Weekly Update: March 15-21

Word count: 3100, all on the weekend.

As expected, March Break was not a productive time but I'm not too unhappy about it.  I did some work plotting on Metamorphosis in between taking the kids to the trampoline park and swimming and other activities.

I definitely felt the roughness in having such a long separation between writing periods.  I made careful notes at the end of my writing day and it helped, but it took awhile for the words to start to flow.  That lets me know I'll need to work out something different for the summer.  I'll have to see if I can arrange to have the kids in daycare or something at least once or twice in the week to give me more time.

Things are starting to flow again for Metamorphosis but I'm starting to look at the calendar and wonder if I'll make my self-imposed July 1st deadline for my first draft.  I have 14 weeks to go.  If I can keep up my minimum of 4000 words a week, I've got a shot but it won't take much to derail me.  This must be what Bon Jovi meant when he said the pressure didn't start until his second album.  There's all the time in the world for a first creative project, but the second takes place in the public eye.

I've also been doing some calculations on my sales and realizing I may have been overly optimistic for potential revenue.  I'm still hoping to break even on what I spent to get Revelations ready before launching Metamorphosis but that may not be realistic for self-publishing.  My friend, S.M. McEachern, forwarded me an article on the math of self-publishing.  I knew the majority of self-published authors did not make much money without having to do a lot of work.  I liked the author's position that "Realistic expectations are not the enemy of hope, but they are the ally of wise decisions."

So I have to be careful with my own wise decisions and make sure I'm not putting the family at risk financially during this investment phase.  I still believe the quality of my work will draw readers, but it will be a slow process without the funds for advertising and massive marketing campaigns.  But that's okay.  I may not have flash and glitter, but I am stubborn and relentless when it comes to finding my way around obstacles.

It may not happen as fast as I might wish.  But it will happen.