I took a little hiatus for the Thanksgiving holiday. I wanted to take a little time and re-think how I’ve been blogging, and the use of social media, and my writing schedule. In essence I’ve decided to apply the 80/20 principle to my life a little more thoroughly. To that end, I’ll be blogging and tweeting less and writing and editing more. I’ve become convinced that what sells books is having more books to sell, and that requires more writing and editing. It also requires a purpose more profound than simply selling books.
I spent some time reading It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Stand For: Why Every Extraordinary Business Is Driven by Purpose by Roy M. Spence Jr.. I saw him speak at a corporate event I was working and picked up a copy of his book. It gave me a lot to think about. I’m not selling novels. That’s not my purpose. That’s not the purpose of Kosmosaic Books.
Over the holiday week I talked my wife into watching the entire Harry Potter film series. After we finished the final film this last Saturday, I felt sad to be leaving that world and those characters. I realized that is part of my purpose: To create worlds and characters that make people want to spend time with them and feel sad to leave behind.
So, my purpose is to create worlds, stories, and experiences that entertain and transform people’s lives. By articulating my purpose, I can align this blog with that purpose. Which means that rather than trying to mimic other sites that explore sci-fi and fantasy, I’ll be making this site more personal and I’ll be adding more content for the stories and worlds I’ve created. I’m not sure what that will entail as yet, but I expect it to mean short stories, fun facts, images, maps, and anything else I can come up with that will add more depth to The Young Sorcerers Guild and Wizard of Time series. I’ll still write about things that interest me in sci-fi and fantasy, but I’ll be adding other things that interest me and impact my writing like spirituality, religion, history, science, and philosophy.
Part of the reason for expanding what I hope to write about here in the blog is that I’ve also decided not to try and separate my “brand” anymore. In addition to writing sci-fi and fantasy I’m also an ordained interfaith minister (although I refer to myself as an interspiritual minister) and filmmaker. Nearly a decade ago I wrote a non-fiction book exploring spirituality and globalization, or the intersection of personal and collective transformation. I had planned to publish it as a separate brand, a different site/blog, etc. but I realized that not only is that a duplication of effort, but that spiritual and philosophical nature of my non-fiction writing is reflected in my fiction and that it will help separate me from a very crowded field of writers. By not separating my brand, I create a unique brand. It is not the advice I have read. Mystery writers are encouraged to use a different name when writing romance, for example, but I think it will be better to stand out a little rather than blend in.
So, that’s the new direction – Less blogging and tweeting and more writing and editing, all with the purpose of creating worlds that people enjoy and want to visit again and again.
Time to get some writing done.
