Lots of real work going on here still and my brain has settled into a weird routine. Every time I try to go to sleep at night, it comes up with something new for me think about and the last three nights, it's made me get up and do something with them. Note taking is not enough apparently.
The worst thing it's come up with is a dilemma and a half. When you begin writing, at the back of your mind, the ideal is that a publisher will pick you up and do the 'right thing' with you (ie: give you some money and then spend some money in the hope that they can make some money). A by-product of this is a second book... unless of course your first book fails to perform adequately and then you will be back at square one with a bad taste in your mouth, no hope and a reputation among other publishers that your first publisher dropped you.
Is this a reasonable assumption? I think so, which is why I find doing it yourself so damned appealing. There are two really important things to bear in mind though:
1. Is your writing good enough? Always a good idea to get somebody who knows what they are talking about to get a look over it first. There's all manner of shit that can come back and bite you on the ass. Spelling, continuity, rambling... I'll stop there. At the end of that long list though is the fact that you have to be able to take the criticism and do something with it. Accept or reject. It's your call, but if you can't take it from one person you trust, stop right now because once people start buying your product, your whole future will involve people commenting on your stuff.
2. The second and more important point was given that you have enough technical knowledge to get the product made and looking as good - if not better than the big guns can do - your main stumbling block is getting enough people to know about your product and convince the vast majority of them to part with their money. This one has scrawled a frown across my face for a long time now... I don't have any answers - yet. But I will find them...
More later.
