I have been reading a lot on the success of some authors as of late. It really is inspiring to see how well some people have done, merely by sharing their words. As I have stated many times here and elsewhere, I have a huge desire to be published. Reading all those success stories does a few things for me. It tells me that if they can do it, I can do it. It also tells me that I might not be good enough, or I would have already done it. I know, my self doubt will be the death of me.
So, here I am again, with yet another goal set! I am setting a very realistic goal of getting the first part of one of my stories, written, edited and submitted for publication on Kindle Direct Publishing by my birthday in September. The word count goal for the story will be somewhere between 9,000 and 12,000 words, depending on how the story flows for me. Honestly, I can knock that out in a week, but I am leaving myself open to getting sidetracked by life. After the first draft is done, I will run through it again, with my own eyes before putting it in front of other readers. After getting a bit of feedback, I will make any adjustments and then send it out to my editor. While it is being read and edited, I will work on a book cover. I so wish I could afford to pay for a good cover now, but who knows if this will take off or flop. I would rather put by best effort forward without spending too much money. I would rather spend it on editing.
Now, as today is July 3rd, I have exactly 80 days to meet this goal. In a perfect world, I would pull up a week short and have it submitted early. But only in my dreams. Who am I kidding, right? It’s me here. I can be going along at a good pace, then… SQUIRREL! I will certainly get some kind of distraction along the way.
So, now I just have to pick a story and roll with it. I have a few strong candidates, and will have one in the works over the long 4 day weekend that is upon us. Then, I will need to find a number of friendly readers to critique my story. I am accepting volunteers! Anyone? Bueller?