Why I'm Happy to be Jobless
No, this is not an April Fools Joke. (though I have intentionally waited until now to post this for the luls)
Recently, I've been given what I feel is a once in a lifetime opportunity to take some time to focus on writing full time without worrying about bills. I can't give all the details due to the usual confidentiality of everything, but essentially I no longer have a job with the company I was with.
Over the next few months, I won't have to worry about things, so I'm going to try and turn a 4 year plan into a 1 year plan by writing 5 books in an incredibly short period of time. The overall goal is either to write those 5 books in three months, or 300 000 words. Whichever I reach first means I've accomplished my goal for the next while.
I plan on writing exclusively for the pirate series, The Voyages of Queen Anne's Revenge, and I'll be doing two very short side stories, about 20 000 words each, and the next three in the main series which are variable in length.
I've decided to give myself some extra motivation in the form of monthly goals. As you can see at the top of the blog, there is a progress bar. Currently, it's set to the first milestone, 100 000 words. The Bronze goal if you will. 200 000 is Silver, and the final goal is Gold of course. As I reach each goal, I'll treat myself in various ways, such as going out to dinner, or having a party to celebrate.
I know I can do this, as when I was finished my first novel, I set out to write the second in a few months while I was still working, and I was able to write about 90 000 words in a month and a half. With full time to devote to it, I know I can write even more.
I started this blog almost five years ago, and at the time I felt that the business and author aspects of what I wanted were entirely separate from each other. I thought that one, namely the author side, was only a side project as I worked towards gaining experience as a manager and then hopefully moved on to an entrepreneur.
Over the years, I've come to realize my folly.
The two are not mutually exclusive, and if I stayed in this mindset I believe it would have been detrimental to my budding writing career.
If you're a full time author, you are an entrepreneur. You need to build a brand, think about what to release and when, and focus on ways to increase sales. I've learned a lot over the years, and have been trying to apply the things I've learned to help me out. I've updated the cover for the first book several times, I've changed the description of the book on Amazon to attract more customers, and I've worked on getting more reviews to let others know how the book is.
I've also decided to apply what I learned in other ways as well, such as working on the series to build an audience first, rather than working on other books then coming back to it. I changed around my plans for the future novels significantly so as to not alienate my current fans (sticking to light fantasy elements rather than turning it into another Pirates of the Caribbean)
The biggest lesson that I've learned, and the biggest one I've been struggling with, is quantity. People will always say quality over quantity, but if you can keep the quality up, then quantity will invariably help. The more I have on my "shelf" as it were, the more exposure I have, and the more likely people are to see and thus buy my products.
I need more books out in a shorter period of time if I want this to become my main means of income. I'll soon be releasing the next in the series, but it's been over two years since the first novel was released. I know that the quality has improved, but I'm lacking quantity. With this time I have, I know I can get the quantity up, and still maintain the quality.
Of course, I know that this is all just conjecture. I won't know what sales will be like until I can get a regular release schedule going, and I may have to get another full time job again in the near future, but if I don't take this chance, I know I'll regret it in the long run.
Here's hoping for the future.
Recently, I've been given what I feel is a once in a lifetime opportunity to take some time to focus on writing full time without worrying about bills. I can't give all the details due to the usual confidentiality of everything, but essentially I no longer have a job with the company I was with.
Over the next few months, I won't have to worry about things, so I'm going to try and turn a 4 year plan into a 1 year plan by writing 5 books in an incredibly short period of time. The overall goal is either to write those 5 books in three months, or 300 000 words. Whichever I reach first means I've accomplished my goal for the next while.
I plan on writing exclusively for the pirate series, The Voyages of Queen Anne's Revenge, and I'll be doing two very short side stories, about 20 000 words each, and the next three in the main series which are variable in length.
I've decided to give myself some extra motivation in the form of monthly goals. As you can see at the top of the blog, there is a progress bar. Currently, it's set to the first milestone, 100 000 words. The Bronze goal if you will. 200 000 is Silver, and the final goal is Gold of course. As I reach each goal, I'll treat myself in various ways, such as going out to dinner, or having a party to celebrate.
I know I can do this, as when I was finished my first novel, I set out to write the second in a few months while I was still working, and I was able to write about 90 000 words in a month and a half. With full time to devote to it, I know I can write even more.
I started this blog almost five years ago, and at the time I felt that the business and author aspects of what I wanted were entirely separate from each other. I thought that one, namely the author side, was only a side project as I worked towards gaining experience as a manager and then hopefully moved on to an entrepreneur.
Over the years, I've come to realize my folly.
The two are not mutually exclusive, and if I stayed in this mindset I believe it would have been detrimental to my budding writing career.
If you're a full time author, you are an entrepreneur. You need to build a brand, think about what to release and when, and focus on ways to increase sales. I've learned a lot over the years, and have been trying to apply the things I've learned to help me out. I've updated the cover for the first book several times, I've changed the description of the book on Amazon to attract more customers, and I've worked on getting more reviews to let others know how the book is.
I've also decided to apply what I learned in other ways as well, such as working on the series to build an audience first, rather than working on other books then coming back to it. I changed around my plans for the future novels significantly so as to not alienate my current fans (sticking to light fantasy elements rather than turning it into another Pirates of the Caribbean)
The biggest lesson that I've learned, and the biggest one I've been struggling with, is quantity. People will always say quality over quantity, but if you can keep the quality up, then quantity will invariably help. The more I have on my "shelf" as it were, the more exposure I have, and the more likely people are to see and thus buy my products.
I need more books out in a shorter period of time if I want this to become my main means of income. I'll soon be releasing the next in the series, but it's been over two years since the first novel was released. I know that the quality has improved, but I'm lacking quantity. With this time I have, I know I can get the quantity up, and still maintain the quality.
Of course, I know that this is all just conjecture. I won't know what sales will be like until I can get a regular release schedule going, and I may have to get another full time job again in the near future, but if I don't take this chance, I know I'll regret it in the long run.
Here's hoping for the future.
No comments have been added yet.
