B.E. Sanderson's Blog, page 17
March 16, 2020
Pandemic-Based Marketing and Other Sundry Stuff
The bandwagon in marketing these past few days seems to be 'self-isolating? read my book'. Initially, I thought I might use a variation, because I'm trying to market the SCIU books right now and it seemed like a fresh take, but I missed the window. Now, mere days later, it's already overused and obvious.
Why obvious? Well, people are trapped at home - whether because they chose to be or they have nowhere to go because their work, their entertainment, their schools, etc. are closed. Of course, they're going to read if they're inclined to read. Otherwise, they'll be surfing the net or watching TV or watching TV on the net.
Me? I'll be reading, of course. And watching TV. And surfing the net. Although right now, being on social media is a minefield of crap. The pendulum swinging between 'don't worry' and 'worry lots' is making me dizzy.
In addition to reading and vegging, I'll be working*. Because that's what writers do. We're already self-isolated 90% of the time anyway. I started in on the edits for Ugly and the Beast yesterday. When I get this done, I'll go back to writing new words - because, at this time, I can't seem to focus on new words while I'm editing. While I'm writing new words, I'll be reading through UatB again, just to make sure I didn't insert new typos while I was fixing old ones. Because that happens.
When I get closer to having UatB done, I'll give you a release date.
Anyway, I'm well here. So is Hubs. If you hear me coughing, it's because I smoke. And I smoke more when I'm stressed. And guess what? This whole thing has me stressed. Which is why I locked my keys in the car on Saturday (see yesterday's post on The Writing Spectacle). Because stress also makes me stupid. Blerg.
Hang in there out there. Check in on any old or infirm people you know because they may not have the resources to weather this shit. And keep your head down. This may get uglier before it gets better.
What are you up to these days? Pandemic-based marketing - yea or nay? Talk to me, folks.
*I'd also go fishing, but it's raining and it's supposed to continue raining through Thursday. Yippee.
Why obvious? Well, people are trapped at home - whether because they chose to be or they have nowhere to go because their work, their entertainment, their schools, etc. are closed. Of course, they're going to read if they're inclined to read. Otherwise, they'll be surfing the net or watching TV or watching TV on the net.
Me? I'll be reading, of course. And watching TV. And surfing the net. Although right now, being on social media is a minefield of crap. The pendulum swinging between 'don't worry' and 'worry lots' is making me dizzy.
In addition to reading and vegging, I'll be working*. Because that's what writers do. We're already self-isolated 90% of the time anyway. I started in on the edits for Ugly and the Beast yesterday. When I get this done, I'll go back to writing new words - because, at this time, I can't seem to focus on new words while I'm editing. While I'm writing new words, I'll be reading through UatB again, just to make sure I didn't insert new typos while I was fixing old ones. Because that happens.
When I get closer to having UatB done, I'll give you a release date.
Anyway, I'm well here. So is Hubs. If you hear me coughing, it's because I smoke. And I smoke more when I'm stressed. And guess what? This whole thing has me stressed. Which is why I locked my keys in the car on Saturday (see yesterday's post on The Writing Spectacle). Because stress also makes me stupid. Blerg.
Hang in there out there. Check in on any old or infirm people you know because they may not have the resources to weather this shit. And keep your head down. This may get uglier before it gets better.
What are you up to these days? Pandemic-based marketing - yea or nay? Talk to me, folks.
*I'd also go fishing, but it's raining and it's supposed to continue raining through Thursday. Yippee.
March 11, 2020
Sale Time Again - SCIU Edition
Ack, it's Wednesday. I should've already written and scheduled this post. Derp.
Anyway...
I know you've all heard this before, because, like, you're my regulars, but just in case someone stops by who hasn't been hanging around... All of the SCIU books are on sale starting today.
Here's what went up on FB this morning:
Tales from the files of the Serial Crimes Investigation Unit. Standalone novels connected by a common purpose - tough heroines and heroes hunting down serial criminals wherever they prey on the innocent.On sale starting today! 99c/99p each. (Always free with Kindle Unlimited.) Buy one or buy them all.US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07... https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B... #ebooks #SCIU #99c #99p #reading #entertainment #fun #serialkillers #murder Fingers crossed it generates some sales. I'm sitting at almost 16 books sold this year for about $16. This, as you know, is not good. I mean, of course, it's better than a sharp stick in the ear, but yeah. And yeah, I'd probably sell more if I paid for advertising, but you know how it goes.
Now, back to your regularly scheduled lives.
Anyway...
I know you've all heard this before, because, like, you're my regulars, but just in case someone stops by who hasn't been hanging around... All of the SCIU books are on sale starting today.
Here's what went up on FB this morning:
Tales from the files of the Serial Crimes Investigation Unit. Standalone novels connected by a common purpose - tough heroines and heroes hunting down serial criminals wherever they prey on the innocent.On sale starting today! 99c/99p each. (Always free with Kindle Unlimited.) Buy one or buy them all.US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07... https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B... #ebooks #SCIU #99c #99p #reading #entertainment #fun #serialkillers #murder Fingers crossed it generates some sales. I'm sitting at almost 16 books sold this year for about $16. This, as you know, is not good. I mean, of course, it's better than a sharp stick in the ear, but yeah. And yeah, I'd probably sell more if I paid for advertising, but you know how it goes. Now, back to your regularly scheduled lives.
March 9, 2020
More Randomness
The five-days-free thing for UNEQUAL ended last night. I moved 99 copies and it reached as high as 54th in free dystopian. We'll see if any page reads come of this. If nothing else, there are 99 people in the world with the opportunity to read and enjoy it.
I'm up to 27516 words on Cinder Ugly. It would be more, but I took Friday off to watch Live PD and then the yardwork I did Saturday screwed up my wrists enough that I took that night off, too. There's a pivotal scene coming up next and I have no idea what's gonna happen. Should be fun writing.
I started work on the blurb for Ugly and the Beast. Here's what I've got so far:
Jeni Braxxon’s life as a up-and-coming supermodel hit the skids when she got cursed. The asshole who did this to her is rotting in jail, but the curse remains, leaving her as ugly as the north end of a southbound dump truck every damn night. Still, she’s trying desperately to hold onto her old life. As if this case of the gruesomes and impending unemployment wasn’t enough for a gal with serious esteem issues, someone snatches her nephew. The fight is on to find the boy before something seriously heinous happens to him. With the help of her friends and a magical cat, Jeni will face anything this world or the next throws at her. If she’s lucky, she might just make it out alive.
Yeah, it's pretty rough, but you get the idea of what goes on, so it's not totally lame. Or is it? I'll keep working on it.
UatB is at the readers and so far, I'm feeling good about it. We'll see if that holds once the responses start to come back.
I tell ya, it's nice to be working again. The writing is flowing pretty well and with it, excitement for other stuffs keeps popping into my head. But I'm staying focused. Fingers crossed the excitement is still there when I sit down to write SCIU #4 or DH #3.
Oh, and I did some pricing stuffs this weekend. I raised the prices on Sleeping Ugly, Accidental Death, and Natural Causes to $3.99. When Ugly and the Beast comes out, it'll be $3.99, too. Just trying to get my books in line with the market and each other.
I hope y'all aren't bored with this random stuff, but it seems like the only stuff I can hold in my head long enough to write an entire post.
How are things with you?
I'm up to 27516 words on Cinder Ugly. It would be more, but I took Friday off to watch Live PD and then the yardwork I did Saturday screwed up my wrists enough that I took that night off, too. There's a pivotal scene coming up next and I have no idea what's gonna happen. Should be fun writing.
I started work on the blurb for Ugly and the Beast. Here's what I've got so far:
Jeni Braxxon’s life as a up-and-coming supermodel hit the skids when she got cursed. The asshole who did this to her is rotting in jail, but the curse remains, leaving her as ugly as the north end of a southbound dump truck every damn night. Still, she’s trying desperately to hold onto her old life. As if this case of the gruesomes and impending unemployment wasn’t enough for a gal with serious esteem issues, someone snatches her nephew. The fight is on to find the boy before something seriously heinous happens to him. With the help of her friends and a magical cat, Jeni will face anything this world or the next throws at her. If she’s lucky, she might just make it out alive.
Yeah, it's pretty rough, but you get the idea of what goes on, so it's not totally lame. Or is it? I'll keep working on it.
UatB is at the readers and so far, I'm feeling good about it. We'll see if that holds once the responses start to come back.
I tell ya, it's nice to be working again. The writing is flowing pretty well and with it, excitement for other stuffs keeps popping into my head. But I'm staying focused. Fingers crossed the excitement is still there when I sit down to write SCIU #4 or DH #3.
Oh, and I did some pricing stuffs this weekend. I raised the prices on Sleeping Ugly, Accidental Death, and Natural Causes to $3.99. When Ugly and the Beast comes out, it'll be $3.99, too. Just trying to get my books in line with the market and each other.
I hope y'all aren't bored with this random stuff, but it seems like the only stuff I can hold in my head long enough to write an entire post.
How are things with you?
March 6, 2020
Getting Out of My Own Way
As you know, Bob... Umm, uhh... As you know, I was having a difficult time getting back into writing Cinder Ugly. I was stuck at 19K words and just couldn't seem to get over that hump. So, once again, I set the damn thing aside so I could focus on editing Ugly and the Beast. As the end of editing approached, though, the fear of what the hell would happen when I sat down to write again rolled over me like a herd of frightened buffalo.
What's a gal to do?
Well, I'm not sure I did this consciously, but I got the hell out of my own way. I sidestepped the herd. When I sat down to write again, I did NOT go back and read what I'd already written. I didn't check to make sure I had everything in line. Which is good because I already knew I'd backed myself into the corner of boring and meh, so going back over that crap again wasn't doing me any good.
At first, the writing was slow and kind of crappy. Then I hit a stride and the fingers were flying. I pounded out almost 3K words and I felt really good about them. Then I had a flash of insight for what would happen next and I've been writing on that ever since. To the tune of around 7K words so far this week. Woohoo.
Sure, I'll have to go back and fix a bunch of stuff in that muddy part. But that's what edits are for.
I have to remind myself of that fact more often than I'd like to admit. Write crap, edit it later. Everything can be fixed in edits. Except blank pages.
So, as always, getting out of my own was the trick. I wish I'd figured that out sometime in the last year, so I would've gotten more work out, but better late than never, eh?
Right now, Cinder Ugly is sitting at around 26K words. Onward and upward. The plan is to have this first drafted by the end of the month, edited in April, and out not too awfully long after I get Ugly and the Beast into the world. :fingers crossed:
Feeling good about it all. Yay.
What's a gal to do?
Well, I'm not sure I did this consciously, but I got the hell out of my own way. I sidestepped the herd. When I sat down to write again, I did NOT go back and read what I'd already written. I didn't check to make sure I had everything in line. Which is good because I already knew I'd backed myself into the corner of boring and meh, so going back over that crap again wasn't doing me any good.
At first, the writing was slow and kind of crappy. Then I hit a stride and the fingers were flying. I pounded out almost 3K words and I felt really good about them. Then I had a flash of insight for what would happen next and I've been writing on that ever since. To the tune of around 7K words so far this week. Woohoo.
Sure, I'll have to go back and fix a bunch of stuff in that muddy part. But that's what edits are for.
I have to remind myself of that fact more often than I'd like to admit. Write crap, edit it later. Everything can be fixed in edits. Except blank pages.
So, as always, getting out of my own was the trick. I wish I'd figured that out sometime in the last year, so I would've gotten more work out, but better late than never, eh?
Right now, Cinder Ugly is sitting at around 26K words. Onward and upward. The plan is to have this first drafted by the end of the month, edited in April, and out not too awfully long after I get Ugly and the Beast into the world. :fingers crossed:
Feeling good about it all. Yay.
March 4, 2020
UNEQUAL is Free
Hey all. Just thought I'd let you know that UNEQUAL is free now through Sunday. Five days of freebie fun.
In a world where being different is against the law, Rue Logan lives in fear of being branded Unequal and getting disappeared like so many others. The Department of Equalization had other plans for her life, but she couldn’t let that stop her. Now, she works her assigned job as a janitor by day and prowls the hospital’s corridors at night, saving lives.
Until she’s caught.
On the run from the DOE, Rue finds others like her, Unequals working in secret to achieve their goals and live their lives. But their leader has a mission of his own. With war brewing, both sides need her skills to help them win. Torn between her own deeply held beliefs and her desire to save the people she’s come to love, Rue must find a way to stop the conflict before any more lives are lost. Even if it means uncovering secrets and lies that could break her world apart.
I love this book so much. I hope you will, too.
In a world where being different is against the law, Rue Logan lives in fear of being branded Unequal and getting disappeared like so many others. The Department of Equalization had other plans for her life, but she couldn’t let that stop her. Now, she works her assigned job as a janitor by day and prowls the hospital’s corridors at night, saving lives. Until she’s caught.
On the run from the DOE, Rue finds others like her, Unequals working in secret to achieve their goals and live their lives. But their leader has a mission of his own. With war brewing, both sides need her skills to help them win. Torn between her own deeply held beliefs and her desire to save the people she’s come to love, Rue must find a way to stop the conflict before any more lives are lost. Even if it means uncovering secrets and lies that could break her world apart.
I love this book so much. I hope you will, too.
March 2, 2020
More Updates and Random Stuff
Since I'm more than a little scatterbrained this morning, what with stuffs and junks, here's another random post.
I finished my round of edits on Ugly and the Beast yesterday and sent the manuscript out for proofing. If you were expecting a copy and didn't receive it, let me know. I really think I nailed it, but we'll see what readers have to say. Hopefully, it's not too messy. I tried really hard to make it a clean copy, but sometimes we writers miss stuff.
I took the rest of yesterday off. Kinda. I did sit down to see if I could get Cinder Ugly jumpstarted again. Nope. I suspect I am going to have to either go back and delete a bunch of stuff to get back on track, or just forge ahead and hope I can fix it in edits. I'm kind of a linear writer, so it'll probably be Option A.
To whoever read Fertile Ground and Early Grave over the weekend, thanks. Now, if you could wander over to Amazon and leave a couple reviews, I'd really appreciate it. Like mightily.
I discovered why I'm suddenly showing more Amazon review numbers than I had. Amazon decided to put all the worldwide reviews together, so basically I'm seeing the few reviews I have in the UK added to my US numbers. Still pissed about the ratings thing, but international reviews are okay.
And that's about it for me today. Time to wander off and get the day started. What's on your plate today?
I finished my round of edits on Ugly and the Beast yesterday and sent the manuscript out for proofing. If you were expecting a copy and didn't receive it, let me know. I really think I nailed it, but we'll see what readers have to say. Hopefully, it's not too messy. I tried really hard to make it a clean copy, but sometimes we writers miss stuff.
I took the rest of yesterday off. Kinda. I did sit down to see if I could get Cinder Ugly jumpstarted again. Nope. I suspect I am going to have to either go back and delete a bunch of stuff to get back on track, or just forge ahead and hope I can fix it in edits. I'm kind of a linear writer, so it'll probably be Option A.
To whoever read Fertile Ground and Early Grave over the weekend, thanks. Now, if you could wander over to Amazon and leave a couple reviews, I'd really appreciate it. Like mightily.
I discovered why I'm suddenly showing more Amazon review numbers than I had. Amazon decided to put all the worldwide reviews together, so basically I'm seeing the few reviews I have in the UK added to my US numbers. Still pissed about the ratings thing, but international reviews are okay.
And that's about it for me today. Time to wander off and get the day started. What's on your plate today?
February 28, 2020
Updates and Stuffs
I'm getting excited. This is so close to being a real thing. Since I already have a cover, all this is going to take is the final bits of editing and proofreading, and a blurb (gah, blurbs), and it'll be ready to send off into the world. Woohoo! and barf.
I really have no idea what I'm going to write for the blurb. I'll have to put on my blurbing cap and hammer this out. Soon. :panics a little:
Speaking of blurbs, I'm not necessarily good at writing them, but I can spot a bad one for someone else's book like a laser guided missile. And I've seen some stinkers lately. They're usually written with either too much information or not enough. When I'm looking for a book to buy, I need basic plot, main character, conflict. I do not need to know their life story up to this point. Probably something I should keep in mind when I write my own blurbs.
Oh, and for the love of all you find holy, PROOFREAD your blurbs before you post them in public. Nothing turns me off of a book quicker than a blurb with errors that could've been fixed if the author had taken the time to go over the damn thing again. If someone can't proof a paragraph or two, I can't hold out much hope for an entire book. Harsh, but true. Of course, I'm more forgiving in a manuscript. 60-100K words to proof is a lot harder than a couple paragraphs.
Over the weekend, someone read Blink of an I in KU. This morning, there's a new rating for it on Goodreads. A 3-star. Which would bum me out except I hopped over to their page and it seems like all the books they read they give 3-stars or less. I'm taking it as a win. It's all about perspective. Anyway, I hope they enjoyed it enough to read Unequal next.
Speaking of Unequal, it'll be free for a few days next week. And I set up a sale for the SCIU books for the week after.
Once I get an idea of publication dates and junk for Ugly and the Beast, I'll probably have a sale for Sleeping Ugly to kick off the release. Woohoo. I'm hoping for end of March, but time frames depend on other people and since other people are doing me a favor, I'm not pushing anyone for a speedy delivery. They have lives, too, and their own work, and I'd be a shit if I was all like 'I need this yesterday'. Cuz I don't. It'll happen when it happens. I'm totally chill.
While my beloved elves are busy marking up my manuscript, I'll be writing Cinder Ugly. I posted the beginning of it over at Silver's blog on Wednesday, if you're interested.
Any questions? Got anything you want to update the world about? How's things?
I really have no idea what I'm going to write for the blurb. I'll have to put on my blurbing cap and hammer this out. Soon. :panics a little:
Speaking of blurbs, I'm not necessarily good at writing them, but I can spot a bad one for someone else's book like a laser guided missile. And I've seen some stinkers lately. They're usually written with either too much information or not enough. When I'm looking for a book to buy, I need basic plot, main character, conflict. I do not need to know their life story up to this point. Probably something I should keep in mind when I write my own blurbs.
Oh, and for the love of all you find holy, PROOFREAD your blurbs before you post them in public. Nothing turns me off of a book quicker than a blurb with errors that could've been fixed if the author had taken the time to go over the damn thing again. If someone can't proof a paragraph or two, I can't hold out much hope for an entire book. Harsh, but true. Of course, I'm more forgiving in a manuscript. 60-100K words to proof is a lot harder than a couple paragraphs.
Over the weekend, someone read Blink of an I in KU. This morning, there's a new rating for it on Goodreads. A 3-star. Which would bum me out except I hopped over to their page and it seems like all the books they read they give 3-stars or less. I'm taking it as a win. It's all about perspective. Anyway, I hope they enjoyed it enough to read Unequal next.
Speaking of Unequal, it'll be free for a few days next week. And I set up a sale for the SCIU books for the week after.
Once I get an idea of publication dates and junk for Ugly and the Beast, I'll probably have a sale for Sleeping Ugly to kick off the release. Woohoo. I'm hoping for end of March, but time frames depend on other people and since other people are doing me a favor, I'm not pushing anyone for a speedy delivery. They have lives, too, and their own work, and I'd be a shit if I was all like 'I need this yesterday'. Cuz I don't. It'll happen when it happens. I'm totally chill.
While my beloved elves are busy marking up my manuscript, I'll be writing Cinder Ugly. I posted the beginning of it over at Silver's blog on Wednesday, if you're interested.
Any questions? Got anything you want to update the world about? How's things?
February 26, 2020
Sisyphean Times
This week, I'm feeling a bit like Sisyphus. If you're not familiar with the dude, the Greek gods punished him by making him roll a boulder up a hill and every time he got to the top, the boulder would roll back down to the bottom. Gods are kind of assholes that way.
While this editing thing isn't exactly like that, because I don't have to start over, I do feel like I'm taking two steps forward and one step back. Like a couple days ago, I started out the day with 45 pages left to edit. I edited 15 pages and when I was done, I had 35 pages left to edit. 45-15=35? As I said on FB, edit math is not like real math.
Despite it being frustrating, it's a good thing. It means I'm adding substance to the book as I go along. I mean, let's be honest, I write pretty emaciated drafts. Poor things need meat. Not fat, muscle.
When I started this edit of UatB, it was 56K words. As of last night, it's creeping up on 62K. Things are richer and fuller now. So yay.
I have about 21 pages left to edit and then a read through. Well, 21 pages if I don't find a spot that needs muscle. We'll see how it goes. And if I've got to spend a little more time rolling that boulder up the hill, I will. I still have 4 days to reach my goal of having this ready to go by the end of the month. The end is in sight.
And at least I don't feel like the boulder is going to roll over the top of me and smush me flat.
How's it going with you?
While this editing thing isn't exactly like that, because I don't have to start over, I do feel like I'm taking two steps forward and one step back. Like a couple days ago, I started out the day with 45 pages left to edit. I edited 15 pages and when I was done, I had 35 pages left to edit. 45-15=35? As I said on FB, edit math is not like real math.
Despite it being frustrating, it's a good thing. It means I'm adding substance to the book as I go along. I mean, let's be honest, I write pretty emaciated drafts. Poor things need meat. Not fat, muscle.
When I started this edit of UatB, it was 56K words. As of last night, it's creeping up on 62K. Things are richer and fuller now. So yay.
I have about 21 pages left to edit and then a read through. Well, 21 pages if I don't find a spot that needs muscle. We'll see how it goes. And if I've got to spend a little more time rolling that boulder up the hill, I will. I still have 4 days to reach my goal of having this ready to go by the end of the month. The end is in sight.
And at least I don't feel like the boulder is going to roll over the top of me and smush me flat.
How's it going with you?
February 23, 2020
Flying Solo is Scary
Around this time sixteen years ago, I began writing what would become my first finished novel. Back then, I did it all myself. All the writing, the editing, the research - for the writing and for the submitting, the querying, the crying...
Last week, I celebrated the 5th anniversary of the first novel I published and sent out into the world. I still did most of it myself, but I realized I needed other people. I needed a cover artist and an editor. Which meant I needed money. And Hubs willingly agreed to spend some of our savings to get my books out into the world.
I had expected for this venture to start paying for itself within the first year. It didn't. I had great hopes for the next year. Not then either. None of them have. But I got tired of sucking off the savings tit, so I started funding this myself and stopped dipping into our nest egg.
With this in mind, I do most of the covers myself and what I couldn't do myself went to a less expensive artist. And when it came time to edit, I still paid someone.
As sales have dwindled and the money dried up, I was faced with a decision - stop trying to publish and watch my career swirl the drain, or stop paying an editor. (I have two covers I've already paid for, so I'm set there for now.)
It's a scary thing, thinking about flying solo. For the past 13 books, I've had an editor. One gal did the first two books. Since then, I've had AWE (Awesome Wonderful Editor) as my co-pilot. (She also walked in and saved my second book, which was really helpful.) Taking off on my own without her in a seat beside me scares the crap out of me.
But she's been super-supportive of my flying alone. She's praised me for my clean drafts before and now tells me I can do this. With her blessing.
Still, super scary.
However, stopping publishing anything, which last year meant not writing either, is a scarier idea. (It's close as to which is scarier, but not writing wins by a hair.) Since it's scary, it's been super hard to move forward with the idea. To think that maybe next month or the month after, I will put a book into the world without my AWE... :shudder:
What if I get bad reviews? What if I actually can't do this by myself?
It's enough to make a gal crawl back into her hole and pull the dirt in over her.
But it's time. I can do this. I can edit on my own. I know people who do it, so why shouldn't I be able to do it, too? I can and I will. And I will make every effort to insure my readers get the same quality manuscripts they've always gotten.
I hope you'll stick with me. There's no co-pilot on this flight, but I promise not to crash and burn.
Last week, I celebrated the 5th anniversary of the first novel I published and sent out into the world. I still did most of it myself, but I realized I needed other people. I needed a cover artist and an editor. Which meant I needed money. And Hubs willingly agreed to spend some of our savings to get my books out into the world.
I had expected for this venture to start paying for itself within the first year. It didn't. I had great hopes for the next year. Not then either. None of them have. But I got tired of sucking off the savings tit, so I started funding this myself and stopped dipping into our nest egg.
With this in mind, I do most of the covers myself and what I couldn't do myself went to a less expensive artist. And when it came time to edit, I still paid someone.
As sales have dwindled and the money dried up, I was faced with a decision - stop trying to publish and watch my career swirl the drain, or stop paying an editor. (I have two covers I've already paid for, so I'm set there for now.)
It's a scary thing, thinking about flying solo. For the past 13 books, I've had an editor. One gal did the first two books. Since then, I've had AWE (Awesome Wonderful Editor) as my co-pilot. (She also walked in and saved my second book, which was really helpful.) Taking off on my own without her in a seat beside me scares the crap out of me.
But she's been super-supportive of my flying alone. She's praised me for my clean drafts before and now tells me I can do this. With her blessing.
Still, super scary.
However, stopping publishing anything, which last year meant not writing either, is a scarier idea. (It's close as to which is scarier, but not writing wins by a hair.) Since it's scary, it's been super hard to move forward with the idea. To think that maybe next month or the month after, I will put a book into the world without my AWE... :shudder:
What if I get bad reviews? What if I actually can't do this by myself?
It's enough to make a gal crawl back into her hole and pull the dirt in over her.
But it's time. I can do this. I can edit on my own. I know people who do it, so why shouldn't I be able to do it, too? I can and I will. And I will make every effort to insure my readers get the same quality manuscripts they've always gotten.
I hope you'll stick with me. There's no co-pilot on this flight, but I promise not to crash and burn.
February 20, 2020
No More Excuses
I don't know about you, but I'm pretty damn sick of myself. I keep intending to work on my books, but like Dad always said 'intentions are for shit'. Meaning, of course, that you can have all the intentions in the world, but they aren't good for much of anything without action.
It's action I'm lacking.
I mean, I talk about... check that... whine about not having gumption or getting anything done. But I don't actually DO anything about it. Slacker.
Okay, so now's the time to do something. As such, I'm making the commitment to have Ugly and the Beast ready to go out to one or two people for beta reading / proofing by the end of the month. I was on page 115 of my edits as of quittin' time yesterday. That leaves about 100 pages to go, understanding that I'm adding words and pages as I edit, and nine days in which to get those pages into shape. How long it takes the readers to do their magic and me to fix what they find will dictate when UatB goes live, but it will go live. Dammit.
Then I'm going to finish writing Cinder Ugly if it kills me. Which it might. It's a pretty ugly manuscript so far. Like monster in Wish Hits the Fan ugly. (If you haven't read it, I can't help you understand it better. Think big, nasty, gruesome bitch.) I'll kill the beast and hang her head on my wall.
No more excuses. No more whining. Just get 'er done.
It's action I'm lacking.
I mean, I talk about... check that... whine about not having gumption or getting anything done. But I don't actually DO anything about it. Slacker.
Okay, so now's the time to do something. As such, I'm making the commitment to have Ugly and the Beast ready to go out to one or two people for beta reading / proofing by the end of the month. I was on page 115 of my edits as of quittin' time yesterday. That leaves about 100 pages to go, understanding that I'm adding words and pages as I edit, and nine days in which to get those pages into shape. How long it takes the readers to do their magic and me to fix what they find will dictate when UatB goes live, but it will go live. Dammit.
Then I'm going to finish writing Cinder Ugly if it kills me. Which it might. It's a pretty ugly manuscript so far. Like monster in Wish Hits the Fan ugly. (If you haven't read it, I can't help you understand it better. Think big, nasty, gruesome bitch.) I'll kill the beast and hang her head on my wall.
No more excuses. No more whining. Just get 'er done.
