It’s been a while since I did a post on self-publishing. Most of you are probably here for the book discussions, but hopefully a few of you are interested in the writing and publishing process too.
Recently, I decided to make a pretty major investment. I bought Vellum. And it has changed my life! So what is Vellum, you ask? Vellum is an E-Book formatter, and it’s lovely. No longer do I have to spend hours working out my indentations and page breaks, section breaks, or chapter breaks. I can just import my Word file to Vellum and let it work it’s magic! So far, I’ve reformatted the first two Black Depths books, and I hope to do the others soon. The reformatting does take a bit of time, as my old files were formatted really strangely in order to get them to import onto Kindle and Smashwords correctly. So far, the Vellum files seems to import onto Kindle and Smashwords with ease, and I haven’t come across any problems.
Now Reformatted!
Now, Vellum isn’t perfect. It doesn’t format paperbacks, which means I still have to do that myself. And there aren’t a ton of style options, but there are enough. At least for me. And there are pretty ornamental breaks, drop caps, and chapter headings.
Really, in Self-publishing, it’s nice to be able to save time wherever possible. And if I can save time formatting so that I can spend a bit more time marketing, drafting, or re-writing my next project, then I’m pretty happy. But like I mentioned, Vellum was an investment. But I think it was worth the hole it put in my purse.
Ah, let’s just start this post off with a nice cup of tea, shall we?
Ah, that’s better! *refreshed*
Right, well. What have I been up to lately? Writing, writing, writing. Though I still haven’t got up to my target word count. I’m almost exactly halfway through this personal challenge, and I’m feeling pretty darn good about what I have accomplished so far this year. As you can see from the table below, I’ve begun tracking which projects I’m working on when. Hopefully this will help me develop more consistency with projects, and not jump around so much. I’m supposed to be focusing on UJ, which is a rewrite, which means that somedays I have to write other things to get my 1,000. The good thing about my rewriting process is that I tend to add words. I write clean, plain first drafts, and fill things up with detail on the second go around. I started rewriting UJ at around 63,000 words, and already I’m up over 67,700 words.
As for the gym, I know I haven’t updated that one in a while, but I have been going more regularly, usually at least two times a week. I’m still listening to audiobooks when I’m there, and I love it. I’ll have an audiobook review up this weekend.
As for my GoodReads goal, I set it for 60 books this year and I’ve so far finished 9 books, and GoodReads tells me I’m one book ahead. Yay, me! I’m also nearly finished two other books so I should be at eleven books soon.
Going back to the abbreviations above, I’m sure you’re all dying to hear the name of my new novel. Well, it’ll be here on the weekend, too. I can’t wait to reveal it.
I’m taking a pause in my NaNo-ing as I’ve just realized I’ve reached 100,000 Words in my 365,000 words in a year goal! Whoo-hooo! *Insert Party Here*
I’m so supremely pumped about this! I think I might have to reward myself with a little something for reaching this huge milestone! Here’s a look at my table for the past couple days. As you can see, yesterday I had a great day, but I didn’t even realize how close I was to 100K until I updated the 800 words I’ve written so far today!
This 100K words has mostly been the finishing off two projects which were already started when I began my 365K goal. I’ve written one completely new short thing, and I’m 18,000 words into my brand new novel, which I’m just calling Life, for now though it will definitely change in the future.
Wow. I really can’t believe I’ve come this far already! I’m so happy with myself. Even though I’ve had a few days where I haven’t written new words, i’ve generally been either rewriting something, working on formatting, or horribly sick. So I feel pretty good about that too, though I’m still hoping I can get more consistent with my daily word counts. For now I’m going to happily take the 100K and just my buy myself another e-book to read in the future. What better way to reward oneself for writing that by getting something new to read?
I love getting the first copies of my books! Today I got the first printed edition of Twisted Currents, which looks amazing with its vibrant cover. I arrived home to this box, and was stoked to open it. It didn’t let me down. Next step, dropping copies at the book store.
Twisted Currents is finally here! I do not have the physical copies yet, but the ebook is up on the Kindle store now.
You can also order physical copies on the CreateSpace store, this is a great option if you don’t live in Saskatoon and want to order yourself or someone you love a whole bunch of books. You can find the entire series here.
Now Reformatted!
So, now that I’m done writing the Black Depths Series, I can get back to focusing on NaNoWriMo, which I’m terribly behind on. Hopefully I can catch up within the next week. This year, I’m working on a piece of literary fiction, but don’t worry, I have some other YA drafts I’m looking at polishing and self-publishing in the near-ish future.
It’s finally here! I was hoping to launch the book prior to getting into NaNoWriMo, but I’m still waiting on the editor (which is my fault as I was slow in getting the book to them). But the cover is here and ready to go. It’s amazing! I would like to say a big thanks to the artist, Leah Keeler, whom you can find over on Deviant Art. This is my favourite cover so far and speaks of what’s to come! The book will be here very soon….
I’m behind this week, not just in the posting but in life thanks to a horrible bout of food poisoning. But I’m hoping to get back on track before November 1st, when my favourite month begins (well, except for maybe August because of the beautiful weather we get then). This week writing went well until the sickness hit. The past two days I’ve written nothing, but as I am currently 44,461 words ahead of my annual goal, I’m not worried about it. I have to say that beginning this annual goal with the 3-Day Novel Writing Contest was a great idea because that means I’ve been ahead on my word count ever since week #1, and it is amazing not to be behind in something for once.
Focus in on Your Goal
I’m actually coming along this week with a very slow word count centring on outlining my NaNoWriMo project. I’m at that tipping point, thinking about making a last minute change from one project to another. I have 2.5 days left to solidify my decision before it’s back to full-time drafting. I’ll be glad to get to rewrites in December I think, which should slow things down for me again for a while. But, if I do manage to stay so far ahead on my 365K goal, then I will definitely have a lot of new projects to work with at the end of my year.
How about you? Do you prefer writing or re-writing?
Well, I’ve finally finished my rewrites and edits on Twisted Currents, and am now waiting for editorial and cover art. Whew! *Take a big breath*
If you read the title of this post, then you already know I’m talking about how busy self-publishing is. The real work that goes on behind the scenes. If you’re a self-published author, you’ll know what I mean about being busier than ever before. Unless you’ve published and made millions (which is so, so rare), then you likely aren’t sitting on a beach in Mexico sipping drinks from coconuts. Instead, you’re probably huddled in a dark corner of your basement, hoping to squeeze in two more minutes of writing/editing/promo time.
Where I’m Not
If you’re a reader of this blog, then you’ve probably noticed the slow down in blog posts over the past couple of weeks, the lack of book reviews, and the lack of posting in general. And that’s mostly do to those pesky rewrites I’ve been working on. Rewriting is the most difficult part of the writing process for me. It’s that time when I sit down and think: Does this part really make sense? What is the symbology of that? How would this character say it? It’s a lot of work. And it’s even more work when self-publishing because there is no one to help you out. Though, you can remedy that by finding beta-readers or hiring an editor, for me, part of self-publishing is doing it on my own and writing something that is nearly 100% mine, and not 50% mine and 25% feedback from beta reads and 25% changes made by an editor I may or may not know. The editing I pay for is generally typo/grammatical only, which means the creative part of my novels are all mine. But it makes me so busy!
So what takes up all my time?
Writing the Draft – This takes me at least 40-60 hours of straight work for an 80K word novel. I’ve tried to do this all in one week before, but mentally it’s exhausting, so I usually spread that 40-60 hours out over a month or two.
And Then There’s Cat Distraction Time…
Rewriting the Draft (at least once) – I rewrite at a speed of 10 pages per hour (on a good day), for an 80K word book, that’s around another 40 hours. Again, this is spread out because yes, I do have a day job, and yes, I prefer to write at night, making it my “night job”.
Editing the Draft – This is slightly quicker, because at this point I’m only making small changes, but it still takes around 30 hours.
Getting Someone Else to Edit the Draft )and making those edits into a Final) – Most hired editors will get an 80K words novel back to you in 1-2 weeks. So there is the waiting time (where you can at least do other things), and then the review of those edits, which takes about another 5 hours.
Formatting – I hate formatting. This is probable the bane of my existence. This takes me anywhere from 1-10 hours (or maybe a million, I’m not sure, but it certain feels like FOREVER).
Blog – This is just a constant process. And fun (I love blogging)
Tweeting – I should really tweet more than I do (15 min per day)
Facebook – I should definitely Facebook more than I do (15 min per day)
Cover Art Design (hire out or do my own) – I currently hire out my cover designs, though I do the text myself. While my artist is working on the drawing, there is a feedback process to make sure the image is going in the direction I need. In total, cover art probably takes around 2-3 hours, and that’s because I don’t draw (if I did, I would love to do my own art but I imagine it would take me another 40 hours at least).
Book Launch Planning – If you’re going this, look at spending 5-6 hours over the course of a month to choose the sections you want to read, what kind of treats you want to serve, sending out e-vites, preparing other promotional material, and practicing your reading.
Readings/Arts Fairs/Public Events – This is similar to the launch, and a similar amount of time.
Writing a novel is a long, slow process. Writing a series is a slightly more fast-paced process that is just as much work. I have to admit, I’m glad to be concluding the Black Depths Series for the moment, because I need a breather. After a week of getting sampling edits back from potential editors so that I can find the right editor at the right price, I’m just about burnt out. But I’ve timed this perfectly, because now that the book is off to the chopping block, I have time to sit back, read, relax, and blog prior to starting NaNoWriMo in exactly one week.
Join me tomorrow when I post my first blog about my 2016 NaNoWriMo preparations.
Well, we’re back into fine weather here, and I’ve had a great week of meeting my writing goals. What’s really helped this week is that I’m pushing to finish rewrites to get Black Depths #5 out the door by Halloween (cover art and editing dependant). Here’s a look at the numbers for the past week:
It looks fantastic, and as you can see, I’m well over my goal, so I’m thinking I might allow myself a mini-break once I finish this draft. Although, there is a short story I’m trying to finish up in order to enter it into the CBC Short Story Literary Awards Contest, and there is the fact that the point of this exercise is to write 1,000 WORDS A DAY FOR A WHOLE YEAR.
Yeah, that’s a lot tougher than it sounds. Speed wise, I can type out a thousand words in under half an hour. What’s tough is coming up with motivation. Take today for instance, I’m extremely tired because one of my little kittens did not let me sleep last night. All I want to do is nap but I pushed through anyway, and I’m even writing this blog post, though I was pretty sure I WASN’T going to do it. I think that means the writing has finally made it into my blood. It’s finally more habit and chore and hopefully from here things just get easier. I am looking forward to dropping back down to 1K a day though soon, once my currently project, Twisted Currents, is wrapped up. Self-publishing is never easy, but I’m pretty sure it’s most difficult as self-imposed deadlines approach.
Ah well, I’m sensing a celebration coming down the pipe… Probably in the form of cake, tea, and books…
This week was a good week (winter storm aside). I wrote every day, and only one day did I write less than my goal of 1K words. It was Saturday, and I really wanted to write that day. I managed 200 words, it was late at night, and I was so exhausted from a long day, but I have to admit, I just quit. I flopped down on my bed and I said, “I can’t do it.” Which was WRONG, I could have done it. So I’m going to try really hard not to do that again. Overall, I wrote over 13K words this week, which is over my goal of 7K. So I’m pretty happy with that. As for the gym goal… Let’s not even talk about that one. I hope to do better with that next week too.
Today, the snow kept falling. And will keep falling. This was the view out of my day-job-office window. Yikes! Good thing I LIKE to stay in and write.
This week I’ve been working on the draft of Twisted Currents, which will wrap up the Black Depths Universe before NaNoWriMo 2016. I had a bit of a breakthrough yesterday, which made me feel really good about where I stand with this project. I’m also going to start my NaNo prep next week, after the Thanksgiving long weekend, during which I’m sure not to get much work done at all. Though I do hope to do a lot of reading.
So how about you? Do you have writing goals? How are they going?
J. E. H U N T E R 