My Hit Rate Is Surprisingly High

I’ve  just been cleaning out my blog a bit, deleting a few things with dead links or out of date information and such. When I got to the first months of this blog I found this post from September 2011, in which I confessed having up to seven works in progress (WIPS) going at once. Looking back at this post and the WIPs listed I realized I have a pretty good hit rate when it come to those projects. It’s not 100% by any stretch, but it’s still pretty good. This is what I wrote:

So what are the projects in my current “rule of seven”? I have a middle grade ghost story; one (3/4 complete). I have a lower middle grade realism ; two (3/4 complete). I have a YA sci fi; three (just started). I have a sports novel ; four (almost done and sold). I have a non fiction for young readers ; five (proposal 3/4 complete). I have a complete MG that I’m marketing; six. I have another completed YA verse novel that I’m marketing: seven.

And here’s how all those projects turned out.

Middle grade ghost story – permanently abandoned due to an untenable premise.
Lower grade realism – This is Pandas on the Eastside, just published this month.
YA Sci-fi – This is Zero Repeat Forever, which I sold in a SIGNIFICANT deal. I comes out next year.
Sport Novel – this is Wicket Season, my first novel, published in 2012
Non-fiction for young readers – I abandoned this project. It’s a great idea but I was never able to quite formulate it. Maybe one day I’ll take it up again
Completed middle grade – Permanently bottom drawered. It might be salvageable but I doubt it.
Completed YA – this is Audacious, which was published, part of a duology in 2013.

So that’s four out of seven? Not bad by my measure. And somewhere between now and then I managed to write and sell two other books, The Frail Days and Pinch Me. Now that I’m an established author, I still have a number of projects on the go at once, and I hope that my hit rate gets even better. In other words, I don’t have time to waste on books that will never publish, so I have to be more discerning. So I don’t jinx it, here are my current rule of seven WIPs:

Zero Repeat Forever – yes, this book is close to being locked but only just, so I’m leaving it on the list.
The sequel to Zero Repeat Forever. Doesn’t have a firm title yet and is in outline stage. I hope to write the first draft during Nanowrimo .
Another YA sci-fi, about 75% complete. It’s demented, you guys. Utterly demented.
 A adult contemporary romance. First draft complete. My agent read it and loved it, but wants changes that I agree with. When will I get the time? Good question.
A non-fiction picture book – I have news coming about this soon. No doubt more drafts and work will be needed.
An adult sexy sci-fi dystopian romance. I wrote two parts of this proposed trilogy of novellas and stalled out 10% of the way into the third. I’d dearly love to finish it.
Another contemporary YA, about 30% done. One day I’ll finish it and it will BREAK YOUR HEART.

So check with me in five years, guys, and we’ll see if my hit rate reaches 100%.