about the contest and the book release, for a total of four "tickets" in the raffle.

In all there were 40 raffle "tickets" generated by book reviews, tweets, and other social media. I really appreciate the efforts of everyone who entered the contest. As an independent author I face an uphill battle in my efforts to get attention for Eternal Knight. The contestants helped push me up that path.

The next big event...

Tomorrow! Book release party at Wissahickon High School.

The event will run from 2-4 PM on Saturday, June 4th. John Conahan is going to open the event with some live music. This is reason enough to come!

All profits from tomorrow's event (books, food, drinks) go to WEOF and Cure-CMD.

I hope to see you there! Spread the word!

First Month Numbers

The Eternal Knight online book release party was one month ago today. How have things gone?

The numbers:
125 paperbacks (sold by me)
28 paperbacks (sold through Amazon and CreateSpace)
15 Kindle ebooks
2 Smashwords ebooks
1 Apple ebook
1 Nook ebook

60 Book bloggers contacted.
1 blog review from a book blogger.
10 bloggers have agreed to review the novel (stretching out for the next six months).

Reader reviews (some of which were cross posted)
10 Amazon reviews
1 B+N review
1 Smashwords review
2 Goodreads reviews

One newspaper article.
One newspaper press release.

$40 donated for charity by generous readers. 

Total raised for charity over the past month: $785.

How do I feel about all of the above? FANTASTIC!

It has been a really great experience so far. I am in the red (money wise), and will be for some time. But it is hard to express the value of holding your own novel in your hands, and the feeling you get when people give you positive feedback. Creating something that other people enjoy is a wonderful feeling.

Next up...

In two and a half hours my Kindle/Nook/Amazon Gift Card contest ends. It didn't draw as much attention as I had hoped it would, but c'est la vie. The readers who posted reviews were a huge help. Pretty soon, a lucky winner will get to pick their prize!

This Saturday is my real world book release party. I was out shopping for decorations and goodies today. I am really psyched about the event. John Conahan will open up with a half hour music set while we mingle and snack. I'll follow him with a half an hour of book talk and thank you's. We'll wrap things up with a book signing and chit-chat with the author. I hope you can make the event. It will be held at Wissahickon High School and will run from 2-4 PM. Bring a friend (or three).

On June 24th I'll hold a book signing event at the Doylestown Bookshop. It will run from 7-9 PM. I've dreamed of doing an in-store book signing for ages. It is just around the corner....

Book Two Outline Phase

I am deep into outlining Book Two. I am a planner, not a pantser. When I write by the seat of my pants I produce a lot of dead end story lines and wasted time. Because of this tendency, I invest heavily in the planning process.

The nice part is that this is Book Two and my world and 80% of the characters have already been created and are well established. This means that my planning is now mostly focused on creating the time line and storyboard.

Right now I am filling in the specifics in a very detailed outline. I love this process. It really puts my brain into the story, thinking about and imagining every scene. I don't think in words, in my mind the story plays out like a movie. If I don't like the way the movie is playing, I hit the rewind and re-direct the scene.

The process is extremely helpful when the actual writing begins. I have seen the scenes before, in great depth, and the writing process is much easier for it. My outline includes little details that are key to setting the tone. I am actually considering importing my outline into the novel itself, and basically overwriting it as I go. This will eliminate flipping back and forth between documents. I'll try it out and let you know how it goes.

When will I write sentence #1? My guess is somewhere around June 15th. How long will it take to write the novel? This is a tough question. Most of Eternal Knight was written in one summer, just before my daughter was born. This time I won't have the luxury of long stretches of uninterrupted writing time. Writer's Block won't be a problem (I think). I know the story too well. Finding the time to write... that will be the challenge. Realistically, I need to have most of the manuscript completed by September if I want to get the book out early in the new year.

***

Other Info:

You have four days left if you want to enter my Kindle/Nook/Amazon Gift Card contest. Check out the link at the top of the page for information.

The newspaper article I mentioned in my last blog post was very complementary, however they did get the time wrong for my Book Release Party on June 4th. The party will run from 2-4 PM at Wissahickon High School. And the error could have been mine. I could easily have accidentally told the reporter the incorrect time.

My First Newspaper Review

My first newspaper article/review came out yesterday. The online edition is here. I met the reporter a week and a half ago and we had a really nice conversation. It was great fun. I've heard that a lot of writers don't like the selling process. So far I'm having a blast. I love signing books and am really looking forward to my two book events.

The actual newspapers come out tomorrow. I'll have to run out and pick up a stack of them.

REMINDER: You have one week left to enter my Kindle/Nook/Amazon contest!

Countdown(s)

Nine days left in the Kindle/Nook Giveaway contest. There are three ways to win:

1. Spread the word about the contest.
2. Spread the word about Eternal Knight's release.
3. Write a review of Eternal Knight  and post it on a blog or a bookseller's website.

Check out the link for details.

Twelve days left until the Eternal Knight Book Release Party. It will be held on June 4th from 2-4 PM in the Wissahickon High School Audion. All are welcome!

One month (June 24th at 7-9 PM) until I do a book signing at the Doylestown Bookshop.

By the way...
Eternal Knight has raised $600 for WEOF and Cure CMD so far, and we're just getting started!

Upcoming Events

Ok, so the blog posts have been a bit tame lately. I have been pouring all of my efforts into promoting Eternal Knight. On Sunday I gave my first newspaper interview. It was great fun. I'll make certain to link it  when it comes out. Besides that I have been contacting loads of book bloggers about reviewing Eternal Knight. The problem is that most of them have long backlogs of books to reads. Several have agreed to do  reviews, and most will come out over the next two months.

On June 4th I am hosting a book release party at Wissahickon High School. The party will start at 2 PM in the Audion lobby with live music from singer-songwriter John Conahan. We'll eat baked goodies and mingle while John performs before moving into the Audion itself for a book talk by yours truly. After I blather on for a bit and answer a few questions, we'll continue our snacking while I sign books and count all the money we have raised for Cure CMD and the Wissahickon Educational Opportunities Foundation.

On June 24th I will be doing a book signing at the Doylestown Bookshop. We'll start at 7 PM with a reading and Q+A session and then move on to the signing. Doylestown is a great town with loads of restaurants and neat shops to visit. Make an evening of it!

I just found out today that Eternal Knight is available in NOOK. That's the last big distributor I was waiting for.

Off I go. Have to sell some books.

By the way, your reviews are really important. If you liked Eternal Knight, please consider writing an Amazon review. And if you are really motivated you could cross post on B+N and Goodreads. Eternal Knight will only succeed with the support of its readers.

Thank you,
Matt

Kemp Says

My friend Kemp recently wrote a nice article about being a part of the creative process:

I HELPED MAKE THIS!

He also had a nice article written about him:

Polk Lawyer in Tune...

Eternal Knight wouldn't be what it is without Kemp. Take a look at the articles and give him some great feedback.

And, by the way, Eternal Knight is now available from Apple.

Interview and Contest

I was recently interviewed by CherylAnne Ham at her Making Words Happen blog. It was a fun experience to be the interviewee as opposed to the interviewer. Stop by her blog and say hello. She has a lot of great writing advice. She also does reviews on Good Book Alert. 


I'm still plugging away at promoting Eternal Knight. I'm getting a lot of nice feedback, however the challenge seems to be getting the word out. How do you get attention for your book when there are so many others out there? I have been writing to a lot of book bloggers in the hope of getting more reviews. I also have my book release party on June 4th at Wissahickon High School, and it looks like I'll be doing a book reading and signing at the Doylestown Book Shop on June 24th at 7PM. I'll confirm the date soon as I am trying to see if July 1st will work.

Don't forget my Kindle/Nook/Amazon gift card contest. The link is at the top of the page. It is easy to enter and the prize is terrific.