Writing Updates
It’s the first official week of March, so here’s an update on where I am with my writing projects.
First up is The Duke of Ithaca, book one of my new series, The Olympic Fates Saga. The third draft is currently still with a few beta readers. Once I receive their feedback, I will be diving deep into getting the final draft completed. If you’ve never self-published a book before, then just know that this final draft process is complicated. Not only do I have to actually complete the final round of edits (which includes determining which pieces of feedback I’m using and which ones I’m not), but I also have to continue preparing the book for publication. That includes copyright.
I already have my ISBNs, but something else that is extremely important is registering the book with The Library of Congress. This isn’t mandatory, but it’s smart. Essentially, you take your manuscript and you upload it to the Library of Congress website. After the request is processed and the book is registered, they send you a Library of Congress number that you include on your copyright page. It’s a solid way of making sure the book is completely copyrighted. However, you can’t register your book with The Library of Congress until the manuscript is completely done. The number they give you has to completely match the manuscript, so this is not something you can complete when still in the editing phase.
Once the book is done and I have the Library of Congress number, I’ll send the book to my designer for interior design and formatting for paperback and ebook. At some point during this process, I’ll be sharing the cover reveal for the book and announcing the official release date. Once the paperback and ebook have been formatted, I upload the documents to Amazon and pre-orders go live. At that point, it’s all about promotions and advertisements. I’ll be ordering proof copies to send out as ARCs to my ARC readers. I’ll be talking incessantly about the novel as we get closer to publication. I’ll be sending out invites to the virtual book launch. I’ll be contacting nearby bookstores to schedule readings and signings. I’ll be scheduling advertisements and setting up a budget to pay for them. I’ll be setting up FaceBook and TikTok live events to talk about the book, answer questions, read excerpts, etc.
On and on the list goes because, for an author (especially an indie author), there’s no such thing as a time to stop marketing.
Once The Duke of Ithaca is released, I will be completely focused on A Shift of Crimson. Let me just say that working on multiple novels at once is really fucking hard. It takes a LOT of time and energy and, without excellent time management skills, it won’t happen. I’m over halfway through the third draft of A Shift of Crimson, and while I am mostly keeping to my very rigid revision schedule, it is taking a lot of creative energy to do so. I have to get the third and fourth drafts done by March 16. Yes, you read that right. And it is not going to be an easy feat, but it will be worth it.
This is something I think a lot of authors, myself included, struggle with. We all know that writing takes work. We all know that writing requires dedication and personal exertion. It’s one thing to know these things, and something else entirely to embrace them. I have been, and still am, several chapters behind on my revisions for A Shift of Crimson. Last week was enormously stressful and it meant that for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, I got very little revision done. And with such a truncated timeframe, it meant that each day of revision I skipped, I fell more behind. And today, I’ve done a fair amount of revision, and yet I am still two chapters behind.
But, this is the writing process. It isn’t easy. Ever. There are aspects of the writing life that are more enjoyable than others, but none of it is easy, and nor should it be. It takes years and years and years to hone your craft. People dedicate their entire lives to writing; they struggle through the ups and downs, the ebb and flow of inspiration; they spend countless hours researching, practicing, going to workshops, getting degrees, submitting their work, and learning from their mistakes; they accept criticism and feedback; they make mistakes and learn from them, and all of this amounts to the books they complete. It’s not easy and too many new authors want it to be.
Sometimes, a lot of the time, wanting to be a writer means forcing yourself to sit down and do the work, even when you don’t feel like it. That’s what I’ve been doing to catch up on these deadlines. It’s simply what’s required to get this manuscripts written. I may still have to push back the publication date of A Shift of Crimson a bit, but that’s not the end of the world.
I hope you’re all doing well! I can’t believe it’s March already.
