This week I’ve made some decisions and tweaked some plans.
Previously I was going to compile all of the website and Patreon flash into a single book at the end of the year, but I have decided that instead, I’m going to do more frequent smaller bundles. I’m only going to compile the Patreon flash and make a compilation ebook every ten stories. This will make them around the same size as my planned Frank Mason short stories, so it doubles as a way to publish an ebook and learn the process before that series starts.
In total that means I should be doing five compilations per year, 12 Frank Mason short stories, and a compilation of all of the short stories as a novel.
I’d like to think that I have a handle getting the work written and the output done for the week, mostly I think I’ve just become comfortable with the struggle. I know I have to do the work, so it’s harder to put it off. Although this weekend I have been playing Greedfall instead of getting ahead like I wanted. There are mitigating circumstances; I had to be on call for work, so it made it harder to concentrate when I was constantly expecting a call.
In other news, I have started looking for a book cover artist to make the covers for the ebooks above, and to add some shiny graphics to my website and social media stuff. It’s all good to have the stock pictures I have now, but unique images help with SEO. I have no idea what this will cost, or if there is any chance of covering that cost this year, but it’s time to make the page a little shinier.
I suppose it shouldn’t be, but it’s amazing how much work needs to be done outside of the writing. To be a writer, I have listened to more than 1000 of hours of podcasts on writing, read 100’s of books, taken classes, and written millions of words to hone my craft. Yet, to be successful in the modern world I need to know how to use social media as an advertisement, create a website that satisfies Google’s algorithm, liaise with editors and graphic artists, and manage a budget to pay for the development of works without sending myself broke or running afoul of the taxman. Today’s upcoming writer must needs be a renaissance man.