November already? Oh Heck!

November already? Oh, heck!

The trouble with being an indie author, is that I’d like to be writing, and I can’t. I should write more, since that’s what I do. But once I get some stories written, they need to be edited. And if they are published, I have to do the launch, get them promoted, do the advertising, and generally just keep my name in front of people so that they might think “I like the sound of that book, I’ll read it.”

And once you have more than five books that you are promoting, it gets a little time-consuming (she says, using the British understatement version of ‘little’).

I’m not complaining – it keeps my mind active and my computer busy. It keeps me off the streets, too.

It’s just that here we are in November already, and everything is piling up. It’s always the same in November, which is why I don’t do NaNoWriMo. If you are, and you’re taking a break to read this, I’m truly honoured. Ignore all my drivel and get back to writing your novel!

The Princelings Pile-up

Having launched book 7 of the Princelings of the East series, Willoughby the Narrator, last April, I got the next ready for my editor. Book 8, the Princelings of the North, is now officially edited, and is my priority for revision, preparation for publishing, and launch at the end of January. Fortunately I did its chapter illustrations last year, so I don’t have those to consider.

While I’m finalising the Princelings of the North, I’m also setting up its launch promotion. I’ve got a series of BookGoodies adverts running, which start next week. It seemed a good idea to remind people of the earlier books in the series, and do offers for BookGoodies readers, before getting to the main event in January. That leads to setting up other advertising streams. I hope you get to see them. Please click through if you do!

The fundraising project

Then something else jumps into the frame and I think – there’s an opportunity to raise money for a good cause while I’m launching the Princelings of the North.

The Book 8 story features Dylan and Dougall, who live on a fictional version of the Isle of Mull, just north of a sub-island, if you like, called Ulva. The opportunity has come up for the real Ulva people to buy their island from the current landlord. They have a JustGiving page to help their fundraising, and I decided I should spread the word more, by tying in a fundraising page with the Princelings of the North launch.

If you’d like to see that fundraising page, it’s here:

I made a new edition of the free ebook for kids (novella length) Dylan’s Yuletide Journey, with the fundraising links in the back. That’s available on Smashwords. Hopefully the parents will feel inspired to contribute to the Ulva buyout fund.

Then I thought it would be great to do a new short story featuring Dylan, Dougall and the Isle of Ulva itself. Yes, just sit down and write it. I got an idea, and a title. I wrote the first two paragraphs. A couple of days later, I wrote the first chapter, and the next day I wrote the second. I knew where I was going with this, but not what the secret of Ulva was, nor how Dylan was going to do anything about it. Last Tuesday I woke up with the entire rest of the story mapped out, and rushed out of bed to make notes.

Now I have finished it. I need to edit it, get it beta read, do three more chapter illustrations, and convert to ebook to give to my contributors. And do a cover… didn’t have that on my list!

Princelings Christmas commitments

So I’m revising book 8, writing a novella, and doing advertising copy. Next come the Christmas specials, heading towards me so fast it’s like the shadow ahead of a total eclipse. (Did you see it? Was it awesome?)

Apart from doing a special Christmas story for each of my blog and the Princelings website, I also have a feature to do for Solveig Werner’s Advent calendar, and I was hoping to do something for Sue Vincent, but fortunately I haven’t committed to that yet. Yet? I’ve been trying to commit to something for Sue for years now, she must think I’m awful.

So that’s a new book, a novella, four Christmas specials, and an advertising campaign. Well for the advertising campaign I really ought to get the Princelings Books 1-3 Box Set, which is the first three books in one ebook file, into the right format for Amazon. You can get it for Kindle from Smashwords, and for everything else at the usual online retailers, but it needs reformatting for Amazon. I think I should do that—in advance of the Book 8 launch. It’ll help Amazon readers catch up with the series.

I told you that these things never end. And that’s just the Princelings books.

My Viridian System scifi series

I’m delighted to say that The Perihelix is back from its new new editor, and I’m ready to do the final edit and relaunch it.

Then again, since I’ve already written book two, Curved Space to Corsair, and I’m in the process of doing the final draft to send to my editor, maybe I should wait till I’ve finished that to make further plans for the series, like launch the two books together.

Or maybe I should just shelve that until I’ve got through to February and the Princelings logjam is out of the way.

That’s a good idea.

What’s the betting I’m here next November with the same sort of logjam with the Viridian System series? Well, that would be a nice problem to have.

November already – I’m not complaining

I’m not complaining, mind. I’m enjoying it really. I like the pressure. I can find all sorts of ways of making it worse by prevaricating, like writing blog posts and berating myself for not having completed those reading challenges I’ve been telling you about all this year.

And if I really want to put things aside for a while, I can always write a post for the Story Reading Ape. They’re my favourite thing to do. And that’s due next weekend!

SaveSave

SaveSave