Perhaps, with this being the end of the year, I’m feeling introspective. Or maybe there’s just been a lot happening and I’m working to make sense of it. Either way, I’m going to reflect on a lot of different things here.
For me, 2023 has been a crazy year. There have been a lot of ups and downs. Much of the crazy is not mine but has been impacting the people I love and care about. Despite all the craziness, my life is pretty good.
This year has included getting a new series written, finally editing and publishing to close another series and starting on expanding distribution; blog writing, restarting and maintaining my newsletter; exploring direct sales; learning about and exploring AI for various purposes; and networking to increase both sales and brand recognition.
Let’s look at this and see what new things I’ve learned from it all (and might be worth sharing for you to be inspired and empowered). I’ll start the info dump at the end.
Reaching the end
Back in 2021, I finished writing my Void Incursion series. In early 2022, I did my edits of the fifth and final book, Check and Mate. All that needed to happen was getting cover art and an edit done.
That’s where I hit a snag. Funds to cover both necessities were lacking. Sadly, I simply wasn’t able to make it happen.
My situation changed this year, and I was able to take care of both. Thus, Check and Mate has been published and Void Incursion is now complete.
It’s one thing to reach the end of a book. That’s amazing. It’s another to be able to get it edited, get cover art made, and publish it to share with the world. Being able to share that I have two complete, but different, sci-fi series available feels amazing.
To that end, Forgotten Fodder was put out for wider distribution in all formats. For 2024, I’ll be following suit with Void Incursion.
This is one reason why I refer to this as the ongoing process. Always something more to do, to learn, and to share with others. The end is never the end, though. It’s just room for new beginnings.
Info dump – blogs, newsletters, and exploring direct sales
Twelve years ago, at the start of 2012, I took my first New Year’s Action. To write more frequently and regularly, I started to blog every Wednesday. This would evolve into my Pathwalking life philosophy, and I’ve put up a post about mindfulness, conscious reality creation, and other elements aligning with this philosophy every week for 625 consecutive weeks and counting.
I previously mentioned adding expanded distribution this year, and I will be continuing that. When I publish my next sci-fi series – Savagespace – not only will that be going wide likely from the start, but also potentially as a direct sale from my website.
Lots of indie authors are moving towards direct sales. There are some very good reasons to do so, one of which is that you get paid directly for your books and ebooks and make all the profit (rather than dealing with the “middleman” of Amazon, Smashwords, or another retailer). A lot goes into this, so at this time, I’m still learning.
Realistically, to make direct sales more doable, I need to expand my audience. However, I’m beginning to explore it.
For many people, AI is terrifying. Granted, there are lots of movies out there where AI in one form or another causes doom and gloom, so it’s understandable in that light.
AI is a new tool that can be employed for many different elements of content creation. These include text, images, audio, video, and more. Many see this as potentially bad for creative industries.
I’ve had the opportunity to play with some of the AI. I’ve worked with ChatGPT and Claude to create content for my jobs beyond writing. While they are amazing tools for this, if used without editing it’s obvious that AI did the work. What’s more, without human input they don’t spontaneously generate content.
While there are some valid concerns about AI taking content from other sources without permission, I think it’s far more like how a human author or artist has influences. You’re not stealing the material created by another, but you might employ similar concepts, tropes, and the like. For example, there are only so many notions for faster-than-light travel, plausible or implausible.
Overall, generative AI is just another new tool creatives can use. However, there are and will be bad actors who will abuse this. So far, the one place AI is being used that I have the largest issue with is AI book narration.
As a voice artist, I don’t feel it’s necessary to narrate books via AI. I’m all for how this allows more access to books for the blind and those who can’t read, but this could still be done while employing human voice actors. This is the one place, thus far, I have an issue with how Generative AI is being used.
AI isn’t the destroyer of creatives. It’s just a new tool that creatives have at our disposal.
Info dump – networking and next steps
Writers and artists are communities of creatives. Hence, we’re not truly in competition with one another, and efforts of mutual support benefit everyone.
Even when we work in similar genres, we’re not in competition with one another. Thus, connecting and networking with other writers is a great way to expand reach, increase space for sales, and more.
To that end, I’ve joined a local writer’s group and am seeking other writers to network with. I’m also considering starting my own network and inviting authors to join it. I have ideas, and I presume if there are things I’m questioning, surely others are in the same boat.
As I conclude this info dump, the next steps for me include having a cover and some art created for my upcoming Savagespace sci-fi series. My goal is to set everything up for pre-sales and start hyping it all in the first quarter of 2024.
In February 2024, I’ll be attending the Farpoint convention in Maryland for the third time. I just submitted my interest in the panels they’re holding and am looking forward to being on some good ones. There are some other cons I’m looking into for 2024 because this ties to the networking and expansion of my brand as I wrote in my info dump above.
All in all, 2023 has been a largely decent year for me and my creative endeavors. With that written, I’m very much looking forward to seeing what the new year will bring.
Thanks for reading this info dump. As I share my creative journey with you, I conclude with this: How are you inspired to be your own creator – whatever form that takes?
Please take a moment to check out the collection of my published works, which can be found here.
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