K Sawyer Paul

A Better Life Online: This One Thing

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 01:18:40 -0400

For most of my life, I thought I was a writer. What I didn’t realize was that I was a salesman. This is the kind of life-changing realization that can really only happen to salesmen. Or writers, maybe.

This is the beginning of a new venture for me. Follow it on Tumblr and soon enough everywhere else.

An old review for No Chinook

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 11:39:29 -0400

It’s from 2008, just after the book was published:

No Chinook by K. Sawyer Paul is a touching and beautifully written novel. I loved the main character of this story because I identified with him. I really enjoyed following Scott on his journey of self-discovery. This novel is filled with interesting and well-developed secondary characters as well. The author’s witty use of dialogue and powerful descriptions drew me in from the beginning. The plot is captivating and has plenty of surprises. I think everyone will find a little bit of themselves in this story, I certainly did.

My books are on Goodreads

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 11:32:04 -0400

Apparently No Chinook book has been up since last November. I had absolutely no idea, but it turns out Goodreads is one of the places Smashwords distributes its collection (which explains why it says they published it). It would be awesome if all my friends on Goodreader gave it a rating of some kind.

Everything We Haven’t Lost is also there, and it’s under “Kyle Paul,” even though at the time I was going by “Kyle David Paul,” and I’ve been going by “K Sawyer Paul” since 2006, which is before Goodreads existed.

The book world is weird

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 11:27:11 -0400

My book of short stories that I published in 2005 is available on Amazon from a reseller for $101.74.

Look, I like the book, but it’s definitely not worth that kind of money.

Writing a Book in the Age of Electronic Ink. I’m writing...

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 11:54:03 -0400

Writing a Book in the Age of Electronic Ink.

I’m writing the article largely on paper (which makes it ironic), but with an electronic pen that captures everything I write and syncs it to my desktop, (which brings it right back). I’ve been wanting to write this essay for the better part of two years, but there were always these novels in the way. So here we go.

Cupcake Money

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:01:58 -0400

This week was the first time I ever had the “money” conversation when it came to my own writing. A friend asked me how much I actually made from my books, with the assumption that it was definitely funding a large part of my existence. I replied with, “It’s barely cupcake money.”

The truth is that the vast, vast majority of Canadian (and, arguably, worldwide) authors never make enough money writing to justify quitting a day job. I certainly don’t. I couldn’t even pay for all the coffee I drink in a year with what I make selling books. The reason I used “cupcakes” as an example is, well, how many cupcakes do you have in a year? I think I have about 10. Maybe that makes me a glutton, I don’t know, but what I make in books would barely cover cupcake costs. But that’s okay, because since I got into this business of writing I’ve accepted the reverse-passion philosophy of emotional passion VS financial reimbursement.

I’m really terrible at creative graphs, but the basic idea is that the more emotional passion you put into a project, the less financial gain you’re likely to receive. Inversely, the less emotional passion you use, the higher your chances of making lots of money. Now, in many cases this isn’t true. Passionate bankers will often make lots of money doing what they love. Passionate construction workers will definitely bring home the bacon. But artists, and writers especially have an incredibly hard time doing that.

So we do other things. I don’t know a single writer who doesn’t have multiple jobs. Many of us work in publishing, where we edit or typeset or proofread or ship books back and forth cities in giant trucks. That’s great. Many more of us work entirely non-related jobs, where we really aren’t fuelled by emotional drive but by the desire to get home and spend the evening with our true loves: writing, our families, and our other hobbies that help us procrastinate from writing. That’s okay. It’s all okay. There is no wrong way to be a writer. Well, you could stop writing. But then you’re just not a writer. And that’s okay too. The world isn’t going to stop turning just because you didn’t finish your opus, just because you decided to get on with your life.

It can be disparaging to think that no matter how hard you work at your craft you might never reach the promised land of getting to do this for a living. For me, I got over it by thinking like how I’ve described: my writing brings home the cupcake money, and I’m fine with that. I love what I do. That’s all that matters to me. I think the faster we all become satisfied with what our writing brings us, the faster we’ll all become happier members of society.

Also, stop fretting about the book industry. It’s fine.

Some quick updates

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 23:50:21 -0400

My new Mac Mini is chugging along really nicely. I’m still amazed they fit such a robust computer in that tiny chassis, although it becomes believable once you realize they fit that same computer into a smaller laptop. I have it up on a laptop stand, and it sort of looks like an AT-AT.

I’ve added two pretty major clients to my typesetting work this month. Very excited to be working with these businesses. As always, my door is open.

I’m so proud of Kirsten Bedard and Alissa Santiago, Gredunza Press’ first authors, who are both launching their books in the next two weeks.

Largely due to James Caldwell’s suggestions, I’m moving Gredunza Press over to Wordpress. The options are really crazy robust, and I feel I’ve upgraded my skills by a considerable margin in the last year and can actually handle hosting one of these crazy things now. I’ve gone with A2 hosting, which was really affordable and seems limitless. I think I can finally retire Rapidweaver and iWeb as my lite-website makers of choice. It won’t be up right away, but it’s going to look great when it’s done.

Limited Edition Bookmarks

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 22:03:09 -0400

gredunza:

Custom limited edition bookmarks using awesome paper from the Japanese Paper Place, handmade by Gredunza Press editor Eisee Sylvester.

Limited run, available only at the On Stand By book launch, Thursday July 22. RSVP @ onstandby.eventbrite.com/

gredunza: The New Job of Being a Creative Writer. This talk was...

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 11:07:43 -0400

gredunza:

The New Job of Being a Creative Writer.

This talk was given by Gredunza Press to a small group a few weeks ago, and is now available in full for your listening pleasure. It’ll be up on the podcast soon, too.

Canada Day Fireworks

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 23:00:34 -0400

Taken from my balcony.

Thoughts on Bret Austin

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 10:49:02 -0400

Bret Austin is the central protagonist in my upcoming book, A Record Year For Rainfall. Being the central character in the plot, Bret has a lot on his shoulders. Not only are his actions responsible for setting everything in motion, he has to carry the emotional weight for the majority of the text. And much like the city the book in which the book is set, I didn’t really want everyone to feel the same way about the guy.

When I wrote No Chinook, I handled my main character with a fair bit of fragility. He was somewhat innocent at the beginning of the story, and learned to sharpen his edges chapter after chapter. With A Record Year For Rainfall, I wanted to write a main character that was difficult to like at first. Certainly, there are going to be people who read this book who do not like Bret at all, and that’s fine, because there’s plenty about him not to like. He works at a Paparazzo, he moved to a new city with his girlfriend and then left her once it became difficult. His days are largely spent wandering and stalking, his fun coming from the time he spends with his boss. Finally, he messes up his relationship with his new girlfriend by destroying the career of her boss. And the worst part about all of this is how passively he goes through it all.

In some ways, the book is about Bret finding his footing. He hates who he is and the life he’s chose, but he’s apathetic about changing. So, why follow this guy? Why read a story about a man slowly disintegrating? For one, I’ve done everything in my power to make this unlikeable asshole a sympathetic character. He gets his ass handed to him on numerous occasions. His back luck with women isn’t entirely his fault. And the celebrities deserve what he does to them, for the most part. Also, he has a stalker. There is a man who will not leave Bret alone, but has no intention of providing identification. He’s the big mystery throughout the book. Who is this man following Bret? Is he being paid by the defamed governor? Is he another paparazzo, out to ruin his career? Is he another scorned victim of Bret’s reckless photography?

The beginnings of A Record Year For Rainfall

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 10:44:57 -0400

A Record Year For Rainfall, like all my finished works, took several forms before reaching the current plot. I always wanted the story to in some way involve Bret, the main character and paparazzi, to break open a political scandal. In the beginning, though, the story would eventually climax in Bret taking the pictures and taking them to the press. The original idea was for Bret to not even be in Las Vegas at the outset. Here’s a couple paragraphs from the first version of the first chapter:

I could hear airplanes above me, that vacuum sound amplified to a billion. I’d just left the Los Angeles airport, now officially redefined in my mind as the saddest place on earth. I’d said goodbye to her there for probably the last time. It wasn’t that I didn’t try to win her back. I thought that a dramatic appearance seconds before liftoff would convince her that the worst had past and there were better times ahead. It would be like in the shitty Sunday movies that end in voiceover montages. I had it all worked out. I thought I had her worked out. But the only thing I got out of her was a lonely and altogether too brief final rejection.
“Bret,” she said, in an entirely new and dismissive way she must have picked up in the two hours since leaving our home.

She said, “I’m sorry.”

I stopped at a red light. It was mid-afternoon, and with any luck I’d be out of the vast orbit of western California before night fall. The street sign next to the lights had been halved in a mysterious and possibly violent manner. I couldn’t tell from where I sat whether it had been broken off or shot, but half the sign was gone, along with half the name of the street. I was just about to cross “…den st,” it told me, but it was obvious there was more to the story than it was going to give me. It didn’t matter, though, because specific the names of unknown street names weren’t as important as avoiding all the familiar roads I had shared with her. I needed new streets, new corners, new buildings.

There are three options for those in California with broken hearts and an encompassing need to be elsewhere. They can go north, east, or south, and I had places to stay in all three directions. If I drove for a day I’d find myself in Vancouver’s haze, comfortably sleeping on the couch of my cousin Richard’s two-story. If I went east, I’d call up Tess, my one-time sort of girlfriend, who three years ago took up residence in the city of sin. And if I went south, I’d head straight for my old man’s house in Tijuana. He wasn’t Mexican, but he married one and fell in love with the city all during one confusing as all hell winter.

It wasn’t really a choice as far as I was concerned. I was headed for Vegas. Tess would understand what happened better than anyone, and besides, the neon swell of cheap thrills and good old American excess might distract the voice that was telling me to burn all my possessions and go work for a K Mart in Iowa.

Originally, the outset of the book involved Bean leaving Bret, where he would find solace in Tess’ Vegas apartment. His boss, a J. Jonah Jameson-type character, would bark orders at him over email to get certain celebrity shots. He would be someone who only existed electronically. The story would weave through these assignments, stopping every now and then as Bret broke down, got high, found quick Vegas love, and eventually fell in love with a Republican named Leslie. This story worked well enough, but it wasn’t holding me in the way it should have, the way No Chinook held me for years. It didn’t need a re-write, but it needed some heavy adjustments.

In the beginning, I wanted a relationship between a republican and a democrat in the midst of major political scandal, but what I came up with kept fighting to be something else. So in September of last year, I came up with the idea of shifting the narrative so that the scandal occurs just before the outset of the book. This way, the book begins in what was originally the denouement. Bret is settled but unhappy in Las Vegas. Tess is an old lover with leftover feelings, and Bret’s boss is in town, a Perez Hilton-style professional blogger with a video game addiction. Bean becomes the republican, but she lives in Vegas and is connected to the political scandal. The only thing I kept from the plot was that she leaves him just before the story begins.

The changes to the plot turned the book from being a story about a man slowly ruining himself to something more resembling a bildungsroman.

On Stand By

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 11:09:45 -0400

On Stand By, by Alissa Santiago.

Published by Gredunza Press.

My part in the publishing process was designing the book to Alissa’s specifications, as well as creating the website and procuring publishing information.

The Daily Lit

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 15:24:13 -0400

I’ve begun blogging daily links at Gredunza Press. It’s an attempt to drive traffic to the site through linking and Twitter. Plus, it’s a great way to keep up with cool angles in the publishing industry.

Gredunza Podcast up on iTunes

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 16:04:09 -0400

gredunza:

Click here to find us in iTunes.

Ms Busybody Balances Her Blood Sugar

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 10:52:28 -0400

Ms Busybody Balances Her Blood Sugar by Kirsten Bedard.

This is the first of a few releases this year from Gredunza Press.

My part in creating the book was to design both the title and the website to suit Kirsten’s specifications, as well as procure the ISBN and CIP information.

Kirsten is a great friend and excellent nutritionist.

1000th post

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 01:13:34 -0400

While this page is for my personal work, I do have a different blog dedicated to things I think are great. Chocolate Castle By The Sea just passed it’s 1000th post, so I posted my favourite song ever. Chocolate Castle is absolutely my favourite procrastination tool.

A brief timeline

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 00:20:06 -0400

I’ve been writing A Record Year For Rainfall for a long time. I’m handing it over to my editor this weekend, so I thought I’d share the timeline.

Spring 2008: I write the first words of the book while sitting in a park in Amsterdam. The initial story is about Bret Austin, a celebrity journalist in LA, who is dumped by his girlfriend and heads to Vegas for a reprieve. He meets Jenny, a republican secretary to the governor of Nevada, and they inexplicably fall in love.

September 2008: 40,000 words into the story, I scrap it. I don’t like where it’s going. But I do like Bret and Jenny, and I like the ending, wherein Bret catches the governor in a gay affair and takes it to the press. I keep those three parts and start over, with the scandal acting as the precursor to the main story.

December 2009: The entire book is framed out, with 10,000 words written. The key addition to the story is Album Yukes, a Perez Hilton-esque blogger with few moral quandaries. He plays Bret’s employer. Oh, and Bret is a paparazzi now. From Vancouver. Jenny is now the ex girlfriend, who dumped him for taking out her boss in the press. Another addition is Tess, Bret’s ex girlfriend from Vancouver, who works in Vegas as a promo girl. The characters are all pretty fleshed out. All that’s left to do is write the remaining narrative.

July 2009: I went through a small writer’s block problem here. I changed venues. About 5,000 words of the book was written this month using a 1960’s Smith Corona typewriter. It helped. In total, this book was written using a Macbook, a typewriter, a notebook, and three different word processors. Jumping from platform to platform seemed to work for me.

January 2010: The first draft is finished. The ending is abrupt, and there’s all sorts of timing/placement issues that plague all of my first drafts. I’m fairly happy with the plot arcs, especially the subplot with Bret’s nemesis, an unnamed camera man who stalks him throughout.

June 2010: Finished the second draft. Timing and placement issues are wrinkled out. Bret never gets his own place, and instead just crashes on Album’s place. You’d be amazed how many things need to be fixed for something little like that. For things like this, Scrivener has been invaluable. The book is also much shorter, as I’ve cut nearly 10,000 words from it. I’ve basically done the opposite most writers do. I don’t like padded books. I want people to think of this book like a 35 minute record that doesn’t have any lazy songs. Most importantly, there’s a real ending, with real resolution for every character.

I interviewed Michael Tamblyn from Kobo Books last week.

Sun, 06 Jun 2010 19:49:07 -0400

It’s a really great interview. I think it would be really great to check in with him a year from now to see just how much Kobo–and the ebook world as a whole–will have grown.

Let's Start

Fri, 28 May 2010 12:48:51 -0400

Let’s start.

You’ve got a story. It’s a great story. Well, it’s a great idea for a story. It’s got all the elements of a really fantastic novel. It’s the kind of thing book clubs will want to buy in bulk. There’s going to be an awesome hardcover run, and even awesome-r paperback run, and then my god it’s going to get optioned and turned into a very respectable but somewhat racy miniseries on HBO. People are going to like it.

Let’s start with the basic presumption that any story can be a successful venture and go from there.

Let’s start with the idea you’ve got.

I know I talked about this on an older blog but I think I’ve really got it down this time. See this? That’s an iPod shuffle. It’s bloody simple. No buttons. Few options. There are no apps for this thing. I used to have an iPod touch. Why did I downgrade? Because I wasn’t listening to music on my ipod touch. I was playing Peggle. Probably too much Peggle. And I like listening to music. In fact, I like listening to music while writing. But instead of listening to music while writing, I generally played Peggle. It was a problem. There’s a lesson here. I’m a writer, not a video game player. It doesn’t mean I can’t do both. It means I shouldn’t be doing one when I really need to be doing the other. Stop playing video games.

Same goes for Twitter. I get it. Twitter’s a great way to self promote. Count up the number of tweets you’ve made that actually promote you as a writer. Now count up the amount of tweets you made that make you sound desperate for attention. This isn’t an insult. It’s how Twitter works. Stop tweeting. At least for now.

Same goes for your undying love of this year’s tech products. For what will probably be only one in a thousand times I say this to someone, you don’t need a two thousand dollar computer to write a novel. Every single computer out there will open up a word processor, where you can write. Think of all the great authors that came before you who pecked like there was no tomorrow on antique typewriters that only let you type at 50 words a minute before the keys crossed one another. Your fancy new Macbook Pro will not make you a better writer than the guy down the street with the $400 Dell. Stop obsessing over technology.

Let’s start with your idea, and the blank page. It’s all you need. Yes, you can write your book in a three dollar notebook you bought at the grocery store. I’ve met people who will scratch that page until their wrists swell because that’s how they make their magic happen. You know the old cliché The best camera is the one you have on you? Well, same goes for writing. The best writing tools are the ones in front of you, the ones you finish the book with.

Let’s start with that.