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Wednesday 30 March 2016

Previously...


"Previously" is a blog hop run by the awesome Cole Burke and Tracey Joseph.

Previously in Writing

I've spent this month working on the newly announced Changeling Chronicles, an adult urban fantasy series. :) I'm almost halfway through drafting the second book, and the first's ready to publish (21st April!).

Previously in Reading

Another great month for reading! This year, I'm not setting any challenges. I'm reading for two reasons. 1) Research for what's currently selling in the genres I like, and 2) Books I want to read. I haven't even set a Goodreads challenge goal.

Some of the highlights of the month:

The Dead House - a great horror story featuring a protagonist with a split personality. Recommended if you want to be thoroughly creeped out!

The Dead House

The Silver Tide - a fantastic ending to the trilogy. Adventure, pirates, dragons, evil gods and magic - what more do you want?

The Silver Tide (The Copper Promise #3)

A Gathering of Shadows - the hype is real. It feels like sacrilege to say I found the first 70% of the book slow and packed with filler, but the worldbuilding and characters are great.

A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic, #2)

Their Fractured Light - excellent ending to this YA sci-fi trilogy.

Their Fractured Light (Starbound, #3)


Next Time in Goals

I want to have the second book in the Changeling Chronicles drafted and through the first round of edits by the end of April.

A Word of Advice

Writing sprints are awesome. The problem with having so many ongoing series is that there's always something important that needs doing, and actual writing can fall by the wayside. I had to rediscover my focus after spending so long travelling, and writing sprints really helped with that.

Also: Yayyyy, book signing. :D



Saturday 26 March 2016

#WIPMarathon March Update!

It's time for another #WIPMarathon update, hosted by Ifeoma Dennis!

Last report wordcount: Last month, I finished drafting Faerie Blood (the first in the urban fantasy series I just announced!), then did a major edit and fleshed the draft out from 53K to 70K words.

Current report wordcount: All the edits! Beta feedback and more edits! I'm now working on the final proofread of Faerie Blood.

I also drafted the second book in the series and got 17,000 words written.

WIP issues this month: I will never not go through a phase in edits where I think the whole book is broken. Also, starting a draft is always hard.

Four things I learned this month in writing:

  • Writing sprints. They're the one way to ensure I actually stay focused. My old routine: write 1000 words, get distracted by other work and emails for six hours, write another thousand, repeat. This got me 2000-3000 words a day, max. New routine: writing sprint, ten minute break, repeat. Four half-hour sprints gets me 5000 words without reducing the hours I have to do other work throughout the day. I call that a win.
  • There are lots of ways to do writing sprints. I use the 5KWPH (5000 words per hour) app, which accompanies 5000 Words Per Hour by Chris Fox. I prefer this to Write or Die, because the idea of losing my words freaks me out too much!
  • Don't brag online about your productivity or you'll get knocked out by the plague and lose all momentum. Lol. *cries* (My amazing writing streak lasted four whole days before the plague came along and wrecked everything. Le sigh.)
  • I learn best through actually writing, even if I don't intend to publish everything. I think I've mentioned this before, but the reason I've written so many books is because generally, the only way to see if something will work is to try it out on the page. And yes, this does mean I have a lot of shelved and stockpiled manuscripts that I'll probably never publish. But each one of them was a learning experience. I have to be really dedicated to a story to push past the messy first draft stage and revise it into something readable, and to be honest, this new series is the first time I've felt that since I finished the Alliance and Indestructible series.
What distracted me this month when writing:  I did my first book signing! :)




Then I came down with the plague and lost a week I really couldn't afford to lose. I had to actually stop writing so I could meet my freelance deadlines because I could only spend a few minutes at a time in front of a computer, and the bill-paying job won out. But I'm back to drafting now. :)

Goal for next month:

I have two book releases, Ablaze (Indestructible Book 2) and Faerie Blood. I need to finish writing the second book in the Changeling Chronicles and put it through the first round of edits.

Last 200 words: It's a sequel, so... spoilers.

Friday 25 March 2016

New Series Announcement: The Changeling Chronicles

I've been keeping a secret. Actually, if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, I haven't exactly been subtle about the new series I've been working on over the last few months. But so far I've only shared that it's adult urban fantasy, and that I'll be publishing the first book in April.

So here's the official announcement: Faerie Blood, Book 1 in the Changeling Chronicles, will be published on April 21st 2016. It'll be a series, with three books planned. If sales look promising, I'll extend the series. :)

Here's the fabulous cover!



Here's the blurb:

I’m Ivy Lane, and if I never see another faerie again, it’ll be too soon.

Twenty years after the faeries came and destroyed the world as we knew it, I use my specialist skills to keep rogue faeries in line and ensure humans and their magically gifted neighbours can coexist (relatively) peacefully.

Nobody knows those skills came from the darkest corner of Faerie itself.

When a human child disappears, replaced with a faerie changeling, I have to choose between taking the safe road or exposing my own history with the faeries to the seductively dangerous head of the Mage Lords. He’s the exact kind of distraction I don’t need, but if I don’t work with him, I’ll lose my chance to save the victims. It’ll take all my skills to catch the kidnappers and stop Faerie’s dark denizens overrunning the city — but if the faerie lords find out about the magic I stole last time I went into their realm, running won’t save me this time…

The book will be out on April 21st 2016. I'm currently drafting the sequel, which I'm hoping to publish between May and July.

Meanwhile, my next release will be Ablaze, the second book in the Indestructible trilogy, out on April 4 2016. Those of you who've been reeling over that cliffhanger: you don't have long to wait now! :)

So April's set to be a busy month. I'll be publishing two books, working on a sequel, finishing up revisions on Divided (Alliance, #4) and working on cover art for that and the fourth Darkworld book. It's a truth universally acknowledged in publishing that you get radio silence for months, then everything happens at the same time!

*runs around in circles*

Friday 11 March 2016

One year indie-versary: how to balance writing and publishing!

It's exactly a year since I first published Adamant, and I can't believe time's flown by so fast!

I've already shared a fair few posts on my indie publishing experience:

Marketing: What I've learned.
Thoughts from six months of self-publishing.
Indie publishing: What I did wrong, what I did right, and future plans.

Today, I'm blogging about how I balance writing with the million and one other things that need doing. Planning, writing, editing, proofreading, formatting, writing blurbs, uploading and updating files, pre-orders, series planning, scheduling, websites, blogging, social media accounts, advertising, newsletters, other platforms... and juggling multiple books at once. At any given time, I'm working on a draft, have at least two projects in edits, and others to proofread, format and publish. Plus marketing my backlist and evaluating promotional techniques, while researching and planning future series. It's the best job I've had, but it isn't easy, and has challenged me in ways I never anticipated.

So,  how do I do it all without going insane?
  • Plan ahead. In self-publishing, this doesn't just mean outlining -- it means writing my whole publishing plan months in advance. I do keep things flexible, firstly due to the fickle nature of story ideas, and secondly, I need room to re-evaluate if something doesn't work. (And I'm definitely no stranger to that!)
  • Have a minimum daily word count goal. I work freelance, but I had the same goals when I worked in an office. 2000 words per day is my bare minimum. It's easy to get distracted by the other parts of being an author, but if I'm not writing a new book, I won't have anything new to publish or promote.
  • Related: schedule activities to reduce stress. Most of my stress comes from my inbox, so I only check it at intervals a few times a day. That way, I can spend the rest of the time focusing on working, be it writing or freelancing. I'm gradually moving social media to certain times as well.
  • Cut back on non-essential tasks. This means I've had to be ruthless over the past year as my workload climbed. If I feel like something isn't providing returns, I cut it down. (For instance, blogging -- I enjoy it, but it's something I do for free that doesn't sell books.)
  • Be careful who you work with, and make sure other people's schedules don't compromise your own. I'd always advise authors to work with cover artists and editors, but make sure you aren't constantly rearranging your schedule and adapting based on other people's deadlines rather than your own. (This is one reason I prefer publishing independently to working with a publisher -- no matter their intentions, you are never going to come first. It's just the way it is.) Your work is important, and so are your deadlines. If you find yourself constantly having to chase up and send emails to make sure the work gets done as it should, it might be time to find someone else to work with.
  • Watch out about letting marketing and promotion take over. It can be a time-suck, and in my experience, it relies on trial and error. I've designated one day a week to marketing tasks such as social media scheduling, blogging, advertising, newsletters, research, admin-related tasks and other miscellaneous things that eat up more time than I expect. (Ever tried updating the covers on four books on all retailers? Yeah...)
  • Be strategic. I worked twice as hard in December and January so I could take most of February off to go travelling and not end up behind. I'm still trying to find balance, but I'm a lot less stressed when I can incorporate breaks into my day.
  • Work out how much you can realistically do, and don't be afraid to say no. This is tricky. I still struggle, because I want to do all the things. In reality, though, I have less time after each book release, not more. I'm happy to cross-promote and help out my fellow authors, but there are some things I used to do -- like book reviews and Facebook events -- that I rarely have time for any more. I'm never going to be the organiser of a huge multi-author book event, because I just can't foresee being able to work it into my schedule.
I usually try to write first thing in the morning, then devote the rest of the work day to client work. I check emails at intervals, and in the evening, I deal with admin tasks and ongoing marketing (if I have a book release, for instance). Then I can go back to writing (either my draft, or planning future books, or working on a fun side project). I also read for at least an hour a day. I take weekends off freelance work (after last year, I know it wears me out to work two jobs seven days a week). Saturdays are writing sprint days, and Sundays are devoted to marketing and admin.

How do I manage this? Well, I rarely watch TV, and I'm trying to cut down on the number of hours I waste on the internet. During busy times, I cut everything out except my 2000-word-a-day minimum and a certain amount of freelance work (this varies depending on the project). Obviously, I don't have a husband or kids, so I'm able to put work before everything else. Having said that, I also set boundaries. When you work freelance, you'll always run into people who expect you to be online to answer questions 24/7, and if you say "yes" to everything, at some point, you'll burn out. By "boundaries", I mean I won't answer emails after a certain time of day. Because of time zone differences, that means catching up to night emails/messages in the morning. Alas, most of us aren't superhuman enough to stay coherent on social media at all hours of the night...

Everyone finds different ways to motivate themselves. I'm probably not a healthy example, because I find fear pretty motivating. I tend to work under the assumption that if I don't get the work done now, it'll come back to haunt me later. On the plus side, I do give myself leeway if I fall behind, and so far, I've managed to stick to all my deadlines. Speaking of which, I have to write 100K in a month, so I'd better run back into the cave...