The Year Going Forward

Honestly, I have been dragging my feet.  More or less, I have had the sequels to A Spark in the Darkness done for a little while.  (I need to still write a little over 4,000 words for this next one, but still).

Writing is easy for me.  While starting to write is tough (a lone blank page can be intimidating), the terror actually comes in the publishing.  Any artist can relate in this.  Fear, pride, ego, and complacency.  They have been my enemies.  And they can be yours, too (although maybe under different circumstances).  Recently I have undergone a change in attitude and have decided that I need to cast the above Four Negatives aside.

So my plan of attack is this:

Post-production.
I am going through my stories to write their second drafts.  This mainly gets all the content in line and axe the items that don't belong. (Also catch spelling/grammar/detail issues as well before sending it to my editor).

Publish.
This goes without saying.  I need to get these two sequels out this year.

Marketing.
This mainly has to do with discovery.  There are readers out there that enjoy and will enjoy my works.  Even if I wrote total garbage, there would still be someone out there that'd enjoy it (how many billion people are on this planet?).

Research.
This research consists of reading both fiction and non-fiction.  Sales, marketing, writing, and publishing.  On the other hand, I need to continue reading fiction (hopefully quality fiction but sometimes the popular books aren't always the best).  Refining my craft is something I have taken to recently; In the past 7 months I have looked to how to improve my writing.  I have taken some constructive criticism to heart.  Looking in the mirror is not fun to do, but refusing to change or improve isn't wise.  Easy or wise?  I'll choose the wiser decision.

Writing.
This will be ongoing.  Slow and steady at the bare minimum.  Then, if I hit my stride and go above and write beyond my quota, those written words are bonus.  My short term goal is to focus on the saga of Ishmael Harrison.  But I would also like to go about starting/continuing other series or standalone works.

But there's a favor you can do for me.  It's painless, I promise.  Please sign up for the mailing list for info on releases, promos, and overall just to stay in touch.  And be supportive.  You are already doing that, so keep it up.  I've been approached a few times and asked, "Hey when's the next book?" or "Wow you wrote a book!  Any more?"  So, thanks.  You guys are the best.

Thanks.

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