Hey, you know all that stuff I talked about yesterday? Rubbish. Wrong. Incorrect. Drop back fifty yards and punt.
I gave it some thought, and decided that NaNoWriMo is not really my cup of tea. The problem is that I have a day job, I have games I wanna play, I’m gonna be watching Desert Bus, Thanksgiving is rolling around… November is a lousy month for a writing binge, overall. And given I was originally planning to take a break for 2-3 months after City of Angles so I could rest and recharge? Diving back in immediately with 3x the fury and speed of my usual pace is probably not smart.
Besides, what is NaNoWriMo? It’s motivation for people to write a novel who might otherwise shy away. I’ve written enough novels to fill a shelf. Hell, I COMPLETED NaNoWriMo in 2009! Why break my back doing it again when the prestige it gains me probably wouldn’t actually boost my readership very much? I’d rather have a life.
As for “full book publish” vs. “weekly free serial”… I gave that some thought as well, and opted for weekly free serial, just like anachronauts and City of Angles. I do appreciate the support folks were showing for the idea of a traditionally published book, but I don’t think the upsides balance the downsides. I’d need to go dark for months and months to get the work done (since honestly, pushing myself to write the whole thing in a month is silly) and from my reader polling, a hefty portion the audience just can’t buy books. In the end… I’d rather have readership than sales.
Writing is not my job, it’s my passion. Making your passion your job is a way to kill your passion dead. In the end, I want a large audience enjoying the work — and if that audience is willing to show appreciation financially, good, if they can’t, good. As long as the work gets read, I’m happy. I don’t need a traditional publisher, I don’t need a traditional book. I just need to write.
That’s not to say this is some toss-off hobby for me. It’s my passion, as noted. And anything, anything you can do to enable that passion is welcome. Buy books. Fill out Amazon book reviews. Link to the website on your tumblrs. Tell your friends. Burn the URL into the moon with an enormous laser. Anything and everything you do, on any level, will help me. And I will be everthankful.
So, let’s cut to the TL;DR.
Floating Point, a cyberpunk novel, will start being released in weekly updates in likely December or January. Once completed a book with bonus content will be available. I might add a Patreon on top, but the core content will be free. And your participation in this process is most welcome. Door’s open; come in, grab a book, and read. I’ll bake us some cookies.