It's my three year anniversary of being published! It's also been six months since I quit my job to do this writing gig full time.
How has it gone? Great! And floundering, with occasional bouts of highs and lows to keep me on my toes. I completely expected the first six months of my year off to be a bizarre tug of war between productivity and trying to keep myself sane with 'life', and a tug of war is quite apt for my writing plan as well. The plan has shifted on a month by month basis, but I think after six months of going from one story to another I think I've finally ironed out all of the kinks in 'Jackson's Scatter-Brained Plan For 2017.' You would think that after three months I would've finished writing at least one book, but nope! I'm days away from completing 'the one that will rocket to first place on the New York Times International Best Seller List'.
I'm now entering that weird phase in the business – can I keep going with the success I've had so far and do this full time forever, or will I have to start sending resumes out in six months? I won't know for sure for a long, long time.
As an indie author I spend a lot of time on kboards, reading up on other writer's and their tales of success or failure. Some hit gold on their first book. Some say the third book in the series is where things really take off. Some write a book every month, some write one every three months, but the general consensus is that it's a good idea to publish a book every three months to keep your readers interested. So, in the last three years I should've published about 12 books. I've done 6. Go me. I guess having a full time job in that time really sapped my energy.
Despite having published 6, I've got a crapton more on my hard drive waiting for that final edit, somewhere around 15 books. There are several reasons why I haven't published them yet.
Because of all that, I'm going to leave those books alone for a while as I focus on building some revenue. If I ever find myself with a month or two of free time, I might return to those books, dust them off, and introduce them to the world, but for now I'm going to work on fantasy.
These next six months are really the make or break months for my time away from working for the man. I'm interested to see how I do. Will there be riches and accolades? Rent has been paid but the phone bill is overdue? Or applying for those emergency jobs again?
How has it gone? Great! And floundering, with occasional bouts of highs and lows to keep me on my toes. I completely expected the first six months of my year off to be a bizarre tug of war between productivity and trying to keep myself sane with 'life', and a tug of war is quite apt for my writing plan as well. The plan has shifted on a month by month basis, but I think after six months of going from one story to another I think I've finally ironed out all of the kinks in 'Jackson's Scatter-Brained Plan For 2017.' You would think that after three months I would've finished writing at least one book, but nope! I'm days away from completing 'the one that will rocket to first place on the New York Times International Best Seller List'.
I'm now entering that weird phase in the business – can I keep going with the success I've had so far and do this full time forever, or will I have to start sending resumes out in six months? I won't know for sure for a long, long time.
As an indie author I spend a lot of time on kboards, reading up on other writer's and their tales of success or failure. Some hit gold on their first book. Some say the third book in the series is where things really take off. Some write a book every month, some write one every three months, but the general consensus is that it's a good idea to publish a book every three months to keep your readers interested. So, in the last three years I should've published about 12 books. I've done 6. Go me. I guess having a full time job in that time really sapped my energy.
Despite having published 6, I've got a crapton more on my hard drive waiting for that final edit, somewhere around 15 books. There are several reasons why I haven't published them yet.
- Most of them are horror and I've learned that horror doesn't sell that well. Since I also write fantasy, it might be better if I focus on what might pay the rent instead of what can pay for my coffee.
- They were written a long time ago. The oldest is 15 years, the youngest is probably 3. The writer I was then is not the writer I am now, and while I *could* fix them, it will take a lot of work. At least a month. Probably two.
- A lot of them are pretty weird as I was exorcising whatever demons I was going through at the time. There is a big difference between 'I'm going to write some weird shit' and 'I'm going to write some weird shit that readers might enjoy.' A lot of them are in the first category.
Because of all that, I'm going to leave those books alone for a while as I focus on building some revenue. If I ever find myself with a month or two of free time, I might return to those books, dust them off, and introduce them to the world, but for now I'm going to work on fantasy.
These next six months are really the make or break months for my time away from working for the man. I'm interested to see how I do. Will there be riches and accolades? Rent has been paid but the phone bill is overdue? Or applying for those emergency jobs again?
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