Learning the art of control when it comes to book buying and reading

When I started dabbling in writing, seriously dabbling rather than just producing kiddy scrawling, I was reading at the usual rate but when I finally decided now was the time to really knuckle down and work on it as a job I found that I just couldn't read and write at the same time. Many authors don't have this problem at all, and in fact they often say that you should keep reading and reading while you're writing for inspiration and to keep up with trends. But not me. I have the opposite problem.


For me, it is writing or reading. If I read I get so engrossed in the world and the characters and what's going to happen next that I lose all grip on my own story and can't go back to writing until I've finished the book I'm reading. To some extent, comics has helped this issue as if I start reading then at least the story is short. Hopefully. Sometimes I can't stop until I've read all 150 odd issues that have been released so far...

So for me I had to learn to control a few impulses while I was writing. And it was and is still quite hard. But I have actually managed to maintain some dignity and hold on the purse strings while gaining time and freedom of mind to write. For a book addict, not just someone who loves books but someone who can't imagine living without one on hand all the time (sleep, eat, travel, rest, work etc, there's a book on hand), being able to leave the house without a book tucked under my arm or go to sleep without knowing the current book is within arms reach for when I wake up is quite a breakthrough. Not to mention being able to walk in and out of a bookstore without actually buying any. Miracles of miracles!


If you share the same addiction, have collected and collected and are never without a book which you treat like a blankie to get through life, then knowing how I did this might be of help. It is truly simple though incredibly hard and you're likely to think you just CAN'T because you don't have the fortitude. But you can.

How I did it was an exercise in mental control, which meant:

• Shoving my purse at the bottom of my bag so it was hard to get too
• Worrying myself over the bank account enough to make me think twice on any purchase
• Slowly but surely blinding myself to the tease of a new release sitting prettily on a shelf (this is a true exercise in mental control and the rewriting of habits)
• Emphasising to myself that I hadn't left fiction behind because I already had a world to explore in my head, which I was writing
• Catching up on new releases for my favourite series by ordering online only and working from a preset list
• Avoiding all random browsing of catalogues
• Putting any new books away as soon as they were bought
• Convincing myself that it was harder to read books than comics
• Using the Internet as the main tool for research so I wouldn't get lost in a library
• When splurging I splurged in full and then quickly hid the books before I got addicted (this will happen on occasion no matter your control)
• Allowing time to pass by while enjoying the look of all my new books being uncreased (for once) and pretending I was just taking good care of them
• Writing as much as possible as quickly as possible so that I could read in between drafts
• Setting deadlines for how long the break between drafts could be and read only as long as I could finish the books by then
• Making sure there wasn't a book in my bag or regularly on hand, only one by the bedside table for comfort
• Leaving the book on the bedside table as I went about life and writing
• Giving myself chances to explore fiction in other ways, such as writing posts like this
• Setting a strict rule that work was work and leisure leisure as a book addict working in fiction can mean the lines blur
• Inuring myself to the ka-ching of the cash machine which sounded to me much like the winner's bell for a slot machine
• Restricting my wanderings through bookstores by either never entering or, if possible, avoiding my favourite and most tempting sections
• Never reorganising my shelves so that all the books to a series were placed in order once bought (this way the shelves became difficult to search through and slowly too much trouble to be worth spending a few hours on. I shall reorganise when I'm free again.)
• Insisting that I should also have a chance to voice my imagination (while this seems egotistic in fact is in only a way to stave off a dependence on a multi-world lifestyle)
• Writing, writing, writing to save my mind from a fiction withdrawals

There are other small habits but most of those I used were born of the mind and were successful simply because I wanted them to be more than I wanted to cave and read to my heart's content. It was and is much like dieting. Sometimes you can't get through more than a few weeks before you cave but other times your life is riding on it and so you really do dig in and make the change. 

Not being a crash dieter in any way, shape or form, I had my biggest experiences with dieting due to allergies and endometriosis. So the similarities in the amount of self-control needed between not scoffing hot cinnamon donuts and a milkshake and not picking up the next book are well known to me. It is hard but if you know it isn't going to do you as much good as it will damage you and your chances then slap your own wrist and control the impulse.

Giving up books, donuts and milkshakes though, just makes me want to cry sometimes. Still, there's honey and writing and illustrating and blogging like this. Oh, and my next instalment for replacement foods with no major allergens which will be rocky road, another thing in life that's hard to give up. I think that will be tomorrow's big kitchen project.

That all said, if you're an addict of books who needs to change their habits then good luck with the fiction diet. Don't bother dieting unless you're going broke from your habit, have run out of room in the house, can't write for reading or you're sick of your dependence. Otherwise, enjoy everything that comes with reading non-stop.

Collectors, cover art and fiction series

There is something to be said about writing a series when it comes to sales. Each successive book not only provides additional profits for the author of that particular title but also adds to the sales made of previous books and lines up a greater audience for the next - as long as you don't write a complete dud or bump off all the best characters in belittling ways that make an avid reader terribly upset. The reason for this is just your average reader's need to continue or finish the story.


But there are those who take the following of a story or several stories to new levels. They collect and not just for stories but also for aesthetics. Their books are maintained in perfect or near perfect condition. Sometimes two copies are bought, as done with comics. One copy is for reading while the other is for the collection. There are those obsessed with colours, sizing, correct covers all from the same printing (the covers in America often differ from those printed in Australia or England etc.). Mismatched books within a series can drive a collector batty. There are even those who'll go so far as to collect not just an author's works but a publisher's, particularly if the publisher distinctly brands all their books a certain way. (You may doubt this but I have seen a quite large Mills and Boon collection amongst others.)

In fact, if you work in cover design for a publisher or are a self-publisher looking at having artwork created for your series then you could encourage such obsessive collecting by doing a few simple things.

• Add numbers to the bottom of the spine that indicate the number in the series.
• Have matching spine design. 
• Make sure the books are all printed in the same format or size.
• Make sure the book length is roughly similar per book.

• Spread a single image over the spines of several books so that when shelved correctly and in full they make up the picture.
• Ensure the cover designs use similar colours or follow a pattern of colour gradations.

• Change the publishing Logo colour (where possible) to match the colour scheme of the books.
• Ensure the front and back cover designs follow a similar pattern even if different images are used.

• Weave the front and back covers into the spine design so that the images don't immediately cut off. This may be done simply with grading colour.
• Create a 'logo' or symbol that goes with that series alone and stamp it on the spine, number possibly included.
• Ensure that block pictures under titles all line up as staggered pictures are aesthetically unpleasing. Even if the bottom of the title is lower don't lower the picture. This may require some careful consideration and manipulation of details.

• Inserting special sections on either the author, the writing process, the character profiles, interviews etc can increase interest and mark each book. These sections work best when they are focused on the series, only occasionally referencing another work by the same author. Sections on other authors by the same publisher help in increasing the publisher's sales but not the author's so choose according to need.
• And for the absolutely fanatical collectors of ultra-popular works there is an opportunity to print special or limited editions complete with a different design and extra information. You could even make them personally signed by the author (I suggest this for limited copies only unless you want the author's hand to fall off).
• For the ultra-clever, design the front covers so they click together to make a full image.

By doing these things you will ensure that the avid collector will be compelled to buy a specific set of books as soon as they buy the first. Sometimes story degradation will actually be disregarded in favour of completing the set and this can only help with sales.

This may all seem quite cutthroat but business is business on the publisher's side and the author does need to survive. Also, if a collector wishes to buy in such ways then why not provide for them? It won't decrease sales to any other audience so there isn't really a downside to providing a collector with what s/he needs. You are actually more likely to lose some sales by not creating a look for your series due to the lack of the collector's attention as well as the average reader's inability to instantly recognise the associated story (not everyone remembers who the author or publisher are for a particular story as the story is all).