The Quest Is Dead...Sort Of...

They say a good blog can serve as a good marketing tool...

Yes, I suppose I have really messed that one up.

A great deal has stayed the same since the last Quest post, including zero book sales, little progress on the book-writing front and, of course, not many people really noticing.

So, this must be why people subject themselves to the humiliation of being rejected by dozens of literary agents and publishers. Because getting the word out is tough!

This is especially true when there are other things that are more important, like actually writing or the overbearing need to eat.

You know, trivial stuff.

And then, of course, comes the news that Lulu.com has done away with the Published By You package, where I would have been able to snap up an ISBN of my own. They've replaced it with two distribution packages that I couldn't explain if I lived to be 100.

Normally, this wouldn't have bothered me, seeing as how Stories from the Forester: Volume 1 isn't anywhere near close to publishing stage. However, this does leave Flagrant Foul in a serious state of limbo. Sure, you can still buy it at Amazon (Don't know why I pointed that out. If you haven't bought it yet, I'm doubting you're opening up the wallets now!). But it leaves far too many questions marks, namely the actual process of purchasing their GlobalReach package in the event I choose to do so (Which, after scanning through the site, I see no real help for Published by Lulu customers to do that!).

It's been a big enough pain in the ass to come up with idea for writing that clearly nobody's interested in. But to take the one thing that was quite simple and complicate it unnecessarily? Yes, this will truly inspire people to self-publish in the future.

Make no mistake, I'll never stop writing. But this Quest? It's dead.

For the two of three people who truly care, fear not. This blog may be getting dumped, but I've always got other things up my sleeve. Like a phoenix, something new shall rise from the ashes...

Or perhaps something old...

Taking a Step Back

Well, let's go ahead and chalk that up to a failed experiment.

It turns out that instead of spurring my creativity by setting a release date for Stories from the Forester: Volume 1, it apparently drove my writer's block to the point where I wasn't even adding blog posts on a regular basis...anywhere!

Well, hopefully, this wave has stopped. I have been adding blog posts for the TOG Solutions site. And with the recent release of the Welcome to Social Media ebook for Social Media Club Cleveland, I think I'm getting out of this non-writing funk.

But it's obvious that Volume 1 won't be coming out on July 25th. Let's just consider it an open-ended.

In the meantime, while I try to figure out how to get back on track with Unwritten, I'm taking a look at some of my other ongoing writing. As the saying goes, you always seem to find something when you stop looking for it.

New Release Date for Volume 1: July 25, 2009

This shouldn't really surprise anyone.

As I continue to stare at a blank screen where a chapter of Unwritten should be, I have come to the realization (as if it wasn't already realized in my April 20th post!) that there's really no chance in hell that Stories from the Forester: Volume 1 will be completely ready for public consumption on June 21, 2009, as promised.

But fear not. While visions of other stories and other projects continue to race through my head (albeit not the screen!), I won't be giving up on getting Volume 1 done and ready for the masses! So, instead of canceling, I have bumped up the release date to July 25, 2009!

In the meantime, folks, I'm really looking to do this one right, and in order to do that, I'm going to try and get Lulu.com's Published by You option. However, as you know, that requires money; money that I currently don't have.

So, with that, I'm going to go ahead and ask for your help!

To keep from having the push my release date and further, please go ahead and purchase a copy of Flagrant Foul, available for the special Web site price of $19.99! Click on the link on the side bar to buy it! Of, if you have an Amazon Kindle or Kindle app for your iPhone, please buy Dilemma, available for only $0.99! Click here to purchase!

Thank you, and wish me luck!

Flying Solo By Choice (aka Why I Stopped Looking for a Literary Agent)

A little more than two years ago, soon after I finished my first draft of Flagrant Foul, I did essentially what most aspiring writers did. I searched around the Internet seeking contact information for literary agents. And I was on my way, armed with e-mail addresses, an e-mail query and some sample chapters.

I get it. You're going to hear a lot of rejection. It comes with the territory. But after some thought, I began to wonder if it was really worth my while to send out inquiry after inquiry to no avail. Most of the inquiries I either never heard any kind of response or received the boilerplate "Sorry. This isn't a match. Good luck with your future endeavors" letter.

So last year, instead of wasting time trying to gain notice among the sea of manuscripts, I went solo, posted Flagrant Foul on Lulu.com, converted that and Dilemma into Kindle books, and started jumping on every social network I could think of.

OK, I have no book sales, electronic or otherwise. I'm struggling to find an identity and key demographic and I'm suffered from an ugly case of writer's block that has kept me from finishing Stories from the Forester: Volume 1.

But it's out there. Had I went the literary agent route, there's a good chance nobody would have ever known that I had written anything.

The choice is yours. We all go our different paths. I'm not sorry I went mine.

You never know, though. Perhaps I'll let a stray inquiry letter loose in the future.

Quest for an ISBN? More Like Quest for a Job!

Publishing, especially self-publishing, is a brutal business. And despite my best-case scenario hopes, I was realistic that I probably wouldn't sell enough books or get a good enough deal to be able to quit my job.

Of course, I wasn't banking on having to try and find another job, either. But here we are. Almost a year into the Quest, and the books have barely gotten noticed...

...and I'm looking for a job...

Yes, in a series of events that combine equal parts of hubris, Luddism (is that the ism for Luddite?), cutbacks and complete stupidity, I've been in the unenviable position in recent months of being unemployed. My situation makes even less sense when you consider that I spent years working in career development and recently published articles on the subject.

At this point, I'll go ahead and go with the "doctors make the worst patients" defense. Not a valid excuse, but the only one I can come up with at the moment.

You would also think that my joblessness would have given me plenty of time to get back to the task of completing Stories from the Forester: Volume 1 (Still, theoretically, slated for release June 21st). Well, I've found that apparently the soul-sucking experience of being unemployed also has left me devoid of the inspiration to finish the second story, Unwritten.

Undoubtedly, there are times where you feel like you've been knocked down so many times, you just want to stay down...

But this is me we're talking about. I figure if I can at least finish writing a full-length novel, I can get through this.

And I promise, I'll get back to writing!

So, I Used to be Good at Deadlines...

About a two months ago, I thought that it would be a good idea to set a publishing date for Stories from the Forester: Volume 1. I figured, hey, it'd be a great 1000th Twitter post, and it would be the right motivation to get the second story, Unwritten, finished.

Here we are, though, April 24th, and I'm no closer to being finished that I was when I made that announcement.

Sure, I might be able to get it written, edited and formatted for public consumption by that time. But, really, who are we fooling?

Besides, it's not like Flagrant Foul is flying off the shelves. In fact, the only person who's actually bought that book is ME!

So, I suppose it's one of those cases where I have to ask, "If a tree falls in the woods and nobody's there, would it make a sound?"

I'd ask for some motivation, but that generally goes unanswered as well.

Yes, it's been that kind of 2009...

Stories From the Forester - Volume 1 Drops June 20th

The Quest has begun anew...

In connection with my 1,000th update on Twitter, I thought I'd add a little spice to the occasion by throwing in this major (well, at least for me) announcement:

Stories From the Forester - Volume 1, which includes the stories Dilemma and Unwritten, will be released on June 20, 2009, first exclusively on my Web site, www.flagrantfoul.com, then to bookstores everywhere!

For those of you scoring at home, Dilemma is the first story of the series, in which Reggie McCaffrey, fresh from a full-time newspaper gig, returns to Forest State University and the school paper defeated, down-trodden, but hopeful of winning the affection of Brenda Alvarez, the Forester's News Editor. The second story, Unwritten, centers around the inevitably of graduation for Reggie and Editor-in-Chief Jim Case, and their uncertain futures.

But there's more! Because Dilemma has been finished for some time, I am giving it away as a PDF e-book absolutely FREE and as a Kindle Book for only $0.99! Apparently, Amazon doesn't want me giving stuff away, so I apologize in advance!

So, with four months until the release, there's plenty of time to get ready, as opposed to the rushed approach taken with Flagrant Foul. Maybe I can avoid repeating the same mistakes twice!

On thing's for certain, I will be doing some promotions, which I will announce in the coming weeks. Two events I know for sure will be happening, with more on the way. And the more the merrier! Advance copies of the entire book will be available in early May, so anyone interested in reviewing can go ahead and drop me a line, and I'll have you on the mailing list!

And with that, off we go!!!