Selling Out: The Choice to Write What Sells

I posted a blog post a while back talking about the craziness that is the E.L. James and 50 Shades phenomenon. Since then I have written, not as much as would have liked, but still have been writing. I came to the realization that I want people to read my writing and I want to make money. Well… after some research, I came to the realization that erotica and romance sell like hotcakes as well as selling for more per word than any other type of writing. I have no previous expertise in writing either, so I figured I’d give erotica a shot, how hard could it be?

I did some research, watched some videos and read blogs. My next step was to read some erotica so I bought a few popular shorts and sat down with my kindle. Most of what I read was hot, but at the same time the writing distracted me. There was nothing there that I couldn't do. I was going to have to draw off of some personal experience  if I was going to make it hot and enjoyable for people to read. I sat down last week and started writing.

The result was an almost 4k word short that will end up leading to a series of 5 or 6 stories. I think I did a good job, not amazing but I think a valiant first effort. I have confidence that as time goes it will be easier. I also sold copies of it quicker than I ever did with my other work and. I’m excited to say the least. Not ready to throw my pen name into the world, not that proud of myself.

What does it all mean? Don’t limit yourself by writing only one thing or only what you know. Trying something new, try something fun, you might just surprise yourself.

Getting back into the swing of things

I miss it. It’s been a while since I’ve written anything, let alone a blog post. The only thing I have actually written in the last month in a half or so was about 1k words of a short I’m working on. Hopefully I can finish this week *fingers crossed*. Other than that, most of my time is spent on school or other writing related activities. I have been working with a writer to edit, develop cover art and publish her erotic shorts the past few weeks. So good so far. We managed to get two done in a week that were already written and she is hard at work writing the third and should be done in a few more days. It’s actually quite fun to help someone else get their books ready for sale and then see copies start to move on Amazon. It makes me really want to get back to writing. Midterms this week and I’m in the midst of writing a couple of magazine articles for a class, so yeah, it could be a few days or maybe a week before that happens, but I sure do miss it.

I really look forward to writing soon, but I’m also a little worried. Right now, I’m about halfway done with a novel that was supposed to be the first book in a planned five book series and I feel no connection to the main character right now. I think my plan will be to get a couple of shorts done, maybe 5-10k words each and then give the novel a fresh shot and see how I feel about it. I think most of my fear is that in order to get back to where I was in the story, I will need to read the whole thing and I feel like it might be utter shit. Then what? I guess only time will tell. 

Back to writing magazine articles (for school, one about food (boo) and one about publishing (yay!)).

The First Time I Kissed A Woman

This is the title of my first book, well a novella really, which I released this week on Amazon as part of the Kindle Direct Publishing program and also chose for it to be included in Prime so that readers can use their Prime subscription to borrow my work!

It was very exciting honestly to get it done and out there in the world! So far the sales have be about what I expected, but the people who have read it and left reviews seem to really love it! That's the best part for me. I just wanted people to enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Here's the book blurb from Amazon:
This coming of age story tells the tale of Ryan, a conservative young guy on a mission to get to his mother's giant birthday bash on time. As he navigates the slippery slope of a typical crush on a girl, he finds himself in an adventure that helps him to see how immediate circumstances can help change his perception of the world and his place in it. This post-modern story, set mostly at a bar and eventually a hotel room, reminds the reader of the rite of passage a boy makes when he becomes a man.

I can't wait to see how other readers respond. Here are a few samples from the reviews so far:

"An endearing coming-of-age tale from a male's perspective as he navigates the oftentimes daunting world of girls and women. The author's writing style shows great movement; offering the reader easy, yet descriptive prose. I couldn't put it down!"

"I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novella. It was a fun and easy read that I definitely could not put down. It kept me entertained and I am looking forward to many more novels and/or novellas from Orion."

Support Indie Authors by going to Amazon and buying your copy today!

Setting A Goal To Stay Motivated

I find I tend to get lazy, not write as much as I would like or am capable of. I finally figured out a way to cure this. I made a goal and am going to reward my self with a wonderful treat if I am amble to meet the goal. Most people are aware of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) where participants write a novel in a month (50k words). Well I feel like this could be too easy and I really wanted to challenge myself.

Enter NaNoWriMo X13. I'm attempting to not only do 13 months in a row (Aug 1, 2012-Aug 312013) of NaNoWriMo, but I'm stipulating that every one of the 650k words not only has to be written by the end date, but also published. It's a ridiculously crazy goal. I feel like I'm out of my mind considering I'm entering my last year of college and time will be tight. I'm going to keep my progress updated via Twitter as each book hits the digital realm, so feel free to follow along. @EnzoGaudio

Here goes nothing. The first ~22k words are in the process of final edits and will be up shortly...only 628k to go.

Take A Break From Writing By Writing

Writing can be very taxing on the brain. I was writing earlier this week, working on my novel, and I was feeling burned out. It wasn't the writing or the sitting in front of the computer, but what I was writing. It is important to take a break and give your mind something else to focus on. For people like myself who are trying to make a living from writing, or do already, it is hard to take a break from how you earn your living. It is a beautiful thing being a writer, the more you write the more money you can make but when you get in a rut it becomes scary. I decided I needed a break from my story, from my characters.

I was trying to think what would be a good break and realized that I would like to be writing but something else instead. I had an idea for a short story, something based on an actual crazy night of my life, and I decided to write that. I started writing and I got on a roll. The story that I thought was going to be a few thousand words has now turned into more of a novella length and will be 22-25k words when I finish tomorrow. The break from my novel has been good and I think by the time I get back to it on Wednesday or Thursday this week I will feel refreshed and ready to write. It is a slippery slope though, if you take a break to write something else, make sure you finish the new project.

Keep writing.

We Published Our First Book Today

  So this is from Outfox Digital Publishing (I am the CEO). We published our first eBook today. A cookbook that focuses on Northern Italian cuisine that can be made from scratch in just minutes. It's a great book for beginners or for seasoned cooks. There are 50+ recipes to choose from that are categorized as: Bruschetta, Antipasti, Insalate, Primi, Secondi and Dolce. The eBook is called Fast and Fresh: Recipes from Northern Italy and the author is Giovanni Gaudio.


  Overall the process at times was frustrating and the hours were much longer than I could have imagined but it is so worth it. I feel like I have accomplished something wonderful and there is something out there now that will be around for a long time. I can't even comprehend right now what it will be like when I finish writing and  publish my novel. Here is an excerpt from the introduction of the cookbook.

I understand how fast we live in our American culture and the challenges our home cooks face- attempting to prepare healthy and interesting meals for their families and friends that are also nutritious and non-processed, usually with limited amounts of available time. My latest inspiration is to offer a simple cookbook that is fast and fresh, with recipes that lend themselves to a quick snack, a bigSunday meal or a great dinner party. I hope you enjoy my recipes and find they’re approachable mid-week or fabulous and satisfying for entertaining.

Some of these recipes have been made in a particular region in Italy for centuries; other recipes were developed by me and are a creative spin-off from an Italian recipe. And some recipes are completely inspired by a combination of local farmers’ crops in Northern California, my travels and certainly my imagination. Have fun, enjoy the process and the outcome, e buon appetito!

To find out more about the cookbook, get a sample or buy your own copy Click Here! or search 'Giovanni Gaudio' on Amazon.

I would sell out and so would you

All writers want to write the next great novel. There is a part of each of us that wants to be the next Ernest Hemingway or F. Scott Fitzgerald. What writer wouldn't want to be recognized for being a master of prose. The problem is most of us will work our whole lives trying to reach that level of rarefied air.

If I was given the choice of writing the next great American novel and making dump trucks full of money every week (see E.L. James) I would take the money. It may seem shallow. Before you judge me, ask yourself what you would do. The chance of becoming enormously wealth as a writer is extremely small, so why not leap at that chance. I would rather be rich than remembered for being a great writer who died poor. Feel free to judge me. They say money can't buy happiness...I would love to try.

This train of thought came to me as I was writing my first novel. I kept rewriting the first few chapters, trying to make them perfect. I realized that no matter how long I worked to perfect it, it would never be the book it was capable of being. My best hope is to write a simple book that appeals to a wide audience and try to strike it rich. Suddenly the words began to flow and I am on pace to finish a full length novel in one month. Not bad for a first time writer. Here's to hoping other people will want to read what I have written and I haven't gone too far into the darkness.

Too many distractions necessitate a change of scenery

I was feeling stuck with own writing this week. I decided to try writing somewhere else. Where else would a first time novelist write the next seminal American novel than Starbucks? It felt so cliche but I couldn't think of a place that had places to sit and plug a laptop in.

My discovery was that while there are many distractions (the people, the drinks) that I am a better writer. When at home, it becomes so easy to get up and do something. The distractions you feel when trying to write can come from anything and it won't really go away unless you stop and do something about it. When writing somewhere else like Starbucks, the distractions tend to disappear on their own.

It is however not always possible to go somewhere else other than your home to write. My suggestion, and what I plan to do, is to write things at home that take a little less focus or intensity on your part and save the more difficult parts of your writing until you can remove those personal distractions. I find it much easier to get in the zone as it were when not at home.  

Choose carefully who you work with

A bit of frustration this week for me and my publishing company. We have a book scheduled to come out soon and are in the final phases of editing right now. The problem is the author is worried that with our edits that he might be losing his voice from the work and he will come off as not knowing the subject well (its non fiction). This proved to be a sticky situation. We had to try and convince him that we would take care to make sure that his work was representative of him and not what the editors had decided. This was particularly hard as this is his first book, and we are really just doing what is in the best interest of both parties. It can be one of those things that if it can't be worked out to the satisfaction of both parties, it can ruin the relationship.

For me, this has reinforced the idea that you must always be cautious of who you do businesses with. This is true for both parties, the writer and the publisher, because if you don't have the same vision, things can get a bit rough. Always be sure you are getting what you want.

That being said, we are getting ready to release a book in a few weeks, and then two (and maybe three) novels within the next two months.
Check out Outfox Digital Publishing for more information about what I do, and upcoming books.

First person present?

I started work on my first novel this past week, and I ran into an issue with trying to decide on the point of view it should be in. I guess to make this a little more clear, it has to do with the nature of the book, and why I ended up choosing first person present.

I am writing about a guy, who at the core of his being, is delusional, has hallucinations and a bit of OCD thrown in. It is his firm belief that under the direction and insistence of a group of people who are changing the world for the better, he must burn homes and business that have to pay for the choices they have made. There is no religious connotation to this (and I don't plan on introducing it at any point, but you never know I guess).

For this type of character, I just felt that third person would be inadequate. Yes, third person would have made a possible parallel story of law enforcement chasing him a bit easier and fill some pages, but it just didn't feel right.

I have therefore come to the conclusion that the book needs to be in first person present. What does this mean for me? It means I have to scrap what I've written so far and start again. I was using "I" once every 15 words and it sounded horrible. I do however feel fortunate that it is early enough in the process that I can fix it, and make it exponentially more readable.