Welcome to my first of what will potentially become dozens of posts on all things indie. Author, that is. As I am embarking on the writing process of my third novel, I thought I’d document my work flow and the reasons behind each step that I take. My game plan is to touch at least once on each of the following:
- Initial story concept
- Idea development
- Story/world creation
- Establishing a writing schedule
- Story development
- Time management
- Completing the first draft
- First round of edits and rewrites
- Second round of rewrites and additional editing
- Third, fourth, and fifth rewrites
- Cover design
- Logline writing
- Blurb writing
- Synopsis writing
- Use of beta readers
- Kindle Scout discovery
- Submission to Kindle Scout
- Monitoring of the Kindle Scout process
- Dealing with rejection
- Avenues of self-publishing
- Preparing the manuscript for self-publishing
- Launching a new book into the world
- Ads for the self-published book, and marketing
- Follow up with marketing attempts
I am sure there could be more topics, and the list above is in no particular order. For instance, I am in the middle of writing my story’s Act I, and I have already completed my first attempt at the logline. I also have the books cover complete as well. At the same time, I am about to launch a huge marketing campaign for my first two books. That topic alone could generate a number of blog posts. Plus, even though I’m nowhere close to being ready to submit into the Kindle Scout program, I am already thinking ahead to the point of running my campaign. My mind is thinking of ways of setting things in place so that it will run as effectively as possible.
My goal is to write a few entries a week, from now until the end of April, when I will hopefully be getting an acceptance/rejection email from the fine folks at Kindle Scout. Between now and then, I will write any number of entries on the above topics, depending on how my work flow is proceeding. Also, during that time, I will be taking two vacations, and I plan on staying focused on my project while away, albeit at a reduced capacity. Regardless, the writing will continue, and the project will move forward.Finally, please take what I’m about to document with a grain of salt. This is only one process, and it is by no means the only process. It’s just the culmination of what I’ve learned over the past two and a half years while writing two novels, and several short stories. It will no doubt continue to evolve, but it is currently my
Finally, please take what I’m about to document with a grain of salt. This is only one process, and it is by no means the only process. It’s just the culmination of what I’ve learned over the past two and a half years while writing two novels, and several short stories. It will no doubt continue to evolve, but it is currently my system and encompasses what I’ve picked up from following other authors and learning on my own. Be sure to bookmark this page and you could even subscribe to the blog, by entering your email over there on the right, to be notified when each new entry is posted. This subscription is different from my newsletter subscription above. That newsletter is key to future marketing endeavors, and it will be covered in one of the topics in the coming months.
So, without further ado, Get in, shut up, sit down, and buckle up! It’s going to be a fast ride as I write my next novel!