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I was fighting butterflies as I published last week’s post.

Or they were fighting me. I knew they were stupid.

I read the copy several times, more than usual and even out loud, wondering if I was doing the right thing, hoping the right I was feeling inside wasn’t a lingering high from moving hot thoughts from mind to screen.

Writing is stripping naked so the world can read between your lines.

Fiction or non-fiction, your movement mars the page.

Most of my writing has been public. Except for the many times I’ve been paid to stay invisible.

Odd combo.

Overall, I’ve been far less personal for the last few years than I was during the first one.

This isn’t an accident. I know the exact day I started to pull away.

I’ll tell you about that day another time. The story will probably make you feel better about your own audience.

That day is relevant because it taught me what to expect. That expectation colored much of my behavior during the last few years, and determined how much of myself I was willing to give to you.

I wasn’t sure what would happen once I published last week’s post, but I’m thrilled, energized, and reassured by the response. Yes, this community is smaller, but still larger than I expected. Our size is a sign of a healthy reaction, and that healthy reaction has me eager to serve.

Now we have a community.

Many of you will publish your dreams to reality.

The last few months of doing it wrong has left us with some catching up, so I’ll get through a bit today, then we’ll dig deeper next week.

You must know some of what I’m working on for context. I’ll be discussing my projects in the coming months, starting at our first hangout next Monday. The more background you have, the more relevant the takeaways will be.

I’ll go over the details for that first hangout in a bit.

We do Ink. Well.

You’re already familiar with the Collective Inkwell, my small imprint with David Wright, home of Yesterday’s Gone, WhiteSpace and ForNevermore.

We specialize in serialized fiction. We publish weekly, every Tuesday, modeling what we do after networks such as AMC, HBO and Showtime, rather than traditional publishing. We print nothing. For now.

Dave and I have poured tremendous time and attention into crafting our model, doing everything from maintaining a ridiculously rigorous weekly schedule, to changing the market’s language with words such as “episodes” and “seasons,” instead of “books” and “volumes.”

It’s working well, and getting better by the week.

Collective Inkwell, because of our products and strategies, is the most well-developed asset we have, and what I’ll be discussing most.

In between seasons of our series, we release episodes from our Dark Crossings line of short stories. This week’s was called Hide ‘N Seek – about a little girl at the park with her mom, who is sexting instead of watching her child. Panic ensues all over the place.

If you got your Thank YOU email when you first signed up to the Digital Writer last week, then you saw the invite to “reply” for a FREE book. Replying to that email is a simple way to start reading Collective Inkwell content for free, and see what we’re doing first hand.

Painful to Watch, But Awesome to Listen to

While Collective Inkwell is the biggest project on my plate, podcasts are the fastest growing. The Self-Publishing Podcast is one hour each week, and while totally NSFW, it is also ridiculous fun.

Below is an embed of our most recent episode, where we discuss work habits. And by discuss work habits, I mean Johnny and I high-fiving for an hour about what works, while we make fun of Dave for having no habits outside of waking up and drinking Cherry Coke. It’s a miracle that man can do as much as he does.

I’ve not seen the videos because I find it too painful to watch myself. I’d rather hear myself sing, since that’s funny and horrible.

Our first podcast was doing well enough to warrant a second one. The Self-Publishing Podcast is hella fun, and a place to connect with other writers, but writers aren’t necessarily readers.

So the three of us piggybacked our first podcast into a brand-new one: Better Off Undead. Our new podcast gives us a chance to connect with readers who enjoy the same sort of dark fiction Dave and I are writing at the Inkwell (and preps listeners for Johnny’s awesome zombie trilogy, now in production).

We just finished our third episode of Better Off Undead, and that episode has already been downloaded 1,000 times. I couldn’t be happier with the results.

Rather than embed our most recent episode, I’ll start with the first, which is a hysterical tear-down of what is probably the worst movie ever made: Birdemic: Shock and Terror.

Seriously, you will die laughing. Johnny dropped weights on himself because he was dumb enough to try lifting while listening.

Check out Better Off Undead Episode One, and Birdemic: Shock and Terror here:

My other project has nothing to do with writing, but might have everything to do with you.

outstandingSETUP is a small company that provides awesome websites to individuals and businesses. If you’re a writer, you’re also your own business. Watching my smart partner, Danny Cooper and I grow this business in real time is worth paying attention to. If you’re a writer without a website, or a writer who isn’t in love with the one you have, you must fix that IMMEDIATELY. I can help you.

Hit reply on one of my emails and I’ll put you in touch with Danny directly. We have our own servers, and offer the best value online. I promise.

The Thing I’m So, So Excited About

The other BIG project I’m working on – DEEP in production even though it won’t see light until early next year – is a full line of children’s titles. Basically, Collective Inkwell for kids.

We have several series in development. Collective Inkwell keeps me running week to week, I want to start the children’s version half a year (at least) ahead. So right now I’m working with several writers and we’re building a bank of children’s work. This is especially rewarding since it’s the first time I’ve really been able to include Ethan and Haley in every part of the writing and publishing process.

I’m loving that, and will be talking a lot about this project in the coming weeks.

Our first Hangout will be on Monday the 27th at 1:30 EST. I’ll be on Google+ at that time. You’ll be able to find the video live on YouTube. If you can’t make the video, don’t worry. I’ll send you a link after the show.

I’ll be live on Twitter to answer any questions you have. Or you can reply to any previous Digital Writer email and ask your question that way.

That covers the meat and potatoes of this week. Next week, I’ll get into a few more specifics about projects, and of course answer all of your questions. Everything to follow is entirely frivolous. :)

Because Everything Isn’t Business and Sometimes Danny is Wrong (Plus Exploding Volcanoes and Skinny Songstresses)

Everything that follows is crap that you probably won’t care about at all.

Personal rambling. Nothing more. Danny told me I should cut it out.

He is 100% right, even though he’s also totally wrong.

You can skip to the end of this post and you will have read 100% of the value. But I’m leaving in the rest because I know you might want to read it. Some people do. I would. But then again, I’m a curious fellow. Like most writers.

(Danny’s not a writer. It’s not his fault.)

My song on repeat this week was Fiona Apple’s, “Hot Knife.”

I love this song.

I downloaded Fiona’s latest album – some super obnoxious, all-too-pleased with itself 87 word title I won’t dignify here – then soaked it in with Cindy.

Before kids, music was a backbeat behind us. Now there isn’t enough. When Apple’s last record, Extraordinary Machine, first dropped, our entire family listened to it – a lot. Haley, four years old at the time, knew most of the words from all of the songs, and would clench her fists through “Window” just like Fiona would have wanted.

That album was fun, this one isn’t. Too moody for me. It’s filled with cool percussion, sure; thigh slaps and truck stomps and such. But it’s not a lot of fun. Apple either forgot how to write those cool calliope hooks that made her engaging in the first place, or she’s grown out of them in the false believe that smart melodies means selling out.

I don’t care for the album, but I also don’t care that I don’t care since I got my money’s worth in one glowing ruby of a song that’s been beating its patterns into my mind like wet concrete on a dry day.

Check it out:

Music keeps you inspired. Inspiration helps you write faster, with more feeling and fewer internal analytics. Any artist that makes me think “I wish I could do that” is worthy of my minutes. Fiona did that for me this week.

I subjected my family to Hot Knife all the way to the Pompeii exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum this last Sunday.

Ethan was begging to go ALL SUMMER. Actually, he’d gone twice already. He was begging to go with Daddy. I kept promising.

The exhibit was closing on Sunday, so I’d feel like a dirtbag on Monday if we didn’t go.

So even though I totally didn’t want to put pants on, I did. And I wore them, along with a smile, all the way to the museum.

I’m glad I went, for Ethan and for this week’s as yet unwritten words. My writing will be better because of it. The exhibit is somber, especially the final room, flooded with people casts; their death forever draped in a blanket of blazing ash.

My children go back to school tomorrow. It’s been my favorite summer, by far. But as fast as its gone, it’s also been a long 10 weeks, leaving me looking forward to the next one, when I’ll be starting with a fresh schedule.

I can’t wait to get more done and share it with you.

I did it. So can you.
Sean Platt

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Enter your best email address in the box below, absorb the free content once a week, then take action on what you learn. You will be a more successful writer.