October 2, 2016

Time to get things rolling

I've been keeping myself pretty busy but sometimes busy is good. There's been lots of running around to appointments, and shuttling the kids to activities. Basically not a lot of time to focus on my writing. But as they say, if you really want to do something, you'll make time for it.

I'm pretty set now on taking the self-publishing route. My current plan is to release my first novel in Spring 2017 and my second in Fall 2017. This is not an announcement, just a rough idea which is not in any way final. Part of this plan includes being a little more professional, which includes buying my own domain.

This means that I've pulled out my first novel from its (metaphorical) dusty drawer and started giving it some serious polish. After getting many rejections (some of which were very encouraging) going through the submission process, I was getting a little down about my book. But going through and doing line edits (again), man, I love this story. I really think it will find its audience and do really well.

My first struggle has been figuring out what to do for the cover. I am by no means a graphic designer, so when I asked for opinions on my cute cover made in Gimp, the feedback contained a lot of constructive criticism. Yeah, it needs a lot of work. Considering how important a book cover is to get readers to click on it and read the description (and buy!), I've been looking into having a professional do it. The only drawback is that it's really expensive. I don't have a lot of money to invest in this right now. An affordable option would be a premade cover, but none of them really catch my eye.

But while I'm figuring all this other stuff out, I really want to get back into a writing routine. The first step is picking up my most recent manuscript and starting over. I still love the basic premise but need to change the scope of the story. It's time to brainstorm and outline so I know where I'm heading. By the time that's done, it will be November. So that means I'll try to do NaNoWriMo again this year! I think I'll be much more successful this time. I already have something that I want to write and am not coming up with just anything only so I can participate.

Hopefully, I can get a cover made up soon that I can share. By then, I'll be able to make a more official announcement. I'm excited; I hope you are too!

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