What has to be done by the end of this week?
Writing
- Use timed writing sessions to work on the manuscript.
- Aim for at least 3,000 words a day, 5 days a week.
Getting new words onto the page
I am mixing it up right now with direct typing into my desktop computer in Word, and also hand writing a scene and then dictating it into the Word document using Dragon, editing as I go.
I have used the free Apple voice to text dictation and the free Windows option, but Dragon is faster and more accurate every time. And it saves my wrists! My business expense treat for this year was upgrading to the more expensive Dragon Professional.
Publishing
- Work on Book Cover Design ideas for the whole series.
- Confirm a slot with a professional Editor for January.
- Create a detailed timeline for the publishing sequence for this book for January.
Book Covers
Right now my idea is to create a series with the Murder and M [ new word] as the title. They will all be culinary cozy mysteries, but it is super easy to change the titles in Canva then add in some free art work illustrations or icons to make each cover different.
The hard work is coming up with a master design which can then be edited and illustrated for each book, but with a common theme.
I think it works, but the benefit of creating my own book cover is that if I decide that something needs changing, it only takes a few minutes to make the updates and download a new Jpeg.
Confirm a slot with a professional Editor for January.
By the time I have finished self-editing this book, I will be in desperate need of an impartial Beta-Reader who is not afraid to tell me where the plot holes are, or that a character does not work. I can do copy-editing and proofreading after the big picture editing is finalised.
You can ask your pals for feedback, but I have always paid an editor to look at my self-published fiction. Book at least a month ahead.
Write down a detailed timeline for the publishing sequence for this book for January.
Mid-January seems a long time away. Guess what? It isn’t.
I am writing this on 7th December. Here is my current plan, working backwards from the key delivery dates and is subject to change on a weekly basis.
Publishing Schedule
30th January 2018. My target Launch date.
23rd January. Final edits to text made following feedback and new final manuscript loaded onto KDP. Final print book created and loaded. Proof copy of print book ordered.
15th January. Draft Book loaded onto KDP for PreOrder. Manuscript sent to editor. [Preorder promotion plan kicks in]
08 January. Final story editing. Copyediting and proofreading. Format manuscript for Kindle eBook. Format manuscript for Print.
01 January. Start revising the manuscript. Finalise book cover design for eBook. Create print book cover pdf.
22 December. First working draft of manuscript complete. Xmas holiday week.
7-22 December. Focused work on the manuscript.
Bottom line? I have 15 days to finish this first draft if I want to meet these dates.
Website and Social Media Platform
The Sophie Brent Facebook Author Page is now loaded and linked to the website.
List Building and Email Marketing
The new Sophie Brent subscriber list is running in Mailchimp and linked to the GiveAway of bestselling cozy mysteries.
Then I need to share the GiveAway with Facebook groups and Twitter followers.
There are many Facebook groups for cozy mystery readers and you can find those by searching Facebook, but to be honest, people want advice and tips from someone who has been part of the group for a while and contributed in the past, not just joined to pitch their book. But you can offer help and advice to these groups in a non-sleazy way and get great results.
Well that was a super busy day! Back to the writing. Nina