Category Archives: Publishing

Why I stopped outlining.

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In the plotter vs. “pantser” (one who writes by the seat of their pants) debate, I used to be firmly on the plotter side. I’m generally a structured person, or at least more structured than a lot of creative types. I’m an Electrical Engineering student in addition to being a writer, so I use a lot of my left brain.

Because of that, I always thought I should outline my books. At times, this has worked for me, but I’ve discovered more and more that I get my best ideas as I’m in the flow of the story. Outlining is an entirely different process. I don’t quite feel the story the same way, and my ideas are less inventive.

This becomes especially clear when I write series. The farther I get into writing a series, the more likely I am to deviate from my original outline. I got to the point where I was doing this so much that I decided I should just throw out the outline altogether.

However, that might be too extreme of a response. I don’t quite make up everything as I go. I form a mental outline. I know where I want to get, but if I discover something more interesting along the way, I’m perfectly happy to alter my mental plans.

This can lead to some inconsistencies between books, and that’s part of the reason I’ve decided that I will generally write an entire series before publishing any of it. That way, if I introduce something important in book 3 or 4, I can go back and throw in some hints toward it in book 1. A lot of planners are able to do this kind of thing because they outline the entire series in advance. I’ve tried, and it simply doesn’t work like that for me.

When I was considering trade publishing, I always had issues with throwing away the outline because trade publishing tends to work differently. You rarely write the entire series before publishing any of it. I know Michael J. Sullivan (author of the very good Riyria Revelations, Riyria Chronicles, and Legends of the First Empire series) does this. But he did start out self-publishing.

Now that I’ve decided to go with self-publishing, I can write my series however I want, and writing them this way helps me to give you a plot with a lot more interesting twists and turns.

That’s not to say I throw away the outline completely. I’ve been known to outline a few chapters ahead of where I am. That can help me write more quickly during my writing sessions because I’m not figuring out what’s going to happen next. More often, my mental outline is good enough to carry me through, and I’m able to figure out the details as I write.

The key thing as a writer is finding a process that works for you. This process works for me right now. In the future, I may decide to go back to outlining. I don’t think you should ever get stuck thinking there’s only one way to write that works for you. Writing is a continual process of experimentation, and every story is going to have different needs.

Self-Publishing and Reading Habits

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When I first decided to get serious about writing, I got serious about reading. I looked for all the best that fantasy and science fiction had to offer. At first, this was entirely in the realm of trade publishing. I didn’t think there was anything worthwhile apart from that, or I thought it would be too difficult to find it. But since I’ve become more involved in the SFF community online, I’ve found quite a few self-published novels that I’ve enjoyed.

Now, as I’m embarking on my own self-publishing career, I’m wondering just how much I should read of self-published vs. trade-published books. I find a lot of books I enjoy in both arenas, and some I don’t.

I’m considering reading a lot of the novels by my fellow Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off entrants. I’m not sure how well I can commit to that, however. So far this year, I’ve read only 24 books, and some of them have been quite short.

I used to be a much more voracious reader, but now that I have my own writing career and Engineering school to keep me occupied, I’m not finding as much time to read. That brings me to the following question: Should I focus on all the trade-published fantasy series I want to read, or should I focus on giving my fellow Indies a chance?

I don’t know the answer. In the end, I think it comes down to reading the books that interest me most without paying any attention to how they were published.

Those are my thoughts. What do you think?

As a side note, my website may not be working correctly at the moment. I changed my domain name when I upgraded my WordPress account. They said it may take up to 72 hours before my site functions perfectly.

I submitted to the SPFBO today.

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For those who aren’t familiar with the acronym, that stands for the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off. It’s a contest run by fantasy author Mark Lawrence, and it’s in its third year. I’ve read a few of the books from the last year, and I’ve been generally impressed. Now I’m hoping I can have some success with my own work.

Speaking of which, I have my release scheduled for June 30th. That’s the day you can get your hands on Empire of Chains. I will have the Kindle version ready by then for sure, and hopefully my cover art will be in place. If it isn’t, you might have to wait a while yet on a paperback version.

I’m both excited and terrified. This is a path I never would have imagined myself taking a few years ago. But it feels like the right path for me now. It may not yield immediate success, but I’m okay with that. I will not stop writing.

Fireweaver is finished.

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Today, I finished the first draft of Fireweaver, the second book in my Sunweaver series. That’s two books down and one more to go. This series will probably come out once I get my entire World in Chains series out to readers, so it’s still a while down the road before it will be ready for readers’ eyes.

I had a big push these last two days, writing over 11,000 words over the two days combined. That often happens to me when I get close to the end of the book. I become so excited about what I’m writing, and the words simply flow.

This one has a few rough spots that I need to smooth out when it comes to revisions. I won’t deny that. But for the moment, my revision efforts will be focused mostly on The Shadowed Land, book 2 in World of Chains. I expect to start writing the last book in the Sunweaver trilogy soon.

I’ve discovered that the best writing method for me is to write an entire series before moving forward with it. I tend to write without a definite plan in mind, so there are sometimes inconsistencies between books that I have to iron out before I can publish.

 

In other news, it should be less than two months before I get my cover art for Empire of Chains, the first book of World in Chains. I’m not sure about the timetable for the rest of the series just yet, but Empire of Chains is still on track for this summer.

World in Chains is complete!!!

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Well, the first draft of the fourth and final book is complete. I still have a lot of revision and editing work to do.

For anyone’s who’s been following my blog recently, you’ve seen that I’ve done a lot of back and forth on self-publishing. Well, with the series nearing completion, I decided to go ahead and take the plunge and stop letting fear get in my way.

I’m not expecting to get rich immediately (or at all) from self-publishing. I think I can manage to write enough to keep my readers happy without pushing myself too hard. If I do enter a dark period mentally, I will be sure to keep everyone updated and let them know that I do intend to finish my projects.

Note that I’m not expecting this to happen, but I always find it best to be prepared.

 

As for the series itself, it is four pretty hefty books. The first one goes about 165,000 words, the second 140,000, the third 120,000, and the fourth 170,000. I wouldn’t be surprised if the second and third get longer in revisions.

Most of the series I have planned will probably be shorter than this one, but you never know. I’m just excited to get this out there and ready for everyone to read. This series has been with me in some form for more than 11 years now. With each iteration, I’ve stepped up my game as a writer, and now I think it’s what it always should have been.

I currently have covered are scheduled for this June, so you can expect to see the first book published sometime this summer. I would expect the others to follow at roughly four-month intervals (possibly faster depending on how smoothly edits go and how quickly I can get the cover art done). I may not be able to keep up that kind of schedule indefinitely due to school and work obligations, but I’ll try to be fast (without sacrificing quality, of course).

Writing Progress

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I’ve spent the last three days doing a lot of writing on my first draft of The Winds of Time (book 4 of World in Chains). In the last three days, I’ve written about 10,000 words. It has been nice to get back into the flow of writing, and I’m feeling more confident about my chances of success in self-publishing, as I mentioned in my last post.

Right now, The Winds of Time (the final book in the series, I should add) is probably about three-fourths complete. I’ve finished parts I, II, and III, and now I’m writing the fourth and final part. If all goes according to plan, I should be finished with the book before the end of January. I should also send out a request for cover art for the series later this month, which will probably result in me releasing the book in the late spring or early summer. Depending on how long it takes me to edit each book, I’d expect the next three to follow over the course of the next year.

While I’m editing those, I will get back to work on my other two ongoing series. I will probably start with Sunweaver because I’ve already finished one book in the series and started on the second. I expect Sunweaver to be a trilogy, though it could be four books if I find I have enough material.

There’s also my third series, The God War. I’ve written the first book, which I’m titling Song of Shara for the moment. It’s more of a gunpowder fantasy, and a story I’m really excited about. I need to get more information about the stories onto my website here because I don’t think it’s doing me any favors right now.

Any books in these two series will most likely be released after I finish the entire series. This may occur before or after I finish publishing World in Chains. It all depends on how much time school and work suck up.

Thanks for reading. I hope to get some more concrete updates on here soon.

Defining initial success in self-publishing.

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I recently made the decision not to go with self-publishing for the moment, and like always, I’m doubting that decision. Part of it, I think, is the expectations I’m placing on myself. I’m looking at authors who are finding success in self-publishing, and I think of all the work I’ll have to do to get to that point.

But perhaps I’m not using the right measuring stick. I’m not saying I should abandon my big goals, but perhaps if I make my goal simply to earn back the money I’m putting in, then it may be a lot more conducive to me taking the plunge.

Self-publishing is very rarely a ticket to great money, but it is a chance to make some income while giving readers the chance to read your books. That’s what I should focus on now. I’m tired of my stories languishing on the computer. They deserve readers.

But then I wonder if I should give trade publishing another chance. At the end of the day, though, I’m a bit of a control freak by nature. The idea of having complete control over the product I put out there is appealing. Even the marketing, although it may be a bit outside my comfort zone, is a chance to experiment.

After all, self-publishing is still very much an experiment for every author. There’s no magic bullet that works for everyone. For some, it’s writing a lot of books very quickly. For others, it’s becoming very involved with fans on social media. Then there are those who just put the book out there and readers somehow find it.

The point of all this is that there are many different routes to success and many different standards for success. I may do terribly at self-publishing, but that’s still better than never trying at all.

Even if I only make back a fraction of what I put into my first few books, that’s okay. Self-publishing is a long-haul. Some writers find success immediately, but it’s more common to build up momentum as you build up your backlist. Since your self-published book never goes out of print, the backlist can be a very powerful tool for success.

So I guess I’ve changed my mind. We’ll see how long that lasts…

Finished an Editing Pass (and other updates)

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Sorry haven’t updated recently. Things have been a bit up and down for me on the writing front (and in my life in general). When I sink into a depressive mood, I tend to devalue my writing and think that I’ll never find any success in self-publishing.

Today, the mood I’ve been in recently seems to have lifted a bit. I was able to finish an editing pass of Empire of Chains. It isn’t quite ready yet, but it keeps getting closer.

Once again, I’m feeling good about the book. I think my next editing pass will focus on adding in necessary description and cutting down on some excess internal thoughts, especially during fast-paced scenes.

I’m excited to see how people react to Empire of Chains. I’m also excited that I’ve written first drafts of the next two books. At the moment, there’s still a lot going on in life. I’m not always able to get words written every day, but editing is often easier because there are already words to work with.

That being said, I do plan on getting back to writing Book 4 soon. I hit a block in the last couple of weeks, but I’m still excited about concluding the series.

After that, I have my Sunweaver series and God War series to work on. The first book of Sunweaver is in about the same shape as Empire of Chains (that is, it’s almost ready). The first book of the God War series doesn’t have a definite title yet, and it still needs more editing work before it will be ready. I anticipate both of those series being trilogies, though that could be subject to change.

I also have quite a few more books waiting to be written. Not sure what I’ll get working on next.

Yesterday’s update may have been premature.

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I may have been premature yesterday in stating that I’m putting Empire of Chains aside for the moment. It has some problems, especially in the later books, but I might be able to fix these problems through editing. I still feel the first book is the strongest, but only for the moment. I think I can make the others just as strong. It will simply take more work than usual during the revision process.

The more I think about it, the more I realize this is the story I want to tell. It just has some rough spots. And when I get into a bad depressive phase, all I can see are those rough spots. Thankfully, that mood has lifted, and now I’m looking at it more objectively.

An Update: Putting Empire of Chains on Hold.

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So I have some news that may be both good and bad. After some more consideration, as well as input from a trusted reader, I’ve determined that it is not yet time to go through with plans of publishing Empire of Chains (and its sequels). Quite simply, it is not the story I would like it to be.

In order to make the necessary corrections, I pretty much have to start all over. I don’t know when I’ll write it because I need time to change the things that need changing.

In the meantime, I do have two other series I feel much better about. I will likely turn my attention to those series. One of them, Sunweaver, still has the first book under consideration in the Angry Robot Open Door. Most of the entries have been read at this point, but I’m still waiting on a response.

I also have A Song of War, the first book of my God War series. It’s more of a gunpowder fantasy. I haven’t done much editing on it, but I have a pretty clean first draft to work with.

I may also get working on some other projects.

In a way, this is good news. When I get Empire of Chains out there (and the title may still be subject to change), it will be a much stronger book and more in line with the writer I’ve become rather than the writer I was when I first started writing it at fifteen.

Each iteration has been an improvement, and I’m hopeful that one last try will give me the series I’ve envisioned. Don’t get me wrong. There are some aspects of what I have that I think are very good, but it also has its fair share of issues, and they’re not issues I can correct without completely reworking the story.

So I don’t know when exactly I’ll begin publishing. There’s still a part of me holding out hope for trade publishing. For anyone who’s interested, I can send you copies of some of my books if you’d like to read them and provide feedback.

This wasn’t an easy decision to come to, but these concerns have been in my mind for a while now. The fact that I can’t get rid of them shows that they are valid concerns. I want my readers to have the best product I can provide, and what I have right now does not fit that description.