Hello All, Chrishaun here!
I spent the last few weeks in December reading the goals that several writers posted for 2016. I posted mine a while ago on FaceBook and I’ll open with that:
- I’ll publish Season One of Tales of Allazar every two months starting on Feb 17th (everything’s ready except for the final proofreading and the gazetteers that I’m using as lead magnets)
- I’ll take January to plot 10 50K novels (Season Two of Tales of Allazar and another series, Children of the Sanguine) and 12 15K novellas (Season One and Two of The Runners)
- I’ll write and revise all the above novels and novellas. This will give me 6 novellas to release in 2016 (bringing my catalog to 11 before bundles), as well as 5 novels and 6 novellas ready to be released in 2017 when I leave my full time job.
- I will start the marketing campaign in June after the release of the third book.
That was a lot and I knew that, but that was in December of 2015 and I was full of hope and vin and vinegar. Now that we are in January of 2016 and I am older and wiser, let me you know what has happened so far:
- My editor, The Warlord Lisa Tomecek-Bias, has advised me that Spilt Milk still has first time reader issues (I am creating a fantasy pulp series and some aspects of it are still confusing to readers still not familiar to Allazar).
- The edits are going to delay her 2 weeks and assuming that the other novels (which are longer) will need the same work, my number of releases will go down to 4 books this year instead of 5.
Good News: Better books will be published (yay!)
Bad News: Fewer books will be published, giving me less revenue overall (boo!)
- I outlined all 10 novellas, but only plotted four of them after I found that two of them will be companion novellas to two of the four novels to be published, which required more research and planning.
Good News: It’s starting to feel more like a cohesive universe (nice!)
Bad News: I will have to take out writing and revision time to plot more (…not so much)
- I had planned to teach my series of workshops this spring, but with the above happening, I have decided that the best thing is to finish the classes I have scheduled, making sure that I make the Sunday write in and work on 3000 words a day.
Good News: I’m concentrating on the things that are important and on my plan, not on things that while are good, are not writing, not my calling, and will not help me achieve my goals. (more time to do the work)
Bad News: I enjoy teaching and will miss not being to do it as much as I would like. But that is one of the sacrifices I make for my new business and my calling. (ego bruised, but it heals quickly)
All in all, the year (so far) has gone well and there have been troubles but the plan is still intact and I am moving forward.
And as long as I don’t stop. I will be just fine.
May you Remain Evergreen!