Memorial Day is usually the unofficial starting day to Summer. It is also, more or less, my birthday weekend. In a refreshing change of pace, today happens to be my birthday. My age is one of the following: {5+9} or {5*9} or simply {1965-present}.
I haven't done much of a writing update in a very long spell of enchantment, so I thought that now would be a good time as any to break that spell.
1} Actual production of content: I'm currently nine chapters in with the fourth and final volume of my dubiously titled Hot Mess series. The current challenge that I'm facing, in addition to the judicious trickling of background info on all the characters, is having to introduce a few necessary tangents to the main plotlines, so as to finish flushing out the story.
In short, we've done the following: palace intrigue due to a sentient being looking to perform a coup d'etat {this is actually the villain of the series, as he's been peppered throughout the previous two volumes}; a new friend to the Queen's sister who is a hybrid human/sentient; and two sisters who have received a competing offer from their Incan deity of death to divert their intended delivery. This is in addition to the other four plot lines unfolding at the same time to varying degrees of satisfactory conclusions.
Finally, we've managed to cross the 400k word plateau, which translates out to 86 chapters. I am now working on the chapter plot summations, of which hasn't been touched since the end of volume #3. If you recall, I started doing it because going through all of my three ring binders searching for a particular snippet of info {curse you consistency!} was becoming increasingly frustrating.
2} The involuntary migration to Draft2Digital: It has concluded, somewhat satisfactorily, I might add. Now, we're having quite the adventurous time in learning first hand what I can and cannot add to my e-books/paper books, at least going forward {mostly links to competitor platforms, which prevents me from listing my books on certain other retail websites}. I'm also finding minuscule content issues {e.g. a character name on the back print cover that was changed inside prior to re-issuing} that are better left untouched due to factors beyond my control {money and a basically defunct graphic designer}.
And I've received a reality check when it comes to pricing print books between Amazon and D2D. I just uploaded my first book to D2D, and the suggested price they're giving based on the cost factors, is about $3 higher than what I have listed on Amazon. So, it looks like going forward, I will have to upload my print books first on D2D to see what the suggested price point is, before doing Amazon, with the working theory being that I need to be consistent with my e-tail pricing, and only doing the discounts with my own personal store.
In general, it will take me some time to upload my other three books {officially}. Because I need to order proofs for each upload, I have to budget my money accordingly, in order to do so. My saving grace is that I don't plan on publishing another book until 2025, as by that time, I should have my c/c debt whittled down zero. Oh, and, if go to my book store page, you'll find a direct link to my author's page there, which has all of my books at various e-tail vendors.
So that's where we stand in regards to our writing: learning a new publishing platform and making slow and semi-steady progress with my book series {whoever said that it gets easier as you work towards a final ending is foisting a massive untruth to the unwashed writing converts}.
Tune in next week when we explore the mega power that words secretly weld, and why our brains go swiss-cheesed upon reception.
Good luck with that new software!
ReplyDeleteMost definitely. Presently I consider it to be Amazon lite, so we'll see how it goes in the long run.
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