Nic Bomgardner's Blog: Valhallan News - Posts Tagged "writing-process"

Unlike my usual posts, I feel like this one is going to last some of the positive energy that some of my others have. For that, I apologize in advance, but I wanted to talk about what my "journey" of being an indie author has been like.

First, there was just writing my very first book. As odd as it might seem, it wasn't exactly something I had planned. I dreamt up a specific scene in the book, then I started finding ways to explain the world and how it worked, and then I was encouraged to just go ahead and start turning it into an actual story. I didn't plan for it to be a book. In fact, it started as a web novel where I would release 1-2 chapters every week, and each chapter eventually averaged 1000 words. While 1000 words every 3 days doesn't sound like a lot, it is. There are easy days where I can do it all in just one sitting session and within about 1-2 hours (fast typing speed) but sometimes I'm lucky to get 100 words out in 4 hours. Sometimes there's a block or a lack of motivation or you just can't find the right mood to get into it. I truly understand what it's like to struggle through it, but I think that's why my personal goal of "at least 1 paragraph a day" really saved me. I didn't want to fall out of the habit of writing because then I slowly stop writing. It's the same thing with going to the gym, watching your favorite show, or maybe even something as mundane as brushing your teeth.
The short version of what I'm trying to say is that writing is hard. There's good days, bad days, and "meh" days in-between. A "good" writer isn't someone who fails to have bad days, it's someone to continues pushing forward because writing is something they really want to do. So, if anyone out there reading this is wanting to write their first book, I encourage you to set a goal for yourself. Maybe it's the same. Maybe it's "2 paragraphs a day" or "1 page a day" or as ambitious as "1 chapter a day." Consistently writing is really key to finish writing the book, for better or for worse. The initial writing is the hardest part.

The next part, following writing, is editing. Truth be told, this is where the magic of my stories lives. Occasionally, my sentences might be "a glowing stick lit up the path" because I couldn't find my words, but the edit might change it to "an evanescent rod illuminated the path." I wouldn't argue one sentence is better than the other because they both have their reasons, but you don't have to find that PERFECT word as you write. If you can't find it in your brain, just use a synonym, maybe restructure the sentence, and move on. Save the heavy thinking and lifting of your diction for your edits. I would also recommend having at least one "editor" aside from yourself, even if it's just a friend or family member, or your significant other, like in my case. Same thing with formatting. Sometimes it's best left for the end.

Now I want to go through publishing and ownership of your book. This is a tough topic for several reasons. When it comes to publishing, you can either find some way to publish your book by yourself via Amazon or a publishing company that will essentially do all the Amazon things, get your book an ISBN, and then make sure it's properly formatted for you, and it will cost more than if you did all of that yourself, on one side. On the otherside, you could pay more money for a proper publishing company to take care of a lot of the publishing for you. They will have editors change your book to a certain standard, or tell you what needs to be changed so you change it to said standards, or you will start giving over certain ownership rights for your book. One that's been circulating lately is a publisher who will get your book out there, but then they have the rights over any movies that are made about your book.

Of the two, my general opinions are these. 1) you can publish it yourself and it will be a hard clawing climb to try and get your book out there and selling copies, but you can try to utilize platforms like Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and other social media platforms, or pay to advertise on platforms Spotify/Amazon, which is likely the hardest option, but you get to keep all ownership rights to your own book. (There's a certain interaction between having your book on Kindle+ and having your eBook in other places, please read into it, but you retain final rights on your books).
2) You can sacrifice certain rights or degrees of telling your story your way to have a bigger publishing company do the heavy lifting for you/your book. They will make sure it fits certain standards, take care of all formatting, spread your book far and wide, and even do some advertising for your book. It's the easiest way for you to get your story out there, but it is also the most costly in terms of money and, as discussed, rights.

Now, with this, I'm sure there's one specific question: "If I could do it all again, would I do anything differently?" And that's a hard answer for me, but it's both yes and no. IF I had the money to do so, I would release a book or two through a publishing company that I didn't want to keep the rights to so that my book would get out there and they would, hopefully, gain a reader following for my next book. After I had two of them out there, I would start self-publishing books that I loved and wished to keep all of the rights to and then I would only really need to eat the ISBN cost and production cost, but I would likely keep more of the profits and all the rights to my story.

After publishing, there's advertising and what's next. The thing is, I don't know the best way to go about this next step and I think it's what I struggle with the most. As I've alluded to before, you can advertise on social media and buy advertisements on certain platforms like Spotify or Amazon. There's lots of people you can pay to teach you all the "tips and tricks to sell a lot more books" but I'm not sure whether or not it's worth it because, for one of the same reasons why I self-published to begin with, I don't have a lot of money, especially to throw at what is currently more of a hobby for me. I love writing books and I would do so full-time if I could and I would gladly pay some money to make it better/more successful, but I don't. I would suggest saving up some money and trying a plethora of advertising areas to see which one works best for you. Otherwise, things like social media posts are always free, as long as they aren't paid advertisements of course.

As for the rest of what's next, it's for you to decide. I decided I love my story and characters, and that I love to write, so I'm continuing on with my books/stories. Right now I have a large series planned which is my focus, but I do also have a lot of "one-off" stories planned out as well but I haven't given them proper time or attention. Maybe you decide it's too hard for you, so you give up. There is no wrong answer. However, I will say one thing. I would choose the answer that you will least regret in the long-term. For myself, that's slowly self-publishing my books, even if few people buy/read them. It's difficult, but I also want my story out there for the whole world to find. That's as much my reason for writing as finally finishing one of the many stories stuck in my head. Your reasons are your own, but as long as you have no regrets at the end of the day, your answer will always be the right answer.

I may share more personal posts in the future, but I currently have none that are planned. My work schedule is slowly changing back to normal, so my writing and writing related posts should continue starting next week, roughly. Until then, take care of yourselves, happy December, Merry Christmas, and please keep spending time on yourself too. I know what it's like to lose yourself in work, but you deserve some love and attention.