Monday, May 15, 2017

Reassessment...


My publishing journey is just that...mine. I've been of a mindset to publish the first three or four books in June as a sort of birthday present to myself. Disappointingly, I don't think that's going to happen.

Two things are at play and both are a subset of my friend and yours: TIME.

First--

If I want to publish my books on or around my birthday, I have five weeks from last Friday to ensure books one, two, and three are ready to go. That includes all final revisions based on comments from my editor, as well as having all file formats ready to upload, and having my website capable of processing payments. Those are just off the top of my head. There are probably a few more things I could come up with.

Twenty-eight days after that, all that same stuff for book four needs to be in place and same for book five twenty-eight days after that.

I'm struggling to get book six written (that plot issue I mentioned last Wednesday) so that it can go to the editor at the end of June.

The best recipe for success with indie publishing is to be able to publish something new every twenty-eight days for five or six months. I don't have enough "stock" yet. I'm in a better position than a lot of debut authors, especially ones that aren't part of any sort of writers group and don't get the benefit of learning from others paving the way. I could go forth with what I have and everything would work out fine. I know this. I'd still need to postpone at least a month though.

But I just don't feel like I'd be starting out on as firm a foot as I would like.

Second--

If I worked eight hour days just at this writing/publishing gig, I could probably get everything done and ready. But I can't work eight hour days just at this writing/publishing gig. I have a day job and a life. There might be a trip to Seattle in my near future before Sonshine's ship deploys for real. Fireworks season is also around the corner. Two of them actually--the State of Texas has added several and one of them falls over Memorial Day.

Plus if I want to work on my plotting skills, I need to read books or take workshops, and that requires time too.

I've also mentioned how I don't want to be a slave to the writing either. I know other writers who, it seems, are always chained to a deadline and a keyboard. They're grumpy and tired and have little fun.

Since it is my journey, I get to decide when to pull the trigger. I thought of waiting a whole 'nother year and doing it to celebrate my FIFTIETH birthday. I don't necessarily want to wait that long, but it's not off the table.

Seems like I have some serious thinking to do and some important decisions to make.

I'll keep you posted.

Hope you had a great weekend.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good for you, Jen! Take that trip to see Sonshine before he deploys :-)

Nancy