Publishing Project #1

Almost a year since I’ve written a blog post! Shame on me. I even missed my usual year-end wrap-up. I confess that I have been writing other things on weekends — work on Perceval’s Shadow as well as essays — and that writing has taken priority the last year. And now I’m about to scale the publishing mountain again, the reason for the title of this post. I want to keep a “diary” of the publication process with all its joys and frustrations. Most people have no idea what’s involved, especially after making the choice to self-publish. I am hoping that by committing to this blog diary, it will keep me on track to publish the second novel in the Perceval series this year. I know, about time. It’s been 10 years since I self-published Perceval’s Secret as an e-book. About time for another to burst into the world.

Preliminary Thinking in Preparation

As I typed the final sentences of Perceval’s Shadow, I was already thinking about next steps. Did I want to work on the second draft of the third novel? Or did I want to publish this year? It’s been 10 years since the first novel entered the world. That’s a long time, I guess, in publishing. During those years, I was drafting three novels, writing essays that were published in various places, finding fulltime employment and recovering from two separate surgeries and an encounter with autoimmune ITP brought on as a response to a medication.

What is my goal for publication this year? In the last three months, I’ve decided to publish Perceval’s Shadow in two formats — POD paperback and e-book. In addition, I decided to return to Perceval’s Secret and publish that in POD paperback. My goal then is to have two novels on sale by the end of the year, each novel in paperback and e-book, for a total of 4 books on sale. I hope that this will satisfy all the people who’ve told me over the years that they don’t like e-books and would rather have a physical copy to hold in their hands.

First Steps

Step 1: Type a list of tasks that I know will need to be done. This step includes going through my files and pulling out everything I saved from my self-publication experience in 2014 — names of people, companies, fonts, my budget, etc. DONE

Step 2: Create a full copy of Perceval’s Shadow including title page, front pages, and all the chapters. The author’s note/acknowledgement and discussion questions can come later when I’m ready for the formatting. DONE

Step 3: Research professional editors. I began work on this step yesterday. I have already found 2–3 possibilities, and I’ve been somewhat surprised by the 100% increase in the cost from 10 years ago. I’ll continue with this research for another week or so.

Step 4: List and contact Beta Readers. I have the list of people to ask to be Beta Readers. I need to send them invitations after I decide how many I want this time around.

The Budget

As I’ve been working on the first steps, I’ve realized that I need to create a budget, i.e. a production budget. It will include the cost of a professional editor, book cover design, and book formatting. Then I’ll need to look at the advertising and promotion I did 10 years ago and the budget for it. I’ll need to create a marketing plan and budget as well. So there are two separate budgets for a publication project: the production budget and the marketing budget for advertising and promotion. I am thinking, based on what I was seeing yesterday as I researched editors, that I will need to set aside a lot more money this time than I did 10 years ago when self-publishing was considered to be an inexpensive way to break into the book market. I went into debt at that time, and it took me six years to pay it all off. I don’t particularly want to go into debt this time.

Question for You:

Have any of you self-published? Do you know of a good book cover designer with whom you worked and were satisfied?

To-Do’s for the Next Week

• Send out Beta Readers Invitations
• Continue researching professional editors and cost
• Research POD providers

The Perceval Series — an Update

It’s been nine (9!!) years since I published Perceval’s Secret, the first novel in the Perceval series. Have you had a chance to read it? (smile) Before its publication, I had outlined the series for five novels, and the arc of Evan Quinn’s story over those five novels. The work on the remaining four novels has continued over the last nine years, even as I dealt with serious health issues (that often stopped the writing) and working fulltime at an office job. Nothing unique there. Most writers write when they can while earning a living at other things, raising a family, or, yes, dealing with serious health issues. I thought it about time to write a status update on the series as well as what I plan for the next year or so.

PERCEVAL’S GAME

I recently typed “The End” on the last page of the first draft of Perceval’s Game, the fourth novel in the series. This is a major accomplishment considering I wrote it only on weekends since July 2020. A year ago, I needed major surgery and did not write anything during my recovery, but I thought a lot about the series, the fourth novel in it, and amazed myself over and over thinking about my creative commitment to this project. But I don’t particularly want Evan Quinn showing up in my dreams and scaring me as he did years ago when I almost made him an auto mechanic! He is quite insistent about telling his story. As I was finishing the last chapter of the 4th novel, ideas for the 5th novel kept popping into my mind, including the first chapter. So, I need to do some “cleaning up” on PG and prep notes for the rewrite before doing some prep work for the 5th novel that will include notes, character list, concert programs for Evan, and making certain that I write down everything in my head before putting it away. The title of the 5th novel will be Perceval’s Choice. The novel’s locations will be Paris, France, and Vienna, Austria.

PERCEVAL’S SHADOW

The second novel in the series, Perceval’s Shadow, has been fermenting for at least five years. I cannot remember when I first put it in its oak barrel. My plan for at least the next year is to work on the third draft (I hope the last), have Beta readers read it, and then contract with a professional editor to go through it. I’m looking forward to spending time again with the characters in this novel, especially Pierre Levade. It would be especially lovely if it’d be ready for publication by March 2024. I plan to publish this novel as both an ebook and a paperback. And, while I’m at it, I’ll probably publish the paperback version of Perceval’s Secret as well. Launching the second novel will be a good time to launch the paperback of the first novel. What about audiobook versions? I’m still thinking about it.

PERCEVAL IN LOVE

I finished the first draft of the third novel in the series, Perceval in Love, set in Helsinki, Finland, Vienna Austria, and St. Petersburg, Russia, in June 2020. I remember at the time I was quite surprised that it did not end the way I’d been thinking of it ending from the moment I began it. But Evan Quinn had other ideas. That’s fine. It’s his story. It would make sense to write the second draft of this novel after publishing the second novel. I’ve put that in my barrel of possibilities to ferment. I could also write the first draft of the 5th novel and finish the series (woo-hoo!). For the next year, it will remain fermenting in its barrel until ripe for work.

OTHER WRITING PROJECTS

Essays: I continue to write essays for various markets, although as I’ve pushed harder on the fiction, the nonfiction side of my writing life has slowed. I have no plans to stop writing essays.

Music Memoir: This nonfiction book, as I have been sketching it, will be a series of personal essays chronicling how music has affected my life. I’ve been writing notes on various essays for the last two years as well as looking at the structure. I’ll probably start writing when the essays are ready to burst out of me. In the meantime I’ve been thinking about resonant vibrations, “hearing” a composer’s musical voice for the first time, and how much I enjoy the impish side of Beethoven.

Once more with feeling – some notes about description

Roz Morris over at Nail Your Novel has written an excellent blog post about all the reasons description is a good thing in fiction. Thanks, Roz!

Once more with feeling – some notes about description

Reviews!

Oh, my! Was I ever surprised. A co-worker this past week made a comment to me about reviews for Perceval’s Secret at Amazon, but it didn’t register right away. When I finally checked Perceval’s Secret at Amazon, I was surprised to find three new reviews. Three! That may seem like nothing to most people, but these reviews came all on their own, without marketing on my part. And they’re good reviews.

I love hearing from readers. It would make me so happy to hear from more readers. I appreciate it takes time and thought to write a review as much as I appreciate hearing from readers.

So, if you’ve recently read Perceval’s Secret, please let me know by writing a review at Amazon and/or GoodReads.

Thank you, Readers!

Easy reading is hard writing – why hard writing is worth it and how to do it

Roz Morris over at Nail Your Novel has shared some wisdom about writing — how hard it is to write what it is easy for readers to read. Take a look!