Ginger Blog Shutting Down

Here we go.  I started this book blog with those words; I might as well finish with them.  This blog began with friends nagging--uh, suggesting I should blog about my first book, Ginger Snaps: Photos & Stories about redheaded Queers.  As with almost everything about my book, I said okay, why not?  I'll learn about blogging.  Maybe it will sell books.  I have but it hasn't.

What have I learned thru blogging?  You should have a focus.  I decided mine was to share the experience of self publishing a book and what I learned along the way.  You have to post frequently.  Two weeks separated my first and second blogs.  Not good.  It's like friends: if you're not there for them, they won't be there for you.  You should make your blog interesting to read and look at.  I've tried my best on the first and failed utterly on the second.  You have to be patient and grateful for small things.  There are almost as many blogs as humans on the planet (not really but close).  How are people going to find yours?  It takes time and word of mouth/social media to build readership.  Be happy with your blog; it may have to be enough.  The odds of writing a widely read blog must be worse than those for writing a best selling novel.  Make sure your blog pleases you.  

With my short stories, I write for myself.  If other people like them, it's icing.  I'm not trying to communicate anything to you.  There's a story in my brain; I want to get the words out.  That sounds a little whacko but it's not.  It's the creative process.  You make the art you see, not the art you think others will like or buy.  Of course, it does help to have a day job or an independent income.

But blogging is different, at least it was for me.  You are communicating.  It's like giving a party: you want people to come.  Not many of you came to this one but I appreciated every hit, let me tell you.

Life moves on.  I'm working on my next book with an excellent gay artist, Michael Broderick.  My friend the painter Yelena Karanovich and I will meet in the new year to start planning a project.  David and I are set to start snapping photos and interviewing people for our next book.  Nonfiction, which I don't do--except for this blog, I guess--hmm--but he pitched an idea to me which started telling me stories immediately.

Some year I'll do a website and maybe you'll track me down.  Hey, there's always Facebook.  Anyhoo, thank you for reading what I've written.  A writer is always grateful, even if they write first for themselves.


Don't forget our Ginger stuff:
     Ginger Snaps the Book at http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/3577527
     ginger & gingerphile t-shirts & hoodies at http://gingergingerphiletee.logosoftwear.com

Here we go!

This is a blog about a little book that could: Ginger Snaps: Photos & Stories.  Photos by David Sweet, stories by Richard May.  Me.

A year ago David and I started on a narrow road which widened and widened and widened...until now we're on the freeway and driving as fast as we can.  It all began when we met at a movie and then ate Japanese food.  I'm a ginger; he takes photos of gingers.  Commonality.  Next, over coffee he showed me some of his ginger photos.  I made the mistake of telling him that his photos told me stories, which they did.  97.9% of my short stories start with a visual telling its to me.

David asked me to write a story.  I did.  He said: LET'S DO A BOOK!  Since my life was complicated enough, I suggested I write three and see how he felt about it then.  It's called putting off.  Unfortunately, he liked them.  That's when the car really hit the streets and we started rolling along.  25 mph maybe.

We picked 20 or so of David's ginger photos--he has many, many--that he was most proud of and starting yakking to me.  I wrote 17 or so stories, which we narrowed to 13 (my lucky number, btw) to fit into the blurb.com format.  Then David put the stories and photos online, designed a cover, and I began playing editor, having been one in New York at Doubleday.  Who knew I'd ever use those two years for my own benefit.

I filled in details like title page, acknowledgments page, copyright page, front flap copy, back flap copy--all that interesting stuff.  I played copyeditor, discovering that blurb.com has intriguing hyphenation rules.  I also discovered my stories were too long so had to edit myself, sort of like performing your own appendectomy: is that paragraph really necessary?

Next installment: The Author Photo