Should I write more Science Ficition or not?

Before I published anything I wrote just for fun. At first it was supposed to improve my command of the English language. Since I loved Science Fiction it was only natural to write in that genre. Later on I added a bit of erotica. I didn't worry too much about being morally or politically correct. I just wrote what popped into my head. Every story was an adventure and a journey that  took me away from mundane life. Then I published my first story. It was exciting. I was even more excited when my first novel was published, even with all the erotica in it. I dug up all my other stories, rewrote them and added more erotica, since that was what apparently sold.

Of course, with all the excitement came a downside. Suddenly, I wasn't just writing for my own entertainment, now I wrote for an audience. I had to follow certain guidelines, be morally and politically correct, use proper English, make certain the sentences were correct and no words misspelled. There had to be consistency in the story and it had to be believable. As believable as one can make Science Fiction and Fantasy. Instead of writing I had to spend (waste ?) a lot of time editing and rewriting. But it was still fun. And I was hoping for the big reward for all my hard work: fame and, maybe, a small fortune. One is allowed to dream a little ^_^.

But now, after having published 28 books, two as an indie publisher, I am a bit disillusioned. Actually, quite a bit. Fame has eluded me, so far. And fortune? Pardon me if I take time out to burst out laughing. It is a lucky thing that I don't have to depend on the money I make from my writing.

The internet is a wonderful thing in many ways. It allows writers, who would never have had a chance to ever get published, to share their work with others. However, with every positive side there is a negative side. Now there are so many books being published that it is nearly impossible to get noticed among the huge offering. It is a dream come true for readers. Books can be bought cheap, some even downloaded for free. A writer has to advertise, possibly even put out a lot of money, for his (her) book to get noticed. And then there is no guarantee the books will sell.

The title of this article is 'Should I write more Science Fiction or not?' Actually, it should read: Should I keep on writing anything? Or maybe I should replace writing with 'publish'. Because that's what it really boils down to. Writing is part of me; I can't give it up, but should I keep on wasting my time with rewrites and editing just to make a novel ready for being published when only so few people actually read the story? It doesn't make much sense. Can I stop trying to publish my books? It won't be easy, because there is a bit of an ego trip involved here. It is nice to see my name on a book cover. I don't have that if I just write for myself. Besides, I like to share my stories with others.

I wrote a few non-Science Fiction books, hoping they may sell better, but was disappointed. A couple of years ago (or was it just last year?) I published a 3-volume contemporary novel (180,000 words): Web of Conspiracy. It took 2 years to write it. I firmly believe it is a good story; my publisher thought so, and yet, sales were pitiful. The same with 'Mark of the Cobra', a contemporary novel full of adventure and plenty of erotica. Bullet of Revenge, featuring a tough detective, Frank Hummer, didn't do that well, either. I am baffled when I see similar books by other authors sell. I've read a few of them just to see what I may be missing, and some of those books are badly written, yet they seem to sell. Maybe I'm writing the wrong stuff, but how can I write something I don't enjoy? Should I write about vampires, werewolves, zombies?

Right now I'm at around 12,000 words with my new novel. It is detective story. The protagonist is Mark Canon, a private investigator. I'm intending to write this one tongue-and-cheek, with a bit of humor. Some people think I have a sense of humor and I can tell funny stories. I'm trying to use that in this novel. We'll see. If you are interested in reading the first draft of the beginning, go here:
Mark Canon.

Dark World, Book Eight of the Xandra series

I finally managed to find the time. I published the eighth book of my Xandra series today with Smashwords. 'Dark World' is actually the continuation of Book seven 'Alien World'. I set the price at $2.99. I also changed the price of 'Alien World' to $2.99. It just wasn't selling. I'm very disappointed. After all my hard work. I think it is a good story, written, of course, for people who love Science Fiction and a little Erotica. Unfortunately, there are so many books available these days and the problem is to get readers to notice your book. Perhaps the new price will encourage readers to buy it.
Dark World is available here from Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/370920

Do you need a website?

As authors we want to get our name and product out to the public. How do we do that? There are many ways it can be done. We make comments on forums, join groups where writers and readers meet. We have blogs and websites. So what to you write about? Obviously, we write about our books, but not every writer has many published books, especially the newcomers. You can't constantly write about the one or even the two or three you may have. Readers get bored with that.

I have 28 published books so far, but even I have problems with what I should write about. My next book is waiting to be published, and I'm at 10,000 words into the book I'm currently working on. I'm not as prolific as I used to be, because I've decided to spend more time with other things I'm interested in. I'm not making a living with my writing, anyway. It is a hobby and sometimes I'm a bit disappointed and discouraged with the few books I sell.

I think I'm a good writer and I try to put out a good and entertaining product. I take my time writing and editing. I advertise on the groups and on my blog. I even have two websites. I have no idea if I actually get any visitors on my first website http://www.hegro.shawwebspace.ca, because it doesn't allow me to install a sitemeter. My latest website http://www.fictitioustales.weebly.com has a sitemeter. In the beginning I received many visitors, but that has fizzled down to pretty much 0 visitors. I spent a great deal of time building the website and it looks great. All my books are listed, with the beautiful covers, I even have a few excerpt, but that's all I can do. I do have a blog with the website, but I am using this one to write about my books and my personal blog http://www.hergros.blogspot.com to write about more personal stuff, things that interest me and things that bug me.

I am getting more visitors to my personal blog, which tells me that people are more interested in me than in my books. And that is fine. I feel honored by the interest.

This all makes me wonder: Do I actually need a website? What really is the use to have one when nobody visits it? It's a good thing it is free, otherwise I'd be wasting my money. Perhaps I should spend more time with it, but then again, what should I put on it if I don't really have anything new to report with my publishing.

I'll still keep the website, because I enjoyed creating it and I enjoy looking at it once in awhile, always hoping other people do so also.

Anyway, thanks for visiting and thanks for reading this far. Come back soon. Perhaps I'll have something new to read. As soon as I find a bit of time, I'll publish Book eight in the Xandra series, Dark World, with Smashwords. Right now I'm busy with the cleanup of my yard and garden.

See you later.