Cate Morgan's Blog, page 3

IWSG: Non-Stop (#amwriting, #IWSG)

 

As authors these days, whether we self-publish or trad publish (or both), we are expected to do and be All The Things. And lawdy, can it get overwhelming!

Marketing and Promo. Research. Newsletter admin. Not to mention Social-Media-what-now? Am I supposed to be Tumblr-ing down the rabbit hole, or Snapping my Chats? *falls over*

Some of us even do our own cover art. So that’s a whole ‘nother hat to contend with. I’m beginning to feel like a hydra with all the mad hatting I seem to be doing.

And then there’s the whole Juggling-All-The-Projects thing, because today’s industry expects us to publish faster, stronger, better than before.

Jane! STOP THIS CRAZY THING!!

::FLAIL::

::CRASH::

So how to keep it all straight? How do know when to do what, not to mention how? Especially when you’re spinning multiple projects in midair?

I’ve found it helps to put tasks into categories or buckets. Once all tasks within a bucket are complete, I dump the project into the next bucket and refill the previous one with next project in the queue.

Did I mention insane? Yeah, lil’ bit. But there is such a thing as organized sanity. Or so I tell myself.

I like to take my task categories from the film industry, because it helps rewire my brain out of book world and into business world, for some reason.

PRE-PRODUCTION

World building and related research

Character Profiles and Arcs

Plot structure

Save The Cat! outline and related notes

Book Budget and Marketing Plan

Cover Art proof

Cover (jacket) copy

Update website with book info.

IN PRODUCTION

Scene work—notes on setting, action, and dialogue

Words, words, words. In other words (ahem), drafting! I usually go for about 10k in a week, because that means I can finish a rough draft of a novella or 1/3-1/2 a novel in a month.

Blog/Social Media—if there’s any particular snippet or milestone I’m particularly proud of, I’ll add it to my blog, which cross posts to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr.

POST PRODUCTION

Revisions and Rewrites (Fixing the Big Problems I noted for each chapter in Scrivener notes)

Edits (at least three passes).

If you can’t afford an editor (and believe me, there are some very affordable editors out there—I recommend the Book Forge and Evil Eye Editing), I recommend using Hemingway Editor and ProWrite Aid. I’d recommend using these last two even before sending a manuscript to a professional editor to get it as polished as possible.

One Final Read Through for anything I might have missed.

Distribute final draft to BETA readers.

Complete cover and add to website.

WRAP

If First in Series, send to Newsletter as an ARC. If not First In Series, send exclusive Excerpt instead.

Add to Amazon KDP for first ninety days on scheduled release date.

Website announcement via Blog (Cross post to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr).

Schedule bargain ads and release book at 99c for the first week.

Drink.

Collapse.

You’ll notice I put cover art and copy under Pre-Production. This is because it helps me stay in the head space of the book if I have the cover art staring at me while I’m drafting. It keeps me excited about the story while I’m drafting.

I think that’s everything, but if you have questions or want a point clarified, feel free to let me know in the comments!

Author’s Log: New Beginnings (#ROW80, #amwriting)

Welp, spring is officially here. For Florida this generally means my black car has turned a mildly disturbing shade of yellow overnight and my allergies are no doubt lying in wait just around the corner.

Last quarter wasn’t quite as productive as I might have hoped, but I still managed to get out two books in the space of three months, so I’ll take it as a win. And even though I’m about a month off my initial Production Schedule, I’m well into my Sci-Fi Western Reliance. I anticipate no problems releasing the book later this month.

This one’s going fairly quickly, so I’m hoping to have a rough draft ready for editing before too much longer. I also finally managed to put together a cover proof I like, so I’ll get what will (probably) be the final proof done this week. Huzzah!

*falls over*

Goal Roundup:

1. Complete and Release Reliance #1. On target/In Production.

2. Complete and Release Keepers #5. In Pre-Production.

3. Complete and Release Sweet Home #2. Deferred. Once I begin production on Keepers 5 I’ll open the book (heh) on this one.

TO DO VOODOO FOR APRIL

1. Complete and Release Reliance 1. (Currently drafting.)

2. Complete Pre-Production and begin drafting on Keepers 5. (More or less done, but I still need to slay one or two dragons wherever they be.)

3. Begin Pre-Production on Sweet Home #2. 

Author’s Log: Better Late Than Never (#amwriting, #ROW80)

I’m a little late getting this up today, but seeing as its Easter I didn’t you’d mind too much. :-)

Didn’t get a ton of drafting done this week, as I was busy getting Sweet Home Oklahoma up and running. We are now officially In The Wild–HUZZAH!!

As some of you are probably aware, my background is in music and theatre. In the last Many Years, however, I’ve been a bit too busy to keep up on Broadway shows. And then when Disney started putting their shows up on the boards, I was all “meh”. I love me some Wicked and Book of Mormon, mind you, but, yanno, Writing and Life happened. Mostly Life. And I haven’t been truly blown away by a show since Rent, soooo…

That all changed this week when I discovered Hamilton.

For those of you as late to the party as I am, Hamilton is the most popular ticket on Broadway right now. It’s a musical based on the life and times of Alexander Hamilton (as in the Founding Father and first Secretary of the Treasury). And the music is centered on Hip-Hop.

It is, in fact, a Hip-Hopera. Ahem.

*takes a bow*

These are two things that should probably never have gone together: Early American politics and Hip Hop. It is, however, executed PERFECTLY.

Never mind that the Founding Fathers and assorted individuals are played by a widely diverse cast. Never mind these are the same issues we are debating today. (Move over, Schoolhouse Rock.)

All you need to know is that the storytelling is amazing, and the music is BRILLIANT. And addictive.

Did I mention I’m obsessed? I’m totally obsessed.

OBSESSSSSSSSSED.

*transforms into Gollum*

Every writer should be listening to this soundtrack, and not just because the lyrics are amazing. But because of Alexander Hamilton’s crazy-sauce drive and work ethic, and how he used words to change the world.

The fact that the cast is singing in dancing Hip Hop in period costume is only a bonus. Seriously. Here, take a looksee:

The ginormous nerd in me would Squee! but it’s too busy singing along and pretending it can still dance.

TO-DO VOODOO FOR MARCH:

Finish Drafting RELIANCE 1: In Progress

Now that Sweet Home #1 is off my plate, and I can turn the majority of my focus onto finishing this one up. I expect to have a rough draft completed early on in April.

Finish Pre-Production on KEEPERS 5:  In Progress

This one is coming together nicely. Other than one or two tidbits that are eluding me at the moment, I know pretty much everything I need to know to get this story done.

Happy Easter, everyone! How’s the writing going for you? What’s inspired you lately?

 

Author’s Log: All The News (#amwriting, #ROW80)

Lots to report this week, folks (for once). So strap in, it’s going to be a mildly exciting ride. ;-)

Item The First:

So this totally happened this week. The Amazing Adventures of Acacia Carlisle (Blood & Steam #1) hit NUMBER ONE on not one, but TWO subcategory lists on Amazon:

Holy Steam, Clockwork Batman–how did THAT happen?! O.O

I think this was largely due to Acacia being Perma-free and the series Free Booksy ad I ran this week. It was a bit pricey (by my standards, which involve being mostly broke), but well worth the results garnered.

Item The Second:

On Sunday, I was on the Self-Publishing Round Table’s weekly roundup of news, to cover for one of the regular hosts who’s on holiday. But don’t take my word for it–BEHOLD! ME!! :-D

It was loads of fun, and I’d love to do it again if they let me. Although they may end up chasing me off with burning torches and pitchforks instead.

Item The Third:

Speaking of being released into the wild, Sweet Home Oklahoma (Sweet Home #1) is FIANALLY done, and should be up at Amazon within the next few days once I finish giving it a last once-over.

I’m going to price it at $0.99 in the beginning, so I can experiment with a few bargain book ads, and maybe get a little launch traction.

And now, on to…

TO-DO VOODOO FOR MARCH:

Complete SWEET HOME 1 QUEST COMPLETED!

Finish rough draft of RELIANCE 1: I’m having loads of fun writing this one. Sci-Fi? Western? YES, PLEASE. How could I not be having a blast with names like Cullen, Jericho, and Abernathy? I have an ABERNATHY, for Serenity’s Sake. I need to average about 10k words per week to finish this goal. So far, I’m on track.

Finish Pre-Production on KEEPERS 5: My writer’s notebook is filling up on this one. The characters are pretty well set, and I’ve got the first two-three scenes coming to life, which is a good sign. As usual there’s a spot in my plot sketch which is, essentially, STUFF HAPPENS or SHENANIGANS ENSUE (i.e. Here Be Dragons) that I need to get sorted before too much longer.

MOVE ALONG, CITIZEN–NOTHING TO SEE HERE. *waves hands*

Well, I’ve had a busy week–how about you?

 

 

 

 

A Big THANK YOU To My Amazing Readers

Have I mentioned how much I love my readers lately? Cuz I totally do.

Thanks to you guys, THIS happened:

You read that right. The Amazing Adventures of Acacia Carlisle (Blood & Steam #1) hit NUMBER ONE in two Kindle subcategories.

I can’t even begin to tell you how chuffed this makes me feel. You guys are the absolute best. You are my tribe, and it’s easy to see why.

That’s why, if you sign up below, I’ll give you the rest of the series FOR FREE.

I promise you’ll only hear from me when I have something interesting or exciting to share–like Free Books!

So clickity-click on the pretty picture above to claim Books 2 and 3 of the Carlisle saga and, again, THANK YOU. :-D :-D :-D

Author’s Log: It’s A Wrap! (#amwriting, #ROW80)

Well, that took longer than I thought it would. Yikes! o.O

If I’ve been scarce around the old blogosphere, it’s because I’ve been fighting to get Sweet Home 1 out in the wild. I’m several weeks behind where I anticipated I’d be, but progress has still been had, so YAY!

I’ve been sooper-oober-doober busy (yes, that is totally valid measurement what metric system shut up) at the Day Job, which of course means my mental energy (not to mention mental acuity) tends to suffer. I’ve been tired, y’all.

The good news is that I’ve been sleeping a bit better of late, as I’ve discovered that while hot coffee is out of the question for my health issues, iced coffee seems to be okay. So now my sleep cycles seem to have righted themselves.

Mercy.

In Other News, there may or may not be a buyout over at my publisher (for those playing along at home, Samhain Publishing recently announced they were closing their doors, drawing me into a whole pile of WTH?). No news yet, except to stay tuned. I’ll probably try to get my rights back for the first three books of Keepers of the Flame, but in the meantime it’s a game of Wait and See, which is not unlike Hide and Seek.

In OTHER other news, I’ll be a guest co-host of the Self-Publishing Roundtable’s Sunday news roundup on Blab today! HUZZAH!

https://blab.im/sprt-weekly-roundup-of-indie-publishing-news-and-stuff-13-march-2016

So that’s today, March 13 at 5:00 EST. Be there, or be a balanced pair of right angles.

If you end up missing it, however, don’t worry–I’ll post a YouTube link once it becomes available.

TO-DO VOODOO FOR MARCH:

1. COMPLETE AND RELEASE Sweet Home 1: Wrapping up post-production as we speak. I anticipate releasing this one into the wild on or about March 19.

2. COMPLETE Reliance 1:  I’m going to begin drafting this week. My Writer’s Lab notebook on this is pretty well complete, and I’m thoroughly outlined and as ready to go as I’m going to be. I’ve started working on cover proofs as a way keep me excited on the project, and therefore keep my progress steady. I’ve been looking forward to writing this one for awhile.

3. COMPLETE PRE-PRODUCTION Keepers 5: In order to catch up on my production schedule I need to be able to hit the ground running on this one pretty hard. It’s time to start pulling things out of the Creative Brain Ether and work on making them more tangible. Hey, look–I’m a Story Alchemist! BOOM!!

Heh-heh. :-D

How about you guys? How’s your first quarter of 2016 going?

SAVE THE DATE: Look, Ma–I’m on TV!! (#SPRT, #ROW80, #amwriting)

So, after several years of following the fun and informative Self-Publishing Roundtable Podcast, they finally gave in to my stalking desperate pleas for attention enthusiasm and agreed to let me co-host their Sunday Weekly Roundup on Blab while one of their regular members is on holiday south of the border fighting off a case of the Mexican Jumping Beans.

FOOLS! I WILL DESTROY THEM ALL!!

::coff::

I mean, Yay!

So tune in this Sunday, March 13 at 5:00pm EST to catch yours truly waxing all poetical on the week’s industry news.

https://blab.im/sprt-weekly-roundup-of-indie-publishing-news-and-stuff-13-march-2016

Hope to see you there! :-D

 

Author’s Log: The Quick and the Dead (#amwriting, #ROW80)

Just a quickie post today, as I am in the final death throes of wrapping up Sweet Home 1. I’m about to slide across the finish line, so…there’s that.

Instead, why don’t you tell ME what YOU’RE up to for once. That’s more interesting anyway. Right? Right.

Sound off in the comments!

IWSG: Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes (#amwriting, #ROW80, #IWSG)

So it seems I actually have some news to report other than STILL WORKING NO REALLY I AM PROMISE.

On Thursday, Feb 26, my traditional publisher Samhain Publishing, Ltd announced they would be closing their doors. This surprised me, not just for obvious reasons, but because I was always under the impression that they were healthy. After all, they’re a digital first publisher that treated their authors fairly, paid them well, and didn’t have the extreme overhead involved with regular, traditional publishing.

But it seems that shrinking market share was an issue with the Wild, Wild West of self-publishing and Amazon’s ever expanding market share gobbling up the landscape like The Nothing in Neverending Story.

This is a shame. Digital-First, POD publishers are an excellent option for newer writers just gaining their wobbly feet in a very scary place, especially for those without the capital to invest in self-publishing.

Samhain paid me much higher royalty rates than “regular” traditional publishing, got my foot in the door, and gave me the post-production things I wouldn’t have been able to afford on my own, even after self-pub hit its watershed moment. Editing, cover art, marketing and promotional clout–all of this costs money, and not everyone has it when they’re starting out. Therefore I never felt I was leaving money on the table by traditionally publishing–I always felt I was investing that money in my continuing future as an author. It wasn’t money I had to spend up front, as it were.

So what am I going to do now? The Winds of Change requires a shifting of tacks, so now here am I, coming up with A Plan.

The rights on my first contract weren’t due to revert for another couple of years, so that will no doubt be accelerated as Samhain winds down its operations. They’ll be honoring current contracts and their pending release schedule, but obviously won’t be offering any further contracts. They do still need incoming revenue to keep them afloat long enough to dissolve properly.

For myself, I’m going to attempt to get my rights back earlier, and Editor Awesome, who is going freelance at the Evil Eye Editing, has agreed to re-edit the first book in my Keepers of the Flame series (someone else edited Book 1, Holly edited Books 2 and 3).

I’ll then I’ve a special Author’s Edition of BRIGHID’S CROSS, and the beginning of a starter library to offer my newsletter. Also, I can start pumping promo dollars into Book 1, and send readers down the line, hopefully in time for Book 5’s release later this year on my indie platform. Whether I’ll re-release all three initial books at once or stagger it is something I haven’t decided yet.

So there’s that. Some bad news, but not so terrible there isn’t hope for the future. I’ll keep you guys apprised of the situation as it unfolds.

Cheers!

 

 

 

 

 

Author’s Log: Quick Draw At The Drafting Corral (#amwriting, #ROW80)

Just a quick check-in today, as I’m busily finishing up Sweet Home #1. At this rate, I just might hit the finish line, albeit on my chin. But a win’s a win, so I’ll take it.

Ever noticed that when we’re at our busiest creative stage, the synapses fire ever faster and the little goblins in your brain become extra energetic? That’s me right now–I got smacked between the eyes with a non-fiction book idea this week that just won’t niggle free, so on the list it goes for later consideration, probably for summer.

But, until then…typeity tyepity!

TO-DO VOODOO FOR FEBRUARY:

Finish Sweet Home #1. Al…most…done… *gasp*
Begin Production on Reliance #1. I think I have everything I need on this one–as soon as Sweet Home #1 is released into the wild, I’ll hit the ground running.
Prep Keepers #5 for Production. I’ve been filling my Production notebook with shiny ideas and info on TV nites in the Word Monkey household, so I should be able to begin drafting next month at some point.