Friday, December 28, 2012

PT Dilloway Annual #1

A lot of times in comics they do an "annual" issue which is like an extra issue I guess to commemorate the end of a yearly run.  You could also think of this as the year in review.

Though of course this blog didn't start until April Fool's Day.  Sadly this blog still has fewer "followers" than my Grumpy Bulldog blog.  Probably because I haven't been doing enough blogfests to get people noticing this blog and "following" it.  Which continues to be a thorn in my craw.  (Mixing metaphors!)  I'd love to have hundreds of followers like Michael Offutt or even thousands like other blogs.  But I suppose to do that you need to spend a lot more time going to blogs and making largely generic comments and smiling and curtsying and all that kind of stuff that I never feel like doing.

Hurm, this is pretty much how my boss starts every meeting, by pissing and moaning about the same shit for ten minutes.  I tend to just mentally check out until we get down to something of importance.

Anyway, when I started 2012 I had never published a book except through self-publishing.  And now at the end of 2012 I have 2 books published by other companies.  So that ain't bad.

While the publishing front was a lot better, the writing front wasn't as good as in 2011 or especially 2010.  Most of the year I just labored to rewrite the second Scarlet Knight story.  Then I wrote all the flash fiction stories for We Are Now and the Scarlet Knight Volume 0.  Other times I might be really annoyed I haven't done so much, but this year it's been OK because I've spent a lot of time editing and marketing and all that, so really I've just been more focused on other aspects of "the business."

The goal for 2013 then would be to push for more, because that's how things go.  First you get a publishing contract (finally) and then you want a better one.  Like say a publisher who releases a physical copy at the same time or before the ebook and charges more than $2.99 and actually gives me a release date in advance.  That would be pretty awesome.

If it hasn't yet, then the first Scarlet Knight book should show up in paperback in 2013.  The fate of the rest of the series I will discuss next month so get ready for some big announcements!  In case you don't know, there are eight volumes in the series already written.  And I don't mean like George Lucas when he says he wrote 6 episodes of Star Wars or 9 or whatever but you can't really be sure about it because no one had seen them.  No, all eight are written and if you read my original Rogue Mutt blog you can even find out what they're about.  If you look at the timeline in the special features you can see the titles for them and see how they follow each other.

On top of that, I'd like to find a home for my Chances Are series.  I've mentioned that a few times, right?  The first one is about a guy who dies but thanks to an experimental drug comes back to life as a woman and then goes out to kick ass on those responsible for killing him in the first place.  (The pronouns get confusing.)  At some point I need to work out the query and send it around to see if I can get any interest.  I mean come on, I have credentials now!  If not, I might have to look around for another small publisher or self-publish.  There are three of those already written, which I may or may not have mentioned. 

Anyway, I'm supposed to be looking back, not looking ahead.  So let's get the sappy montage music playing like that Sarah Maclachlan or Green Day song used at like every high school graduation in the late 90s-early 2000s.  (Maybe they still use those for all I know.  Sixteen years from now maybe they'll play those at my niece's graduation.)


When I started this blog, I had a dream.  A dream...to sell books.  Romantic, no?  And perhaps it's been successful.  I don't really know how many books I've sold, but I know it's greater than zero, so mission accomplished.  Through it all we've laughed and cried and lived.  Or not.  Chances are, you learned far more about A Hero's Journey than you ever wanted to.  You probably learned more about old comics than you cared to know.  If you were lucky, you won some money or a free book off of me.  And you learned how to make yourself into a superhero, which is something you should never, ever actually do in real life--can't stress that enough.

Some of the features will be canceled in 2013.  The full schedule posts New Year's Day, but I will give you one hint:  the Two-Fer Tuesdays are gone.  I have something else to put in place there.  I've come up with a couple more things and shuffled a couple of things, so 2013 will get off a little bit of a different start.  Anyway, check back at the start of the year to find out all the exciting things that will be coming down the pipe.

If you've popped in today and read all this, then thanks for your support.  If you read the books, then I hoped you enjoyed them.  If you did, why not go review them on Amazon, B&N, Goodreads, etc?  (And LIKE it on Amazon too.)  And tell all your "friends" on Twitter, Facebook, and in real life.  Or you know, go stand on top of a building with a bullhorn and sing my praises.  That will get me some publicity for sure.  Not good publicity, but you know what they say about that.

Happy New Year!  See you in 2013! 

(Check in January 1, 2013 for the New Blogging Schedule!)

11 comments:

Maurice Mitchell said...

It's been a great year Pat. For some reason "Memories" played in my head while reading this. I'm looking forward to the new features and probably won't miss the"Two-Fer" to be honest. I did learn a lot about Scarlet Knight and won an Amazon gift card (Thanks for that). Time for my genetic comment: Wow, awesome blog! You're amazing! **Courtesy courtesy grovel.** Hurm. See you next year Man

Briane said...

This is quite a blog. I greatly enjoyed your posting about your topic of choice. You are a person who writes a great deal of words. That is enjoyable.

Briane said...

Wow. That was kind of fun. This might be the sappiest post you've ever written, which is not saying much. You really wear your emotions on your sleeve... outside of 15 other sleeves you wear underneath them.

What are you protecting, there inside your chest? Is it YOUR HEART, easily broken, always longing for the thrill of being loved, admired, wanted?

Or is it a mechanical device that if allowed to see the light of day would blow the universe to smithereens, stranding a last desperate remnant of humanity on a fragile asteroid hurtling through a limbo-like void in which the rules of physics are suspended and morals have no meaning anymore?

Find out in my upcoming series, Grumpy Bulldog Saves The Universe...?

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

The only reason I have hundreds of followers is because I never changed my blog to reflect an authorial presence. It's because (honestly) you give a shit more than I do. I think having an author website is for people who are at least best selling. I'm nowhere near that, and I don't pretend to be. I'm some dude who works at the State of Utah and dreams of being a best seller. But for now...a free blogspot blog works fine. I put up a forum on my blog for fans of my writing to discuss my stories and have had one person register by the name of uberwanker. That kinda shows you how "authorial" I am.

Blogspot it is!

Rusty Carl said...

Touching post. My year in review will not be positive. Yours though, you're doing well! Looking forward to the new schedule.

klahanie said...

Dude, all in all, you've had a pretty good year. Never mind the crap about total 'followers', blogfests, blog awards and the rest of it. I know lots of blogs that have over a 1000 'followers' with like zero comments. That tells me a lot.

Oh, let's do this. Great posting! Me follow. Thanks for sharing! Seriously, PT, I think you do a lot of noteworthy writing. Whether you realise it or not, I have promoted you via various social networking sites. And no, don't thank me.

Happy New Year!

Your shy, humble, non-promoting fan,

Gary

Andrew Leon said...

But there's a whole organization in the US for real life super heroes. You know, maybe you should try to get in touch with them and direct them to your how to be a super hero stuff. They might learn something. I think you have an audience there just waiting to be found!

stephen Hayes said...

Sometimes it's necessary to revise a blog to keep it fresh for your readers. I can readily sympathize about having to respond to other posts because of all the time it takes, but people like you are always so generous leaving comments on MY site. I wonder how Michael finds time to do this with as many followers as he has. In any event, I'll always come back to see what you're up to. Take care and Happy New Year.

Tammy Theriault said...

two books published is quite an accomplishment. and it is true about what you say, if you're not out there commenting, people generally won't comment just to do so. but if you look at it in a different light, i view commenting as hey, someone even took the time to at least skim my blog and i appreaciate that. so hey, if you skim my blog...i'll skim yours...hehehe :D and please, leave me generic comments like "cool post". that way i know you read it. :D

Tony Laplume said...

Your publisher may not have been ideal, but it's a publisher, and you're far happier with the ebook format than I am, so be a little less grumpy about that.

Tammy Theriault said...

Got your comment! Haha...I change my mind. Write "best post ever! your amazing!" Hahaha :D

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