Hey!! Happy December!! So far December has been sort of busy for me, lots of finals and a paper and extensive study guide. A lot of work to be done... and it hasn't given me a ton of time to write. But that's Ok because next week is my last week then I get a break before Spring semester!! And there's only like... 3-4 weeks till Christmas!! :D
Anyways, I've been thinking a lot about the subject of self-publishing and publishing in general. To be honest, my books haven't sold a ton... I think that's a mixture me not promoting them enough and not being well known in the least bit. It's hard to do all of it yourself, but honestly I think I would feel constrained if I were to be traditionally published. I like being in control of my books and covers and everything, even though it would be great to have someone else help with the marketing. Not to mention editors are expensive. But besides those points, I've decided to go slower on my books. Take more time to make them the very best they can be. Yes, I love Weapon Icean and sometimes I cringe at the fact that I self-published it in such a hurry when I think it would have benefited from more work, but that was my choice and I chose to take the leap and just go for it. I'm proud that I did. If your a writer than you know how vulnerable and nerve-racking it can be to show someone else your writing, let alone give your book to the whole world to criticize and maybe enjoy. I'm very proud of my short story collection too and don't regret publishing that in the slightest. Most of those stories are very close to my heart and very important to me. I'm really proud of them and was and am excited to share them with others.
But as for future projects, I think I'm going to take my time. Project Khione is ending up being a very difficult book. I've been working on this thing since last Nanowrimo and I had been hoping all year that by this Nanowrimo I would be done with it. But instead it ended up being my 2017 Nanowrimo too! It was a hard book to write, but I'm proud that I stuck by it and didn't give up. I really do want to get the sequel to Weapon Icean out there, but I also want it to be the best it can be and right now it's just not there yet. I still have lots of drafts to get through and I want to find a good editor to help me and I want to publish this thing feeling proud and excited about the work I did on it. So, it will probably be self-published by December next year, if not maybe even in 2019! Which is way too far to plan ahead, but that's sort of my time table for this crazy hard book.
Not to mention my heart is kind of in another series. The Golden series. I'm in love and passionate about this series and the characters and the story I want to tell in this trilogy. For Golden, Silver, and Bronze I plan to take my time and refine all three books to perfection (or as close to perfection as I can get them) before doing anything with them. And who knows... I sort of feel like Golden deserves a shot at traditional publishing. Plus I want to write a short story that is in the time between Silver and Bronze about a side character that I want to get to know a little better and I totally did the thing you aren't supposed to do in Nanowrimo and followed a plot bunny which I leading me in a different direction than what I expected. I'll be lucky if I even get to finish revisions on Silver and start on Bronze when Spring Semester starts cuz this next semester is going to be hard. I've got Geology and Spanish 2 that I have to do and then a math class at some point next year.... I have a feeling writing is going to be sidelined (again).
As a writer, I want to let people read the best of my work. I know any and every book will never be perfect and I will probably always find something wrong with them, but there's just this feeling writers get when we just know that this is the best that I could have done at the time. You just sort of know that this is the best book I wrote and it's ready to be put out there, you know? I felt that for Weapon Icean, even though now I feel like I could have done better and I felt that for my short story collection. And I plan to wait for Project Khione and the Golden trilogy and any other books I happen to write in between those two until I feel they're ready before publishing them.
I want to find the right editor and maybe some beta readers and refine my craft and all that good stuff. So, that's why I'm not going to put too much pressure on myself in the coming year to publish anything... even though I'm already feeling like this novella plot bunny thing I started working on may just get published. Or maybe I'll just put it on Wattpad or something. Who knows. (No one told me the excitement of publishing a book is addicting. After Weapon Icean I just couldn't wait for the next one and now after Of Magic and Mayhem I can't wait for the next one I get to publish.)
It's not even the middle of December and I'm already planning ahead to next year and trying to figure out in my head a time table for writing projects and what I want to do and accomplish. I think way too ahead, which is probably why I'm already feeling overwhelmed about the new year because I just want to write and write and write and do all of this at once. But, sadly, I have classes and other things to do so writing has to take a backseat until break. So yeah, there you go. Over the month of December I'm going to try and stay in the present and not think too much about the year to come even though I turn twenty and get my Associates next year and need to figure out what to do with the rest of my life...
But I'm not going to think about any of that right now... or try not to because I have exams to think about and a paper to write and Christmas fun and tomorrow me and my friend are going to go see The Man Who Invented Christmas and I am so excited for that!! (DAN STEVENS!!)
I hope you all have a good week and a great December full of cookies and cold weather and snow and Christmas lights and fun times. :D
Anyways, I've been thinking a lot about the subject of self-publishing and publishing in general. To be honest, my books haven't sold a ton... I think that's a mixture me not promoting them enough and not being well known in the least bit. It's hard to do all of it yourself, but honestly I think I would feel constrained if I were to be traditionally published. I like being in control of my books and covers and everything, even though it would be great to have someone else help with the marketing. Not to mention editors are expensive. But besides those points, I've decided to go slower on my books. Take more time to make them the very best they can be. Yes, I love Weapon Icean and sometimes I cringe at the fact that I self-published it in such a hurry when I think it would have benefited from more work, but that was my choice and I chose to take the leap and just go for it. I'm proud that I did. If your a writer than you know how vulnerable and nerve-racking it can be to show someone else your writing, let alone give your book to the whole world to criticize and maybe enjoy. I'm very proud of my short story collection too and don't regret publishing that in the slightest. Most of those stories are very close to my heart and very important to me. I'm really proud of them and was and am excited to share them with others.
But as for future projects, I think I'm going to take my time. Project Khione is ending up being a very difficult book. I've been working on this thing since last Nanowrimo and I had been hoping all year that by this Nanowrimo I would be done with it. But instead it ended up being my 2017 Nanowrimo too! It was a hard book to write, but I'm proud that I stuck by it and didn't give up. I really do want to get the sequel to Weapon Icean out there, but I also want it to be the best it can be and right now it's just not there yet. I still have lots of drafts to get through and I want to find a good editor to help me and I want to publish this thing feeling proud and excited about the work I did on it. So, it will probably be self-published by December next year, if not maybe even in 2019! Which is way too far to plan ahead, but that's sort of my time table for this crazy hard book.
 |
| Me thinking about how hard Project Khione is. |
Not to mention my heart is kind of in another series. The Golden series. I'm in love and passionate about this series and the characters and the story I want to tell in this trilogy. For Golden, Silver, and Bronze I plan to take my time and refine all three books to perfection (or as close to perfection as I can get them) before doing anything with them. And who knows... I sort of feel like Golden deserves a shot at traditional publishing. Plus I want to write a short story that is in the time between Silver and Bronze about a side character that I want to get to know a little better and I totally did the thing you aren't supposed to do in Nanowrimo and followed a plot bunny which I leading me in a different direction than what I expected. I'll be lucky if I even get to finish revisions on Silver and start on Bronze when Spring Semester starts cuz this next semester is going to be hard. I've got Geology and Spanish 2 that I have to do and then a math class at some point next year.... I have a feeling writing is going to be sidelined (again).
As a writer, I want to let people read the best of my work. I know any and every book will never be perfect and I will probably always find something wrong with them, but there's just this feeling writers get when we just know that this is the best that I could have done at the time. You just sort of know that this is the best book I wrote and it's ready to be put out there, you know? I felt that for Weapon Icean, even though now I feel like I could have done better and I felt that for my short story collection. And I plan to wait for Project Khione and the Golden trilogy and any other books I happen to write in between those two until I feel they're ready before publishing them.
I want to find the right editor and maybe some beta readers and refine my craft and all that good stuff. So, that's why I'm not going to put too much pressure on myself in the coming year to publish anything... even though I'm already feeling like this novella plot bunny thing I started working on may just get published. Or maybe I'll just put it on Wattpad or something. Who knows. (No one told me the excitement of publishing a book is addicting. After Weapon Icean I just couldn't wait for the next one and now after Of Magic and Mayhem I can't wait for the next one I get to publish.)
It's not even the middle of December and I'm already planning ahead to next year and trying to figure out in my head a time table for writing projects and what I want to do and accomplish. I think way too ahead, which is probably why I'm already feeling overwhelmed about the new year because I just want to write and write and write and do all of this at once. But, sadly, I have classes and other things to do so writing has to take a backseat until break. So yeah, there you go. Over the month of December I'm going to try and stay in the present and not think too much about the year to come even though I turn twenty and get my Associates next year and need to figure out what to do with the rest of my life...
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| Caroline always has the best, most relatable reactions to everything. |
I hope you all have a good week and a great December full of cookies and cold weather and snow and Christmas lights and fun times. :D
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