Am Published. Would like to Write.

May 10

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I’ve been a published author for nearly two weeks now. And, despite the fact that it’s still weird to write that, I’ve spent pretty much every day doing marketing. Now don’t get me wrong, I appreciate every single person who has allowed me to steal, borrow or befoul their blogs, but before I published, I’d spent every available second working on the book for at least two weeks before hand.

So that means I haven’t written anything new on book 2 for nearly a month and my brain is beginning to dislike that fact.

Not this Brain. Although, that would explain my desire to take over the world.

However much I’d prepared for the marketing side of being published, the reality and the plan go about as well together as oil and water. Learning how to mash the marketing and the creative together so you can do both, is a trick I’m still learning. There’s no how to guide, there’s only trial and error. Hopefully, with more success than error.

At some point soon, I plan on getting back to writing, that’s what got me to the stage of being published in the first place after all, and maybe, just maybe, my brain will be happy about the fact that I’ve written something.

Once again, not this Brain. This brain is never happy.

Speaking of the past week, I have several more links for people to go check out:

Chrissey Harrison did an excellent review of Crimes Against Magic, which you can go to here.

There’s also a wonderful interview you can check out here, with the chance to win a copy of Crimes Against Magic.

Big Bear has also done an excellent review.

As did Darcie Mair, here.

Belinda Frisch did an awesome interview too.

At the moment, Crimes Against Magic has five, 5 star reviews and three, 4 star reviews. All in all, a superb total and one that I couldn’t have expected if I’d tried. A serious thank you to everyone who purchased a copy. Which, you can still do by going to Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

For those who have been asking for a paperback copy, your wish is granted:

 

The couch is extra.

 

It will be out, hopefully, by the end of May. I’ll confirm a date and price closer to the time though. It’ll also be out on smashwords soon, once again price and date to be annouced.

 

So that’s it for another week. I hope you all have a good weekend.

 

Posted on May 10, 2012, in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. 16 Comments.

  1. Gareth | May 10, 2012 at 6:57 pm

    Nicely done and congrats on keeping the machine moving. ALl the best with it and remember what you’re doing tomorrow. “Trying to take over the world.” It’s Steve M, Steve M and his Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain. LOL

    Reply
  2. James Garcia Jr | May 11, 2012 at 1:59 am

    Hi, Steve. You’ve pretty much hit the nail on the head here. We dream of writing, spend nearly every waking moment writing and then when it’s done…we stop writing and market. How did this happen? Who came up with this concept anyway?
    I am no expert, but have been doing the whole trial and error thing for a couple of years now. If you’re anything like me, there will be constant re-evaluating what works and what doesn’t.
    Good luck to you as you work through this new process, and much success with the book.

    -Jimmy

    Reply
  3. Steve McHugh | May 11, 2012 at 7:23 am

    Thanks very much. I’m hoping I find a happy medium between the two parts, although I’m sure, like yourself, there’s going to be a lot of re-evaluating as it goes to find out what does and doesn’t work.

    Reply
  4. T. James | May 11, 2012 at 8:10 am

    Hi Steve, it is frustrating, and it can be difficult to get the right balance – the inner creative pulling against the power hungry despot.

    All I can recommend is you find a way to harness the power of the Hypnotoad (All Hail His Green-ness). Maybe wiring him to a car battery and sitting him on top of your Sky Plus box while you dance about holding a copy of CAM (the dancing is important, toads like dancing).

    Steve-O-Vision is launched, the world wide multimedia phenomenon.

    Reply
  5. tracikenworth | May 11, 2012 at 12:00 pm

    Good luck with everything. I can see that it would be a hard balancing act.

    Reply
  6. pjschnyder | May 11, 2012 at 2:09 pm

    It’s a tough balance to reach – writing and promoting your work. Welcome and grats! 😀

    It’ll be interesting to see what different ways we all find to strike the balance.

    Reply
  7. Emma Cunningham | May 11, 2012 at 4:01 pm

    The best advice I have is to make a schedule. 7-9am is marketing; 6-9pm is writing.

    Obviously, pick one that works for you.

    Reply
    • Steve McHugh | May 12, 2012 at 4:21 pm

      I work from 7am to 3pm. Then I look after my two girls while my wife works until 7pm, when they go to bed. So i get 2 hours a night to write. The marketing stuff… well I wouldn’t say I’ve been doing it on my phone during breaks at work. Not at all. 🙂

      Reply
  8. Matthew | May 11, 2012 at 8:18 pm

    Good luck as others have said on finding the right balance!

    Reply
  9. Angela Addams | May 12, 2012 at 12:43 am

    Very exciting, Steve!
    I know what you mean about promo…it’s funny how that eats up so much time when all you want to do is write.

    Reply

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