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The Dream Guild Chronicles, An Origin Story, or How I Became a Writer

My new novel Sight launches tomorrow, the second book in my sci-fi/fantasy series The Dream Guild Chronicles, and I have to say, I'm pretty freakin' excited about it. This post started out as a plug for the new book, but then I found myself writing about something else entirely… <gulp> me.

In 2013, I wrote a novel called The Dream Guild. The book was written on a break between jobs when I need something to occupy my mind, an act of doing something completely different with my brain as a way to recharge my professional batteries. I was going back to a traditional job after the summer was over. This novel business was nothing but a creative fling, a mid-life pause to cross off an item on my bucket list.

I’ll be the first to admit that I backed into publishing. After the manuscript was done, I started to think about what to do with this thing I had created. I looked into finding an agent and came away absolutely horrified by the cold-calling process known as “querying.” Then one afternoon, I happened across Jason Gurley’s blog and sent him an email about a self-publishing question. Jason didn't know me from Adam, but he replied right away with a recommendation to check out Scrivener, so I could make my own MOBI files. (I didn’t even know what a MOBI file was at this point.)

Hitting the publish button on Amazon for the first time was a rush. (Okay, hitting the publish button any time is a rush). If you ever think you have a book in your future, I highly recommend sitting down and working a story all the way from an idea through drafts, edits, formatting, cover *pause for breath* and publishing. It is a very satisfying journey, but I stress that you need to follow the trail all the way to the end. Half-novels do not count. There is a finality, a commitment, to laying down your pen and saying to the world, “This story is as good as I can make it at this point in my creative life. Let’s put it out there.” And I stress the “at this point in my creative life” part. Writing is a skill, a craft that is developed and honed over thousands and thousands of words—many of which get thrown away in editing.

The Dream Guild was a modest success. I sold a few copies, floundered around getting reviews and discovered what the term “author platform” meant. More importantly, I found that Jason and his open, responsive style was not a fluke in the indie author community—it was the norm. Then the end of the summer rolled around; it was time to stop playing at being a writer and get back in the corporate game.

But the seed had taken root. What if I made this writer thing my new career? The better half was cautious, but willing to give it a go. So I did it. I laid out a story arc for a series based on The Dream Guild and wrote. Then I wrote some more, and some more after that. I firmly believe the most important part of being a writer is making optimal use of AIC (ass in chair) time, so I set daily word counts and hit them. Every day. Even when I didn’t feel like it. When I had something, I interviewed editors and found the best fit for me and my writing (Sarah Kolb-Williams). I looked for a new cover designer and got way lucky by finding Steven Novak via a referral from Susan Kaye Quinn.

Side note: In this writerly journey, I highly recommend Susan Kaye Quinn’s book The Indie Author Survival Guide. Probably the best all around book on making it as an indie author I’ve read—and I’ve read a lot of them. She tackles all sides of the writer’s existence: the creative, the business, the professional and the mundane. I recommend her book to anyone even thinking about writing as an indie.

The end result was Irradiance, Book One of The Dream Guild Chronicles, published in March 2014. I won’t bother with a book description here, but it was a better book, a way better book, than my first novel. I even overheard one friend talking to another at a dinner party saying, “I forgot I was reading a book written by a friend.” Probably the nicest thing she never said to me.

And that brings us to Sight, Book Two of The Dream Guild Chronicles. After I pressed the publish button yesterday afternoon (yes, the rush is still there), I got to thinking about how the creation of The Dream Guild Chronicles is a metaphor for my own journey as a writer.

That’s when it hit me: My writing career is a startup business, just like any other startup company I’ve bought, sold or worked for in my prior life in high-tech. I have a production schedule and a marketing plan and a burn rate. I worry about cash flow and deadlines. I evaluate new suppliers and sign contracts with them. I run sales promotions and worry about the “stickiness” of my customers (i.e. readers). And while it’s true that the creative act of writing is the heart of my business plan, without all the other pieces, the chances of success are much lower.

By treating my writing as a business, I made myself a better writer. It’s almost as if all the stuff I did before led me to this point.

So enjoy the new book, and I’d love it if you became a subscriber to my Irregular Newsletter. If you need me, you’ll find my ass in a chair, working on Book Three.

David Bruns is a speculative fiction writer from Minnesota, and creator of The Dream Guild Chronicles. Check out his website for updates, new releases and a free short story.

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