I’m going to see if making this post later in the day helps with traffic. If it doesn’t then I’m switching it back to Sunday. Seems while people are busy posting on Saturday, there isn’t much action. Understandable since this is the day most people are running around, sleeping in, or skipping the computer. At least I think it is. Then again, perhaps it’s just me over here.
Book 10 is moving along and I’m hoping to be done by the end of March. The writing side went very well this week, but one little snafu came about due to an added chapter. My heroes are split up in this book with one of the groups being more minor and their tale being the focus of Book 11. Well, I’ve been needing to rewrite that outline for a while and I had maybe 50% I could salvage. The new chapter brings that down to maybe 20% since the story is getting an extra focus. Book 11 used to be about one character and now another needs a major subplot to settle some things. No way around it, but it’s much better this way. The new addition has been treading water for a bit and was starting to drown. This is needed to revive them.
Beyond that, I’m working with my editor on ‘Sleeper of the Wildwood Fugue’. I’m setting up a ‘Hype Week’ for the end of March/beginning of April, but it isn’t confirmed that the book will be out around then. Medical issue might cause a delay. I’m really hoping to avoid another mid-Month debut, but it is what it is. I have no momentum going into this book thanks to January/February being slow and a long series being a strange creature that I can’t figure out how to promote.
The overall goal here is simply to hold on until I get all the books out, pepper the breaks with ‘Ichabod Brooks Adventures’, and then decide what to do next. I’m condensing a lot, so I fear that I’ll be left with series that run from 3-9. Some of the smaller ones require bigger stories to happen for events to make sense and avoid spoilers. This is the problem with weaving a massive world through multiple stories, series, and characters. A person can read out of order if they want and get the ‘oh, so that’s what happened’ light bulb. The author, at least me, risks messing up another book if he mucks around in a smaller one. Though I tossed out the Project Phoenix and divided it into smaller books for each other retained heroes. If I connect them then it will be very loosely. I’m just rambling here.
I only have 4 days to write this week, so I’m hoping to get a little done over the weekend. I have a chest cold that makes my mornings rough. Waking up and feeling like I have cement in my lungs is never fun. Moving around and a hot drink can help clear that up, but it’s still exhausting. So I’ve been a zombie most nights and I bet it’s only a matter of time before I hit a day where I can’t function at all. Here’s hoping that’s after I finish writing this book.
So, what’s the plan for the week?
- Write more of Book 10, which will include the climactic battle between two long-standing characters. Been itching for this one.
- Perhaps a little future book notes.
- Add two more of my books to a new marketing site that I’m testing out. Sales have been dead all month, so I don’t know what to think here. Nothing is working.
- See if I can finish reading ‘Ranger’s Apprentice 10’ and move on to another book. I’m deciding between ‘Pearseus Book 0’ and ‘The Quest for the Holy Something and Other’. My ‘To Read’ list is massive since I’m so slow.
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Host a TWUBS Chat from 8-11 PM EST next Saturday. More later.
- Peruse the Book 11 outline and see where I’m going with it. This might be why I’m having later series be contained stories with the same characters. Still an order to it, but bad guys don’t always transfer over. At least with Sin and Darwin. Need to check Clyde again since his series is tougher than the others.
- Editing ‘Sleeper of the Wildwood Fugue’ and crossing fingers that I can get it out in early April.
Legends of Windemere 
You only got me as ‘traffic” since I have a few minutes to look before I start a fabulous Italian sausage and bow tie pasta dish.
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Good to know. Guessing Sunday is a better day for these. Enjoy the dinner.
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It was yummy
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Yum! I wish I lived closer to you, John 😀
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I feel the same about Greece. 🙂
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I’m exhausted just reading what you’re up to.
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That doesn’t bode well for me then. 🙂 Seriously, I really do hope to sleep in and relax tomorrow.
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I have a bad habit of posting when the post is ready, but it saves me the guesswork of when the post would get more traffic. 🙂
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I do a lot of scheduling. Found that I never know what will work. To be honest, I sometimes post things that I know won’t get much. Just to see if I’m wrong.
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Weekends are often slow – except when they’re crazy busy. In other words, I, too, have no idea what works… 😀
Thanks for including Schism in your tbr list! However, I’d start with Rise of the Prince if I were you. Or Power of Six, which is short stories and a fast read. I’ll email you a copy 🙂
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Already read Power of Six. 😉 I was just thinking of starting at the beginning and Schism said 0. This will all depend on if I get reading time. Hitting the heavy stuff in the current project.
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Oh, right! I’m actively promoting Rise as the beginning. I’ll send you that, then 🙂
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Have that too. I got the bundle a while ago.
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Wow, I don’t know what to say! I’m seriously considering naming my firstborn after you, then 😀
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Oh, and before I forget; read it whenever, or don’t. There’s no pressure or obligation implied. I just love that an accomplished author like you is interested in it 🙂
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Good luck with the new books and boosting sales.
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Thanks. I’m going to need it
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Hope you’re feeling better. Gosh, Book 11…that’s enough for a full bookshelf of fantasy! I wish you all the best with your writing. Tell us how it goes with the new release schedule for your posts. I notice a lot of folks post on Saturdays, yet I take Saturdays off–go figure. Hoping your sales have picked up, too. Ranger’s Apprentice 10–great title! 😉
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Thanks. Doing better after getting a little extra sleep. Think the cold is doing its damage though. Sales are still slow and I’m not sure about the release schedule. The Monday/Wednesday/Friday thing is good, but it still seems subject dependent. Some people only show up for writing-based posts and others only arrive for personal life stuff. It’s like I have multiple audiences. The weekend is the rough part. This post didn’t get much until today and even that was minimal. The post I made today hasn’t gotten much other. So it’s like weekends are slow in general.
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I find my audiences are distinct as well. Some folks who show up on Monday don’t show up on Friday. The same goes for Wednesdays. I find however, if a post hits home, it doesn’t matter what day of the week it is, including the weekend slow period, they just show up. I don’t analyse my audience as much as I should but I also know there are lull periods because of school exams, holidays, summer breaks and even big news events. Those news events throw a wrench in everyone’s schedules!
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I don’t analyze it either. Figure I should spend more of my time writing and doing the bigger part of the job. Though I might just be getting burned out on the social media stuff. Feels like I haven’t taken a day off in years.
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Social media does take its toll after a while. That’s why, right from the onset of creating my blog in Dec. 2012, I had dedicated Saturdays as my day off. And given my writing schedule, I should have burned out a long time ago. Then again, I’m not a social media expert, so what do I know!
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Good point. I’m heavily active on Twitter, but I’m leaning toward taking Saturday/Sunday off. Scheduling helps out a lot. I just need to find that balance. Not doing a daily promo doesn’t help me at all, but doing too much causes a mess. Just can’t win.
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Scheduling does help. I used to write all my blog posts on Sunday for the week. By the time the evening came along, I would collapse. Nowadays, I have my quota of words I write for my novels, then write a post several hours after that. It’s been great since I can then leave the evenings and weekends free to do family things. After a few years, I’ve found what works with my schedule–but it did take years to find out!
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I did stuff like that. With the shorter schedule, I’ve been taking a weekend to make the posts for the next month. Also when the kid is eating dinner and watching his cartoons. At least if it’s quiet for that. As you said, it took a few years to figure things out.
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