One Year of Being Published
My mother in law reads this blog (she’ll get a kick out of this), so I can’t use the expletives I wanted to when I realized what day it was.
One year ago, I clicked submit and began funneling Sorcerer Rising through the process of being published on Amazon through KDP. That was a big friggin’ day for me. I spent the night prior polishing and getting things ready, then spent that Sunday writing out six and a half thousand words (a record for me until a couple months ago). That was one of my best writing sessions, those words went into the book with almost no editing and are a couple of my favorite scenes in the whole book.
I spent Sunday night in a state of panic and euphoria, waking up throughout the night to search for the book on Amazon. I did that probably a dozen times between midnight and six. I dreamed, literally, that the book was selling thousands of copies.
Finally, around six or so, it was live.
I sold nine copies that first day. I’ve sold around eight-hundred since, making about $1,200. Not a lot, but not a bad start either.
This started out as one of those posts I hate. You know, the ones where the blogger/author/whatever comes on after a month of silences and says, “Hey, still alive, I swear.” They’re never fun. They usually signal the end of whatever enterprise the website is centered around, a lot of times because the Creative in questions has gotten bored, lost interest, been discouraged, etc.
That’s not the case here.
I know I haven’t been on the blog in a little while, and I haven’t updated anyone on the second book or anything else. That is a failure on my part and your patience is greatly appreciated. I am going to do better on that, both in updating and in actually writing.
So, for a quick update, I am extremely behind where I thought I was going to be by this time of the year. I had originally conceived of having FayTown Calling out in May, with the third on its way out by the end of the year. That has, if you go through my history, steadily crawled later and later into the 2014.
And that sucks.
It’s also life though. I’m not a full time writer. Hats off to those who’ve figured out how to do that, but I haven’t, so as a reader of my work, you get this kinda is it/isn’t it mentality of whether or not I’m going to hit my deadlines.
I have worked in one roles for my particular company for most of my legit writing career. Shortly after I released Sorcerer Rising, I went into a new position, a position that, much to my surprise, I actually find pretty damn fulfilling. It’s hard, work intensive, and occupies more time than my old job ever did. But I’m also getting to do work I really never thought I would get to be involved in.
In June, a big part of that work changed. Not in a bad way, actually that’s what made it more fulfilling, but in a way that nevertheless has demanded more from me, both in time and energy. Then I had a deadline for something looming and spent every ounce of focus I had making sure it happened right. Honestly, it’s been one thing after another, and I know you don’t want to hear about all that.
You want to hear about FayTown Calling.
You want to know, where the hell is it?
My answer is simple, it’s not ready yet. There are some big chunks that need to be filled in, then I need to apply a lot of polish. One thing that I’ve learned in my new job, one of the many things I’m applying to my writing life, is that the timeline is less important than making sure things get done well.
Anything else, would just be a disappointment. If you liked Sorcerer Rising, I am going to make sure that you like FayTown Calling. Now, that doesn’t mean it gets to languish on while I nitpick over everything, hissing at anyone who asks, my fist raised in the air, shouting about how “You can’t rush art!” The other thing I’ve learned is that you always, ALWAYS, have to have a date in mind, otherwise you don’t hone in on what you have to do to reach said date.
The date in question, by the way, is November 17th. I think that will give me time to finish, polish, give to Alpha/Beta Readers (because ya’ll are probably going to get mashed together) and then get it to publication.
I’m only really worried about one thing, and for that I’m going to give a quick appeal because I don’t really know what to do.
I have always been a proponent of the publishing world’s overemphasis on editing. Don’t get me wrong, I think the book needs to be as perfect as possible before people read it. I just disagree that it should cost $2,000-$6,000+ to make that happen. For Sorcerer Rising, I did it all myself. Overall, I think I did a pretty damn good job. And for the most part, my reviews would agree.
Except for a handful, and unfortunately, those handful were perhaps more perceptive than some others, myself included. I’m pretty good with spelling and typos, but homonyms and some basic grammar rules kick my tail. So, if anyone knows how to find a good proofreader, that’d be great. This is something I have to start pricing and allotting time for.
For now, I am focusing on writing. I will keep updating here and via my newsletter, something else I’ve sorely neglected, but I promise the results will be worth it.
Comments (0)