Evan Pickering's Blog, page 9
August 16, 2016
BOOK 2 is COMPLETE!
Well, you know. Complete in the sense that I have finished writing all the chapters. Now comes the editing process, and then formatting, and then BAM! Soon it shall be in the Amazon book forest and I can’t wait to get it into the hands of readers. GAH I WANT TO PUBLISH IT TODAY!
Behold, the might of Stormwind. I mean– the glorious green bars of Scrivener target goals.
It blows my mind that just three months ago or less I was staring at 5k or 10k words thinking “man, so much farther to go.”
But you just keep writing every day and that shit adds up.
Considering I didn’t really write at all in May–after I finished my semester I took the weeks thereafter to storyboard and outline–it only took me about 2.5 months to write the first draft.
75,000+ words in about 75 days. 1,000 words/day (no calc needed), that’s not too shabby if I do say so myself.
Hold tight, readers of HOOD. The second installment is just upon the horizon!
Hearts and huggles,
Evan P
August 1, 2016
August Book 2 Update!
So July has came and went. Damn that was fast.
So, where am I in progress of WHISKEY, BOOK 2 of the American Rebirth Series?
WORD COUNT: 58,000
Good news: The draft is almost done. It looks like the book will end up being around 70K+ words. I should have it done by this month! That in and of itself is a pretty awesome feeling. It took me three years to write the first draft for HOOD. It’ll take me about 3 months for WHISKEY.
Bad news: I only wrote 28,000 words in July. To give myself a break, I have been going through some pretty strenuous crap in my life. So there is that. But reality is, I fell short of my 2,000 words/day goal by a pretty sizeable margin, and I wrote less than I did in June.
I’m starting to think that word-count-hitting is a poor motivator. Aside from feeling satisfied that I hit my goals, it’s still mostly just a weight around my neck. Truth is I write most prolifically when I get in a flow and/or get really excited about the scene I’m writing.
I think I’d be better off just focusing on what gets me most excited about whatever current scene I’m writing. Last night I churned out 2,300 words pretty easily, because I really felt in the groove and felt excited about all the little details.
Anyway, I’m still trying to figure out optimal writing/motivation goals for full-time writing. As of right now, I’m just going to set the goal of having the manuscript done by August 15th. In the meantime I’m going to try and figure out something that makes the day-to-day writing pressure not… well… feel like pressure, lol.
Can’t wait to get it done and published already. I’m really pretty damn proud of how much I’ve written this summer so far.
-Evan Pickering
July 19, 2016
Part 2 of My Podcast Interview!
Hi E’rebody!
Mike Sanford, operator of the Introverted Indie Author Podcast just posted PART 2 of my interview with him!
Honestly, this interview was so much fun, Mike is such a good guy and so easy to talk to. I’m very grateful he asked me to come on, and It’s super fun (and a little bit anxiety-inducing) listening to yourself be interviewed
July 18, 2016
180 Days of HOOD.
6 months.
It’s been pretty incredible, all things considered. Without any pomp and circumstance, here are the two graphs of my first 180 days:
The huge spike in mid-April is my one stack promo. Sales were great for a long while, they’ve tapered off a bit lately. I’m not sure if this is summer slump or if I need to get my ass in gear doing better advertising. Time will tell, I’m sure!
By The Numbers
Keep in mind, these are inexact calculations. I don’t have the energy to exactly count out the number, lol. But if they’re not exactly right, they’re quite close. If I’m wrong, I’m probably wrong on the lower side, I’d rather be short in calculation than over-estimate.
Books sold: 4,389 (approximately)
KU Pagereads: 1,800,000 (approximately)
Books sold/Day: 24.4
What’s Next
I’m hard at work on WHISKEY, Book 2, trying to get it out as quickly as possible. I’m more than halfway done. I know the old adage ‘the best marketing is writing the next book’ so I’m trying to take that to heart.
Frankly, the drop-off in sales I’ve had the past few days (not graphed) has got me in a panic a little bit. I’m trying not to get too crazy about it, and just accept that it’s summer and books have natural ebbs and flows.
Part of why I wanted to post this is to take a step back and appreciate what this has been, and to give me some big-picture perspective. I’m immensely proud of the book and everything that’s happened.
Also, I’m working with a voice actor right now creating the audiobook for HOOD. I’ll write more about that soon, I’m absolutely ecstatic with his work so far and I can’t wait to get it out there. It’s so cool getting to hear your story narrated.
Anyway, thanks for all the love and support along the way everyone. I really appreciate how much people have done for me to help me get where I am.
-Evan Pickering
My Bro and what he’s done. So awesome
It’s been a number of weeks since we wrapped principal photography of our sereies. “We” are 2 Ladies & A Giant, and the series is called “After”. It’s about a young widower who, with the help of his family and friends, is trying to get back into the dating game. A dramady that deals with […]
via I Made My Own Dreams Come True. — Some Actor
July 11, 2016
I got Interviewed for a Podcast!
Hey everybody!
I recently was interviewed on the Introverted Indie Author Podcast with host Michael Sanford, it was tons of fun.
I found out he was a fellow comrade in arms in nerd-dom and in indie authorship, he’s an awesome guy and a great host. Definitely most fun I’ve had on an interview.
On the site:
Direct link:
Check it out, let me know what you think!
I go into depth on my experiences with writing and editing and publishing and advertising, along with various nerdy topics.
Enjoy you bloodthirsty monsters!
Evan
July 1, 2016
BOOK 2 UPDATE!
I figured it’s about time.
UPDATE TIME!
Fear not, intrepid readers of HOOD. I am hard at work on WHISKEY and I hope to have it drafted by the end of summer! I’d love to have it published by then, but alas, the procedural side of writing strikes again. Editing and publication will take some time.
I still hold out hope I can kick it into another gear and have it published by then. We’ll see.
30,000 words. That’s how much I have written. I did the outlining & storyboarding at the end of May when my semester ended, so for all you mathmagicians out there, I averaged about 1,000 words/day in June.
Didn’t even need a calculator.
June 23, 2016
Expectation and Reality
There’s thing in our heads called a brain. It’s crazy and it does a million things and once and somehow is at the core of who we perceive ourselves to be.
One of the things this brain does all the time is process potential future events.
This of course is a purely survivalist practice, as we once were animals living in the food chain. Now this process has become a part of things like when should I get onions and not wanting to go to some social obligation later and how hard it’s going to be to write that next scene I want to get right.
We all have expectations. For everything. Even if we try not to.
Expectations often do not match reality. Because expectations are just some scenarios we have made up in our heads-ones that often aren’t even strongly based on our past experiences but rather our hopes and fears.
For Example,
Expectation: Man, writing this next scene is going to be hard. There’s a lot of detail and content I want to impart in a compact amount of writing. What choices am I going to make for this character, for this reaction? I have to make sure the details line up with my greater goal for the story and the preceding and following plot.
Reality: Sit down in my chair, open Scrivener. Catch up on where I am in the flow of the scene. Double check my outline to see major points. Start typing. Keep typing. It goes and goes. Hey, I already know all of these things that I wanted to do. I’ve had this in my head for days. This is pretty smooth.
Despite the fact that that is my experience sitting down to right 19 times out of 20, STILL sometimes I procrastinate sitting down to write, daunted by fear or laziness.
That’s because my brain is lying to me.
Expectations are crap. Get rid of them. And by that I mean, don’t let them control your actions, unless it’s controlling them for the better, of course.
June 18, 2016
Short, sweet, powerful. From Heartstring Eulogies
When you want nothing more than to give up, don’t. If you never read another word, listen to another lyric, or feel another poem, at least know this. Don’t give up. Find your solace, that stillness in your heart and your mind, and let it fill you to the brim. Let everything else out. If that means crying harder than […]
via Stillness — Heartstring Eulogies
June 15, 2016
Why Am I Writing?
No, this isn’t some foray into self-doubt. The question is semi-rhetorical.
The purpose of asking myself this is simple: It’s worth remembering why. It’s only been a few months since I started writing full-time but I think this is something very, very easy to forget with everything that has changed.
In life, and in writing, you need to get back to center sometimes. So… Why am I writing?
The money is great. But it ain’t about the money. Making a living from my book is pretty sick. It’s nothing short of a dream. But if it was about the money, I’d hate writing in short order. It’s like turning your favorite food you eat everyday into poison. I’d rather work some other job and write for fun and secondary income.
Getting recognition is awesome. Having people tell you how much they love the story and appreciate your success is nothing short of every writer’s dream. But you can’t live on that alone. If there’s anything that life’s taught me, it’s that happiness should never be dependent on the opinions of others. It can’t be, really. Because they are not you.
Don’t get it twisted–having readers tell me they loved the book and can’t wait for the sequel, it’s unreal. It’s beautiful. Truthfully it is probably a majority reason of why I write, why most writers write–to share their stories with others. But it is not the core, the seed that grows in all writers.
The real reason I write is this: I love the stories I create. I love to see the world and the story become real for me (and in turn, for readers). I write because I’m selfish, because there is a story inside me I want to see, I want to record it permanently, write it in stone and make it something more than what it is–just words on a page.
I write because I get inspired. Because I read other books and remember great stories and video games and movies and they fill me with this joy that wants to come out in some story of my own. I write because I want to improve, I want to become an even better storyteller, because I want to inspire others to think about their own lives and write their own stories the way other stories inspire me.
That’s why I do this. And that’s the shit I need to remember when I have days that I just roll around my apartment saying “what’s the point?”
You already know the point, asshole. Just walk back to center and find it again.
-Evan
