Calling my fellow Novelists…We need our own Comicsgate

Other than that, traditional American novels are 50k-60k words

Heh, that qualifies as a short story for me :)

All my personal writing career my stuff always ends up being a few hundred thousand words. My largest story clocks in at 889k. Everything is usually half that.

Book 1 in my first IP series I’m going to put out currently ends at 247k words. I specifically wrote it with a cap of 260k in mind, since that is the current recommended length for new author books in fantasy, and in the end it kept the story focused and tight, which it needs to be to capture the audience. No rambling events or crazy side quests. Just the main story. Even though I’m going to self publish, now, I’m still going to keep it at that, because I feel that it’s not fair to ask the new consumer base I’m going to be courting to purchase anything larger until the series is accepted and beyond. Course once all bets are off, I’ll have no problem asking you all to buy a 400k+ story.

I go big when it comes to writing a story. It’s just how I am. The intro series to my new universe is 5 books….after that….the entirety of what I have planned, what I want to create…..at least another 30 books I think in total. If I pull this off, I’ll be doing this the rest of my life, and I’ll enjoy every minute of it.

Okay, with my channel up and running, I’m ready to really start moving this forward.

Some of you have already expressed interest, and we’ve even gotten some early ideas on the table to generate interest. Now that my focus is off starting the channel, I can direct my attention back to writing and working building this network. So if you want to carry on an easier, more private conversation, feel free to email me at my channel’s email address:

[email protected]

Since the forum’s message system is not that in depth, and the G+G app isn’t around yet, I see this as the best way to really communicate ideas behind the scenes. That email address is for my channel business only, so any reaching out is certain to get my attention immediately.

I think this is a fantastic idea. Writing has always been what I wanted to do, and I thought that, after finishing high school, I could find someone at college to help me out. Well, I’m in college with a book finished, and all I seem to find in college and on literary agent sites are wack jobs more interested in people’s sex lives and ecofeminism–whatever that’s supposed to mean. I was devastated that I might never get published with these kinds of people in charge, and with the current state of literature, especially YA, I was frustrated I might not be able to make a difference. I think if we were to band together to create some sort of Novelgate, not only could we be successful, but we could compete with these morons and either force them to change or kick them out of our beloved stories.

Also, if anyone has anything they’d like read for revision or editing purposes, we should set up a new forum or something so we can help each other out.

That is what I hope to accomplish, but our voices need to be able to reach people, and that is what I’m working on with my channel right now. Right now we’re just talking to each other, and while that’s a good thing to learn who is ready to put the time into this, we’re not creating a customer base, yet. My hope is that in the coming months my own voice will be attracting enough attention to begin talking about my own work and building the network. As of right now, I’m avoiding videos on the subject because I don’t want to waste such an important video while no one is watching. The algorithm only really likes it when you put out a couple videos a day, so I’m just focusing on trying to be entertaining right now.

Selling products and building the network will have to come when people are listening. But what needs to happen is other people getting attention as well.

There are also ideas to do some things between here and channels to generate some writer interest. @JK61 and I have started working on some weekly/monthly writing competition/contest ideas so that anyone interested can flex their literary muscles a little bit and have some fun. Now, we’re in the very very very early stages, as we’ve both been busy and unable to put too much down on paper. But since I’m starting to settling into a content creation rhythm for my channel, I’ll be putting a little more thought into it this week.

As for editing, it is indeed a very important aspect. I do practically all my own editing at this point, primarily because I’m hesitant to let my IPs be leaked out. If a editing team were to be made available they would have to be 1) trustworthy to not steal IPs, 2) know what they are doing, 3) be competent. I’m sure if this reaches the grand stage I hope it to, an editor corps will become a part of it as well, because that means work for them with a new crop of writers. Just as I hope to find good illustrators for cover art, maps, etc. to become part of the movement. If things do go well, I would not be surprised if there ends up being cross pollination with Comicsgate for artists.

So, just so I understand this (I’m running on low sleep today XD), you’re trying to create a network of writers to help support each other? Don’t want to send an email when I’ve misunderstood the use.

Basically, yes.

I believe if we follow the Comicsgate model, there can be a path to success if we work hard. It has to be a simple mutual exchange network where people get what they put into it. Earn the trust of the consumers/customers while being entertaining, build your base in some way shape or form. Then when you start to show them your ready for prime time product, if they like the look of the story, they are willing to trust and support a crowd fund. While I will never rule out digital releases of stories, I believe that people want real books in their hands, still. There is nothing like having the book in your hands and turning pages.

We learn from Comicsgate’s early missteps where egos got in the way, and the knowledge that others cannot simply expect someone else to do the work for them, like with EVS’ channel where there were people who thought “I should be on his show simply because I’m Comicsgate” or “I wasn’t successful because I wasn’t showcased on Comic Artists Pro Secrets”.

This is not an easy road. I’ve been grinding away at my new Channel for 3 weeks now (already over 50 videos), and it’s truly is slow going to get noticed. But time and again I’ve seen it explained that the only way to break through the algorithm is to grind til it likes you and then catch a good wave of interest when it happens and hope for some luck. And also someone else with a larger channel may take an interest and shout you out, but never expect that. Always gotta keep the mindset of its on you, not anyone else to get someplace.

I think if enough people who want to make this happen have this mindset and come together, in a year or so there could be a true independent writer’s movement ready to spring to life. I believe to my very soul that is the only way for good old fashioned traditional storytelling on the literature front to make a comeback and fight back against all the woke garbage that is being published today.

Hmmm, I’ll have to research this Comicsgate. Otherwise, sounds like something I wouldn’t mind contributing to so I’ll be sending you an email this weekend. Thank you for the summary.

No problem.

Careful how you research it. Fake News labels Comicsgate as a hate group, but all it is is people who don’t want agenda in their comics. They just want to make superhero comics fun and exciting like they were before the turn of the century.

Best place to get an education is to check out Ethan Van Sciver’s Comic Artist’s Pro Secrets Channel, as it is the premiere channel of Comicsgate. I’m sure someone else can probably direct you to a better summary of it all, but it really is, at bare bones, an alternative to the woke Comic industry where people can still find classic comic book storytelling.