During the course of the month of November, Magician of Oz was involved in a project/competition known as Nanowrimo. An odd anachronism to say the least. To be precise, Nanowrimo stands for National Novel Writing Month. To quote the Nanowrimo website:
"National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30."
I decided to participate in this unique endeavor and sought to complete volume three; Family of Oz as my writing project. After a rough start the first week, it was apparent that Princess Ozma would have nothing of it. Seems she will not allow the muse to be forced. As such, I must work by her schedule, not mine.
After some serious thinking and such, I wound up going off in an odd direction and wound up writing a story about a green-handled rolling pin and its life in a Hoosier kitchen. It soon found itself adrift in an auction barn awaiting its fate after its owner passes on. Each ensuing chapter tells the story of a different person or couple and how he/she/they end up at the auction. By story's end, the final chapter tells of the furious bidding and the winning bidder, who takes the green-handled rolling pin to its new life.
It's strange where these stories come from...
I'm pleased to say that with some dedication to the goal, I was able to reach a final word count of 55,937 words. I'm told that's impressive by most standards, but for me, that's pretty standard. I tend to write at a very furious pace when the muse strikes and generally write by chapters instead of just by word count. It's my way...
In addition, I just completed one of my final book signings for the year and found that combining both Amazon.com sales, Lulu.com sales, book signing sales and Kindle sales, I achieved the 505 total book sales mark.
I am humbled by the support of Oz fans across the country and offer my sincere gratitude to all who have purchased Magician of Oz.
During my trip to Book Expo America 2009 in New York City last May, I kept hearing the number 500 as the benchmark against which all self-publishers measured their success. It seems that only 1% of all self-publishers reach that goal. Having done so, I now deem my work a success and consider my goal of fulfilling Princess Ozma's Royal Command well on its way to completion.
As Shadow Demon of Oz awaits its publication date of the Vernal Equinox of 2010, Princess Ozma willing of course, I look forward to the upcoming holidays and offer my sincere gratitude to Her Royal Highness, Princess Ozma for her continued faith in her most humble servant.
Par Ardua Ad Alta!!! ~ The Wizard of Oz
James C. Wallace II
Royal Liaison to Princess Ozma
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Congratulations on your Nanowrimo win. I won, too, with my first draft of Grand Fork... but now I have lot of editing to do!
ReplyDeleteAll the best,
Rowena Cherry (IWOFA colleague)