The Trials Of An Indie Author: The End of Year Fun

THE END OF YEAR FUN

Firstly, I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas. I hope you had a wonderful day yesterday and are looking forward to the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018! So I thought, as a follow on from the other week's piece about writing around the holidays, I would do a piece about how as an indie author, the Christmas period can be filled with stress and strife, but you can also have a lot of fun with it. I'll get you some of my tips for that. When it comes to the end of the year, there is so much to be done. Something that I find a little stressful. You have the end of year royalties to get together, the sales to track. You have all that fun of checking off goals and planning for the new year. So here's some tips of how to get through the end of the year fun.

#1. MAKE A LIST
A bit like Santa, you wanna be making a list. That way you can cross off everything you get done when you get it done. So downloading royalty reports, making sure everything to do with the end of 2017 is done, filed away and ready for when you next need it. Some places won't have an end of year report until January, but others will have one on the 31st so it's a good idea to check and make sure you get the ones you need.

#2. DON'T RUSH
The last thing you want to do is rush, so I'd advise checking what you need long before we hit that last week of 2017. I've been slowing gathering what I can in the weeks of December already past. That's simply because I'm a planner and leaving things to the last minute make me anxious. It also means that if I do forget something, I've got time to correct the issue

#3. WHEN MAKING GOALS, BE REASONABLE
As you all know I do both monthly goals on a private blog as well as yearly goals that I post about in a vlog towards the end of the year. I also post it here on this blog to make sure everyone knows what I'm planning to do in the coming year. If you're someone who does quarterly goals or bi-montly goals, you'll also be starting to make those goals around this time as well. Just remember to be reasonable with yourself, know your limits and while you shouldn't aim too high, don't go too low either. Make sure that they are things you could reasonable do in that time period and be honest with yourself if no one else.

#4. TAKE TIME TO RELAX
I know it seems like it's a lot of work. Hell, it more than seems, it is a lot of work. But you should also plan to have some down time as well, simply because it's supposed to be a fun time of year all around. I know it's hard when you have deadlines looming, kids or family running around, but you should also take some time to breathe. Make sure that you set aside, even if it's just an hour here and there, for you to do something you enjoy. I work most days, and yet I always have a couple of hours in the evening to read a book and enjoy that down time. It helps you stay productive and stops your from burning out.

So those are my tips of the end of year fun. There's a lot that needs doing and that's not even going into sales and other promotional stuff that seems all amped up over the holiday period. Overall, I like to think that no matter how much stress this time of year brings, it's usually a good experience. I had Christmas at home with my best friend and her daughter. My mum came over along with my brother and his girlfriend and today I'm headed off to see my dad and step-mum. These two days are blocked off as complete days of rest, so other than posting this blog post, I'm doing nothing but relaxing.

Tomorrow I'll start back at writing, and will also be getting those final bits and pieces ready for the end of 2017. I won't speak to you all again until the new year so I hope you have a great one. As always, if you wanna leave a comment about your Christmas, or any tips you have for the end of year, let me know!

Follow Joey here on her blog, or on Facebook or Tumblr to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her books. You can also sign up to her newsletter here.

Writing Around The Holidays - The Creative Process

WRITING AROUND THE HOLIDAYS

So if you're like me, you'll be planning to continue writing during your down time. That includes during a holiday period. I don't just mean the big ones like Christmas, but all those weeks the kids spend off school as well. Because if, like me, you have a teenager running around in the background, life gets stressful when you're home working and they're around too. But for now I'll focus on the other parts of writing around holidays. And I'll try and give you some tips on how I manage.

Christmas for me has always been the time to see my family. As you all know, I use sticky notes to denote what I'm doing when and all of that. I have a colour coded system that allows me to tell at a glance what days are for what. Right now I have three white sticky notes. One is for a medical reason, the other two are Christmas and Boxing Day, which is when I plan to go and see my dad and step-mum for our Christmas get-together. My issue is that I also plan to try and get vlogs recorded, blogs written and some actual book writing too, since that's my job after all. So here are my five tips for getting work done during one of the most stressful times of year.

#1. BE KIND TO YOURSELF
No one can work every single day without a break ever and not have problems. You need to make sure that you take time to just have some moments to yourself when you're not being asked to do something, or feeling pressured to write. If you plan like I do, then you'll probably have some days off, right? If not, be aware that even if you really really really want to get that thing done by the end of the month, it is supposed to be fun, and you will want to spend some time with your family. So be kind to yourself and even if it's just slotting some time to watch a movie or take a nap, do it!

#2. SLEEP ISN'T OPTIONAL
I know, I know, insomnia sucks, but even if you find yourself at a loss of how to spend any of your awake time writing, you still need to sleep. That goes for writers who work through the night and then try to attack the day without any. The world will not end if you take a nap. And it helps you stay on top of things and be more creative when you have time to do so. It goes with my first post about being kind to yourself. Self care can be any number of ways, and sleeping can be one of them. Writers deserve that too!

#3. MANAGE YOUR TIME
Whether that's my adopting a schedule or just setting aside a certain time every day that you will spend writing, do whatever works for you. Like I said, I use sticky notes and I've found enormous leaps in my productivity. I spend more time writing and less time wondering what I should be doing. It's changed my working life completely. And I was organised before, I just never really went this deep into the rabbit hole. Now I'm there, I can't even think about changing how I'd do it. I feel lost without my plan of attack.

#4. IT'S OKAY TO GET STRESSED
Everyone gets stressed at times, no one is immune to it. At this time of year, even more so because there's presents to buy, things to wrap, gatherings to attend. All of that is stressful, when you add it trying to write, it's no surprise that some people lose it for a second or two. I know I've struggled in the past with the same thing. Everything is going on and none of it is an easy fix. So if you do get stressed, don't be too hard on yourself about it. Take a breath and take a moment and then get on with what you're doing.

#5. MANAGE YOUR EXPECTATIONS
This is a big one for me. I know that I set sometimes unreasonable goals for myself. Other times I set them too low, but for the purpose of this piece, I'll stick with the unreasonable ones. If you've told yourself that you're going to finish this book by the end of the year and you're only just starting, think carefully about it. There are some people who can write a whole book in a month or less and my hat goes off to them. For me it takes between four to five months. If it's something you've never done before, don't set yourself up to fail no matter how tempting it may be. Manage your expectations by knowing what you can achieve in that time rather than go nuts and then feel like a failure.

So those are my five tips on writing around the holidays. Do you have any tips to share? Leave them in the comments below!

Follow Joey here on her blog, or on Facebook or Tumblr to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her books. You can also sign up to her newsletter here.

The After Process: Release Day: Just the Beginning

RELEASE DAY: JUST THE BEGINNING

So you've written your book, you've gone through the beta reader process, the editing process, the final proof. You've done all that and now it's uploaded and you're just waiting for the magic release day. That's when the fun begins, right? You just have to sit back and let the book fly off the shelves because that's all the hard work done. You wrote a book! And now it's been published! Awesome right? Yeah, it is, but after release day the work doesn't slow down, if anything it piles on harder. Welcome to my five tips for the days leading up to and after your release.

#1 - PROMOTION STARTS BEFORE THE RELEASE
I know it may seem like the hard work is done with the writing and editing being finished, but one thing you really have to remember is: If no one knows you as an author, or that you've released a new book, how are they gonna know to buy it? Promotion starts way before you get to the release date. The release date isn't where it ends either. It goes on and on for the rest of your career. It's a long drawn out process and it's never ending. People have to know your brand, have to know your style of writing and they have to stay informed. Whether that's by word of mouth, or doing promotion through paid blog tours and press releases, you need to find what works for you and what keeps the interest going leading up to, and after your release. If you do pre-order then make sure everyone has that link as soon as possible. If you do a cover reveal, make sure you add your book to Goodreads as soon as you can. If you plan to do a release day event, again, make sure you have that build up starting as soon as you can. Same with a launch team and/or doing ARCs. You want to be lining up things before that day arrives so that when it does you have all your ducks in a row and your readers ready to buy your book.

#2 - AUTHOR FRIENDS ARE A PRIORITY
Now I've talked before many times about how you need to make connections for things to really work in the indie world. Yes, it is possible to not engage with other authors (indie or otherwise) and succeed, but it really does help you get a leg up to do so. Whether that's by joining Facebook groups, or Goodreads communities or following people on Twitter or Tumblr. All of these are good ways to make connections with other authors. Either ones in your genre or not because in the run up to release, and the following days, weeks and months, these author friends are going to be the ones helping you as you help them. That's one thing you have to be clear on. It has to be both give and take. No one wants to be taken for granted and no one wants the friendship and the help to only go one way. There are so many Facebook groups I'm a member of, that I only know about because of those connections I made years back, and they have very much helped me with releases and with my writing and publishing journey.

#3 - SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS ATTRACT DIFFERENT PEOPLE
You're probably already aware of this. Some people will prefer instagram, others are ardent Facebook people, and so on. The idea is that you need to find what works for you, but also what works for your readers. If you're writing YA, then you're gonna want to be on platforms like Twitter and Tumblr that attract that demographic. However, there's always going to be other platforms you can use to attract readers who are in your demographic but don't follow the normal flow. My advice would be that things like having an Instagram, and a youtube channel are not bad ideas. What you want to be doing is not only making yourself known, but telling people what you have to offer. If that means being active on all social media sites, then that's what you need to do. It feels impossible, but there are ways to work them to your advantage, which leads to my next point.

#4 - YOU CAN'T BE EVERYWHERE AT ONCE.
Point three is a valid point, but at the same time, you are one person and you are only human. Even if you have a PA, that's still only two people and you can't do everything. That's why things like scheduling tweets and Facebook posts exist. I know, I know, you're on a budget (isn't everyone?) and you can't afford to pay a fee to schedule tweets. I have some good news for you. There are free platforms. The one I use? Tweetdeck. You can schedule as many tweets as your heart desires and it's all free. Same with Facebook, there's a function there for you to schedule posts. And the same with sites like Tumblr. You can set up a queue that will post for you. Now what about sites that don't have that option? Well there are sites like IFTT that allow you to set up certain cross-posting things. Like say you schedule a video to be posted, but you want it also to go to Facebook. They have an option for that. Same with instagram posts going to your Facebook page. And so on. All of which is free. You may have to tweak with the recipes so that they work for you, but it's a good thing to remember that you can't do everything and be everywhere at the same time. You need sleep, and that's an important thing to remember.

And finally, #5 - DON'T FORGET TO REST
It might seem like a moot point, but it's not. The lead up to release day is packed full of things to do, people to see, interviews to right and deadlines to meet. There's the thrill that this book you worked so hard on is finally going to be picked up by readers and that's a bit of a high in itself, but you gotta have some downtime. No matter how healthy and strong you are, you need to take some time off. Even if it's only half an hour here and there. If you push yourself too much then you'll burnout and that's never fun. Yes, it's important to get the word out, but not at the expense of your health.

So there you go, my five tips for what you can do on the lead up to, and following, your release day. As always, these are tips that have worked for me, and are based on my experiences. Of course your mileage may vary. But good luck and Happy Release Day!

Follow Joey here on her blog or on Facebook or Tumblr to be kept up to date with all the latest news regarding Joey and her books.

Questions From Readers - Feburary 2017 [CC]

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Random Booktube - The Story Behind #JoWriMoGo - April 2016

RANDOM BOOKTUBE

THE STORY BEHIND #JOWRIMOGO

APRIL 2016

From Joey's Instagram

A new month approaches and with it a new to-do list. These are just my main goals for each day. Everything else is bonus! This covers the whole of April! Keep an eye out for March's final page and word count! It's a record number! #beingawriter #writing #writerlife #joeywrites #indieauthor #amwriting #goals #jowrimogo #authorsofinstagram

A photo posted by Joey Paul (@joeybug) on Mar 28, 2016 at 10:54am PDT

From Joey's Instagram

And as the month draws closed I only have a few more things to get done! #beingawriter #writing #writerlife #joeywrites #indieauthor #amwriting #authorsofinstagram #goals #bookfinished #bookstarted #jowrimogo

A photo posted by Joey Paul (@joeybug) on Mar 26, 2016 at 11:08am PDT

Looking back on 2015!

This time last year, I set myself some goals for 2015 and before I do the same for the coming year, I thought I would go over what I planned to achieve. Here's the goals from last year:

->Time sensitive ones<-
1. Release Blackout, Lynne & Hope & Waiting On You in paperback in Jan/Feb of 2015. - Done, but later than planned. They were released in November 2015.
2. Release Dying Thoughts - Fourth Week as both an ebook and a paperback in the summer of 2015 - Half done, the book was released in August as an ebook, but a problem with the cover meant that the paperback has been put on hold until the new year.
3. Have new covers completed for Dying Thoughts - First Touch, Dying Thoughts - Second Sight & The Friendship Triangle by the summer of 2015. - A third done, the new cover for Dying Thoughts - Second Sight was  released by the summer of 2015.
4. Release the Dying Thoughts series in paperback by the summer of 2015. - Half done - two of the books are now in paperback, but again it was November 2015.
5. Release The Friendship Triangle in paperback by the autumn of 2015. - Not done, the book is ready for release in paperback once it has an updated cover.
6. Do an online release party for Dying Thoughts - Fourth Week - Done, the cover reveal was done at the end of July and the book released in August and both have excellent release parties.
7. Do a book blog tour for Waiting On You sometime after the paperback release, but before the autumn of 2015. - Not done. It's something I plan to do in 2016, and has been on my to-do list for a while.
8. Start editing Destination: Unknown by October 2015. - Not started yet, but a change of editors means that I will be able to start the editing process in the new year.
9. Finish both Walk A Mile & Dying Thoughts - Seventh Death by Christmas 2015. - Not done, but I am closer to the end of both.
10. End the year with covers finished or at least started for Dying Thoughts - Fifth Secret & It's Not Always Rainbows. - Nowhere near done.

->General Ones<-
1. Have one hundred reviews on Goodreads for all books combined. - Half done, I have 48 reviews (as of today) on Goodreads for all of my books combined and over 80 ratings. So closer to my goal.
2. Contact and get at least ten book bloggers to review a book - Done, and I recieved my first review by a book blogger. It can be found here. I also contacted a lot of them, but am still waiting on reviews.
3. Set up and do at least two events for the "Livin' the Indie Life" tag on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and Facebook. - Not done. I started to do that, but with my health taking a turn for the worst, I was unable to follow through.
4. Make sure every book released has at least TEN reviews on Goodreads and Amazon. - Half done, the majority of my books have more than 3 reviews, with some going over it.
5. Take part in at least five events over the course of the year. - Half done, I did one event in June and along with my cover reveal and release, that brings me to three out of the five.
6. Design and get more SWAG for The Friendship Triangle & updated SWAG for Waiting On You - Done, I was able to get more SWAG designed and some printed, and have plans for them to help promote.
7. Do at least three more sessions of "Questions for Joey" on the blog. - Not done. I have no reason for this other than being sick.
8. Start to plan books fifteen and sixteen. - Not done, but I have ideas.
9. Write often and keep up with the writing logs. - Done! I have another years worth of writing logs and it's great to look back.
10. Try to make new contacts in the YA indie field and keep up with the ones I already have. - Done, it's a great thing to have contacts and to make new ones.

Looking back on the year I can see that I faced challenges with my health, but still managed to keep up with some of them. While plans have gone array because of needing surgery and the recovery periods I did manage to do a lot this year that I hadn't thought about in 2014.

1. I took part in NaNoWriMo, and managed to write a page a day totally over 23K in words.
2. I brought it forward into December and started JoWriMoGo, planning at least a page a day through the whole month.
3. I managed to get my books released in paperback, which I am extremely proud of. It was a huge overtaking and while it hasn't ended with all eight books available in that format, I have managed five and the final three should be out in the early starts on 2016.
4. I changed editor and proofreader teams, and managed to find myself an excellent editor who works well with me, as well as an awesome proofreader who is also good at what she does.
5. I have managed to design new SWAG and in doing so, have opened up new promotional avenues which I hope to take advantage of in the new year.
6. I have, despite three surgeries, kept up with writing. 
7. I have ideas for the final book in the Dying Thoughts series.

Keep an eye out for the upcoming goals for 2016. I hope that some of these will bring me closer to having all eight books available in paperback, as well as my ninth book being published in the summer months. I hope that the new year brings us all what we wish for!

Juggling Responsibilities & Staying On Track - The Creative Process

Juggling Responsibilities & Staying On Track

In my last blog post, found here, I talked about the dead zone and keeping motivated whilst not losing your spark during writing. Today I'm going to talk about something similar, which can be seen as a companion piece to that. 

One thing I learnt early on in my writing career, was that if I was going to get my work done and also have a life, I needed to stay on target. I also needed to be sure to maintain a good balance between working, and not working. I've spoken about that in numerous pieces, which can be found here, here, & here. My routine is pretty much dictated by how well I'm doing on any given day, along with a healthy balance of fun activities and not so fun responsibilities. For example, these could be the days which I put aside to do geocaching, or the days in the past that were all for my uni work, as well as the school run, which I do pretty much every week twice a day. These are all things that are important enough for me that I make time for them, although the school run is kinda mandatory! When you add in the disruption that come from living with several chronic conditions, you realise that sometimes it can be hard to stick to any proper schedule. While I'd love to say that I go geocaching twice a week, every week, sometimes it doesn't happen at all. The same goes for my writing, which while being my job, is also something I consider to be fun.

So, how do I juggle my time, along with my other responsibilities, to make sure that I stay on track with my writing? As you are all aware, I like to try and release one book a year, while also writing two at once. I know it's been a source of a lot of questions in the past as to why I don't just release all the written books as they are finished. I have my own reasons for that, but it mostly boils down to the fact that I can't guarantee when I will finish a work and therefore prefer to have books on standby, ready to go without the added pressure of a rigid deadline. It's one of the reasons I find so much of my writing time to be enjoyable, because I don't have the pressure of having to write a certain amount by an exact date, otherwise I'll have angry readers. It's not always something that works for everyone, but it does for me. I digress, anyway, I like to stay on target by planning a lot, and organising my work week around any other duties that may come up.

As a spoonie, I usually have at least one hospital appointment on the horizon, and on top of that I also have parenting duties that need to be met. I find the best way for me to organise my time is to do what started out as a weekly to-do list, became a fortnightly to-do list, and is now (for the time being at least), a monthly one. I set myself four chapters - two of each book - alone with a list of bonus items should I find myself having some spare time, and usually in that list there are four more chapters. Right now, I seem to be just about managing the basic four chapters, but my hope is that as time progresses and I recover from the recent bouts of ill health and surgery, I will be hitting the bonus list more and more. We'll see how things go.

Every time I manage something - because EVERYTHING goes on that list - I cross it off. It's a nice way for me to apply a little gentle pressure to myself, since I'm indie and don't have a deadline for the two novels I'm working on now, without it turning into too much pressure and causing me to work myself into a case of writer's block or worse, a health flare. I've been doing it this way for a good couple of years and in the years past when I was still a student, there wasn't much time for writing. However, having graduated last year with my BA Honours, I feel like I can devote more time to writing and other admin duties. That also leaves more time for fun things, which is always a good way to prevent becoming too burnt out by life.

Now, with health as fragile as mine, there are some weeks when no writing gets done. How do I keep myself on track when it feels like I'm blocked beyond belief or worse, in the dead zone that I spoke about last time? It's not as simple as just opening a word document and trying to force yourself to type. Sometimes it can be remedied by writing a blog post, or catching up with a friend on Skype or through email. Or even doing, as I said last time, something different with my characters to see if I can persuade them to actually do what I'm asking of them. The idea for me at least, is to keep the end goal in sight while not focusing on it too much. The best laid plans and all, and being somewhat flexible in the outcome means that I have something to work with when going down one path doesn't seem to provide much in the way of words.

So, my way of juggling responsibilities and staying on track with my writing is pretty simple. I write to-do lists, I allow myself some time to relax - even a whole week if needed - and I'm flexible with my planning. That's something I've learnt as a spoonie for the past fourteen years of my life, but it can be true for anyone. If you focus too much on one goal as the only acceptable outcome, you can burn yourself out, you can miss other paths that take you somewhere just as good, if not better, and you can find yourself getting very frustrated with your work. While I don't enjoy every aspect of being an indie author, I do like the writing part and I think for as long as that is true, it's going to be what I do with my life and my time. I hope the same can be said for you and your own work.

Follow Joey on Facebook or here on her blog to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her books.

#NaNoWriMo Kinda and other news!

For as long as I've been a writer, I've always been drawn to the month of November and the great NaNoWriMo event that goes on through it. I've never taken part, mostly because I can't write that way. I applaud those who do though, and for a while I've thought about doing something to get myself back into writing consistently. So this year, I decided to do my own version of NaNoWriMo: One page of writing each day for the whole of November.

For those unaware, NaNo stands for National Novel Writing Month. The main idea is to write 50K words in a month and therefore finish a novel. Started in 1999 by a small group of people in San Francisco, it has become a massive world-wide yearly event for all kinds of writers. (More History caan be found here.) Even back before I was published, it was still this big thing that a lot of my friends did online and I always wondered if I ever would. Although I have written a novel in ten days (admittedly, it falls below the 50K word count), I have never been able to repeat that endeavour and even then, it was far from finished. Once it went through the battle to get published, editing and all, it was a good four years before I held the book in my hands. I can understand the attraction of dedicating a whole month to nothing more than getting that long thought-out novel onto the page.

My own writing has become somewhat of a career since I became indie in 2011 and went on to add seven more books to the published list. Once I realised that I wasn't going to be able to work a conventional job, it became easier to dedicate time to writing. For a while it was on the back burner because of my degree course, but having held a BA (Hons) for over a year now, I do wonder why I don't spend more time at my desk pounding out the pictures in my head for the books I'm working on. The argument can be made that given I've had three surgeries this year and am looking at a possible fourth, it's understandable that I've not written more. Yet, I still want to push myself. Even on my worst health days, I still use my tablet, and with my nifty desk and bluetooth keyboard I can easily write a page. So, that's my plan for this month.

My hope is that given we're on November 2nd and I've already written five pages and completed a chapter, I won't be coming back to this blog post in a week and telling you all I managed my set chapters and nothing more. My hope is that by pushing myself just a little to write that one page will mean that some days it's all I write and others, I keep going. It's about getting into the flow of writing and the story, something I've not been doing much of lately. We'll see how it goes! Keep track on my Tsu, Facebook and Twitter pages.

I do have some good news for you, Blackout, Lynne & Hope, Waiting On You, and Dying Thoughts book two and three are all now available in paperback! I'm hoping to have the fourth Dying Thoughts book out soon but there were some issues with the cover and my artist is working hard on fixing those now. I hope it will be by the end of the month, but we'll have to wait and see. As for the remaining two books, those are awaiting cover revamps before being released in paperback. Maybe even by the beginning of 2016!

So, here's to a month of writing!

Spoonie Writer: Worrying About Deadlines

 

Spoonie Writer: Worrying About Deadlines.

One of the first things I realised after being published, was that I was going to have to do some serious thinking about how I'd handle the stress related to deadlines. It was one of the reasons I ultimatey chose to go with Indie publishing. It allowed me to control when I had a deadline, and it also allowed me to work around anything that popped up health or life-wise that would stop me meeting that deadline. I did a piece about schedules and deadlines, (found here) and in it I talked about how I set my own deadlines - such as the four chapters I do each fortnight, which make up a big part of my writing work.

As a spoonie though, you'll be very aware that stress is bad, and you'll also be aware that your health and ability to do things such as write are unreliable. Sometimes you'll be able to meet your deadlines (self set or not) and other times you'll have to miss them. The trick as an indie author, and as a spoonie, is to allow your deadlines to be as flexible as they can be without them becoming completely meaningless. By now, you'll have read a number of pieces about my life as a spoonie writer, and you'll be aware of the term "pacing". My advice for this piece is similar, so much so that it's become one of my life's mantras.

Stress is bad for anyone in large enough doses. For some people, their everyday stress level is higher and for others it's lower. What you personally can deal with depends on you alone and as a spoonie you will be very aware of knowing your own body and how it reacts to certain triggers, stress being one of them. I know that in all my time being chronically ill - and I mean back towards the time when I just had Brittle Asthma - I have been inherently aware that I do not do stress well, like at all. If I put myself under too much pressure, my lungs goes splat, I wheeze, get chest pains and feel dreadful. Add to that two newer conditions (Fibro and M.E) that also don't go well with stress and you can imagine the trembling ball that is me on the floor in the throes of both an asthma attack, a pain flare and an M.E relapse. Stress for me is not good, and it doesn't even have to be in large doses.

So, when I decided to go down the Indie author route, I was very glad to know that I'd have more control over when I published which book and what chapters were due whenever. As I've been writing for near enough thirteen years, I've learnt that I don't have the ability to deal with pressure mounting from missed deadlines. It's one of the reasons I took my uni courses the way I did, I liked being able to get ahead and then not have to worry if I needed time off. I am the same with writing. By the time this piece is published on my blog, my seventh book will have been released and meanwhile, I recently finished my twelfth book and started writing my thirteenth and fourteenth. I still only plan to release one book a year, unless circumstances change. By doing all of this it means that in a way, I am ahead with my book writing already. It allows me to leave a book to sit for a while after being written before I go back, with fresh eyes and start the editing after process.

Now, that won't work for everyone, and it's not always the best way to do things, but it's what works for me. I know that when I set up my fortnightly to-do list and I add those four chapters, I also add four bonus ones just in case. Sometimes I manage them and other times I don't manage any. It really is all dependant on how my health is and how I'm doing both physically and mentally. Some fortnights I even manage to go further and do more chapters than expected on both the to-do list AND the bonus one! It really does depend on how I'm doing.

Pacing myself has always been a big thing for me since I fell sick with the Fibro and M.E. I was always someone who was organised and I liked things done in a certain way. I'm the same now, but I have learnt to be more flexible. While I would love to be able to write all day, all night, and then all day again, it's just not something I can do (though not many people can!) I need a certain level of sleep and rest breaks. If I push myself too far one day, I pay for it the next and that is not conducive to a schedule or deadline of any kind. So, I try to pace myself, and if you can find something that works for you, then try to keep yourself into some kind of schedule or routine. After all, you are the only one who knows how it feels to be you and the best one to know what your body needs. It may take time away from actual work, but it will also possibly take away time you would have spent in a flare or relapse. You know you best, and you have to work with that!

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Choosing To Go The Indie Route - The After Process

Choosing To Go The Indie Route

When you've gone through all the creative parts and emerged on the other side, having edited your manuscript until you can't bear to look at it again, you have another choice. You have to decide whether you're going to go the traditionally published route, or down the indie/self-publishing route. Although I have experience with both, the majority of my time as a published author has been as an indie author so I'm going to focus on that.

I did a piece a year ago about publishing your work (found here) and while it is a great piece, it does only focus upon where you need to start. This piece will be about whether or not the indie route is the one for you. I can only talk from my experience, but I hope it will be of some use to someone else who is thinking about starting their own journey in the published world.

As I'm sure many of you are aware, I have been writing pieces for over a year now, all of which can be found on my blog. I have done a whole section simply on the creative process, as well as a smaller section on the after process (which is where this piece will fit!) I have also recently begun to do several other types of pieces, focusing upon the trials of life as a crime writer, an indie author and a spoonie - someone with a chronic illness who identifies with The Spoon Theory. I am telling you this not to wow you with my dedication to my blog, but to also point out something that has heavily influenced my own decision to stay as an indie author.

When I was retired from my "working life" at nineteen and realised that this really was my retirement, I made the choice to write books. It was something I had always planned to do, but never had the time for and with the flexibility of working when I was able, writing opened a lot of doors to me that I thought had previously been shut. So, when my traditional publishing contract fell through, it was a few years before I realised that going Indie would be the best answer to continuing my career.

When I say that I didn't start writing to become rich, it's mostly true. I never planned on making my millions, though it would be nice. For me, it was more about being able to let free all of these bottled up stories I had to tell. It was an outlet for me, just as writing these pieces are. It wasn't until 2011 that I finally felt able to launch the Bug Books label and control my own future as it were. Part of the reason I lost my other contract was because I was having so many bad days I couldn't meet deadlines. As an indie author, I was able to work around that because I was, after all, my own boss.

However, being an indie author is not for everyone. As I've said in several pieces (found here, here & here), there are many things that are expected of an author - indie or otherwise, and when you don't have whole departments to manage all of that for you, it's a lot of hard work. To me, it was worth it and I've made do with what I have. There'll be some days when I don't get anything done, others where I'll be awake at the wee hours sending out emails and answering posts and writing pieces just like this one. There are also the hospital stays where I have to hand the controls of my Facebook page over to either my editor or my cover designer and hope that everyone copes without me for a while.

If, like me, you think the indie route is the best one for you, then you should go down it. Research all the ways to bring out your work without the middle men. Make sure you know what YOU want to achieve from your work. It takes a lot of giveaways, making connections, swapping reviews and sending out ARC copies to get yourself noticed and it can be really daunting at first, but when you manage it, and you will, you'll find yourself on an even keel and forget that you almost drowned in your first few days in the deep end.

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Spoonie Writer: Writing When You Can

Spoonie Writer: Writing When You Can

One thing I learnt early on when I was diagnosed was that sometimes things don't go to plan. You may think that because you've gotten a good nights sleep, you'll be able to do that big thing you planned, or even that little thing you planned. Sometimes though, when chronically ill, our bodies have other ideas. Part of being a spoonie is knowing how to understand what your body needs and what it's saying, so that if it says rest, you can do so as soon as possible and not miss out on days of work because you overdid it.

Another thing I have learned since I got medically retired and took up writing as a career was that no matter how much you may want to do something and have a relatively "normal" day, it's not going to happen that way all the time. Some days you'll be able to do more, other days you won't get anything done. The trick is to know exactly how YOU are feeling, what your body is telling you and what you need to do to make sure you don't get hit with major payback.

As someone who has to count "spoons" and decide whether or not it's the right time to write, I can tell you that there is never a "right" time, it's all about writing when you can and listening to your body when you can't. I know I have talked before about things you can do when you can't write (found here) but there are times when you're just well enough to get a page written. While you may find it easier to write when you're able to fully commit and sit for as long as it takes, as a spoonie writer you will have to learn to adjust. For some of us, sitting for long periods of time is impossible, whereas for others, it's the only thing they can do without causing more issues.

I may be uttering these words all the time in pieces like this, but it really is a fine balancing act between doing what you can when you can and pushing yourself past your limits and paying for it later. Personally, I've done both. I have done writing in bits and pieces and found I got more done than if I'd waited for a longer period to write, and I've pushed myself past breaking point and then found myself unable to manage anything constructive for the rest of the week. If you're working to a deadline that's one thing, but for me, my deadlines are arbitrary and rarely set in stone. Of course, I have a publication deadline, but the book has usually been written by then and it's just the editing that needs doing.

That's another thing though, being a writer is not just about sitting down at the keyboard and pouring out chapter after chapter. There are other responsibilities that we need to meet and for some of us, doing those in manageable chunks helps and makes them seem less daunting than attempting to do it all at once. My fabulous editor sends me corrections in chunks and I work through them at my own pace. We start the editing process a couple of weeks after the last book was published so that we have the majority of a year to work through it. You will learn these kinds of work-arounds as you become more familiar with how your conditions affect you and what works for you. Don't give up hope and try not to push beyond what you are capable of at that moment in time. After all, it's you who has to deal with the payback and you who suffers for it.

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Deadlines, Schedules & Routines - The Creative Process

Deadlines, Schedules & Routines

Everyone who has ever had an education knows about deadlines. They also know about schedules and most of them will also know about routines. I wanted to cover all three of these in this piece and will try to separate them, but sometimes they all mean the same thing, or at least led to the same goal.

A deadline is something that can be used to motivate a writer. It can be that time in the distance when you'll have to turn in your first draft. It can work for them, or if you're like me, it can cripple them. I do not do well with deadlines. It's not that I never use them, I mean that if I tell myself, or an agent or publisher tells me, you have to finish this job by X date, then I find it extremely hard to work. I have always been a writer that works to her own pace. I do set myself deadlines, you'll have seen the "chapters of the fortnight" on my Facebook page. I try to write two chapters of each book every two weeks. That's  a deadline technically, and it does help me. Sometimes I'll manage all four within a week and will move on to "bonus" chapters.

So, I hear you ask, why have I stated that deadlines cripple me? Simple. If it's a deadline that I can work towards with minimal pressure - the chapters of the fortnight will not make or break me, for example - then I find that I do not feel pressured and stressed when I can't work towards it. I get obsessed with daily word counts and ultimately fall behind. That's when I start to come apart at the seams. What if I don't make it? What if because I don't make it then I fail? These are all things that go through my head and eventually, I just flop down on the floor and give up. Or I work myself too hard, and my body gives up. Either way I'm on the floor, and no writing is happening.

Some writers find deadlines a great motivator. They move closer and manage to create their work with ease. I am fully aware that I am not one of them. Still, which ever type of writer you are, you're going to have to find a way to work to some sort of deadline. If you're an indie writer then you have a bit of leeway as you're able to set your own deadlines, and usually you only have yourself to answer to should you not meet them. It's a win-win situation, and it's one of the reasons I meet the deadlines I set myself.

Alongside deadlines, you'll have a schedule. A way to keep on track because it's a Monday and you do writing for an hour here and half an hour there. You slip into a routine of what you need to do, and a way to keep doing it. If you've got an upcoming deadline, you can alter your plan and slip out of routine for a week or so to get what you need done. The trick is, once again, the balancing act of how strict you are with your plan and how deep your routines go.

Some writers will find that they can stick to a loose schedule. They plan to write for three hours a day, but they will do it when the mood strikes. There is no set time or place to write and others will pretty much have every waking hour organised into a time table. I'm a mix of the two. I have a goal of what needs to be done each day, and I fit my writing in. I aim to do two hours of writing a day, but alongside my university work and other commitments, while there is some semblance of routine, it's not always the same time day in and day out.

I also use a "to-do" list which I set at the beginning of the fortnight of everything that I have to get done. I record uni work, book work, hobbies and other things like doctors appointments and seeing friends. I then cross off each thing piece by piece. That way I can look at it on days when I feel as if I have done nothing, and see that actually, I may have had a lazy day, I'm on track. You could say that it's a kind of flexible schedule with its own deadlines built in.

Of course, deadlines such as release dates can not always be avoided. If you plan to release your book, then you need to be able to do the relevant promotion. To do that, you need to have some idea of when it will be ready to be published. Which means you need to know when the editing will be done and when you'll have finished doing everything needed. Those kinds of deadlines I do work well with.

So, when you're writing, be kind to yourself. Don't pile on deadlines when they can be avoided, unless you need that kind of motivation to get writing, in which case, go for it. It's fine to set up a schedule and get into a routine, but you need to be aware that these things need to be somewhat flexible. As always, your mileage may vary and have fun creating your new worlds.

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