Hello all,
This week I am doing a bit of an update, as I have been getting so many wonderful questions about where I am in the whole writing process.
Goals met:
Wow, 2017 is almost over, which is hard to believe! In regards to my writing goals, this year has been huge for me. The biggest thing was overcoming my fear of telling all of you lovely (terrifying) people that I’m writing a book! You all have been amazingly supportive and I appreciate that so SO much. If you didn’t read the 20 questions tag, my goals for the last quarter of this year were:
- Start posting on twitter
- Make a site/blog
- Meet some fellow writers who are awesome enough to critique my work
- Actually trust my critique partners enough to share my work with them
- Tell my family and friends about the book
So, suffice it to say this has been a very successful quarter! The first couple of goals are related to creating a writer’s platform. This is really important to establish before releasing your book, so you have a jumping off point for promotion, as well as a spot for people to find and connect with you. Creating my twitter account actually allowed me to meet a ton of awesome writer friends, which helped check off that goal! I even have a few who are great critique partners! This is also a super important part of the process. As a writer, you get too close to your work, and it’s really impossible to notice spots that aren’t coming across clearly, or parts that drag, are rushed, etc.
Current stage of the process:
I realized while writing this post that it’s hard to explain where I am, without talking about all of the steps. Unfortunately, as I started writing out the steps, even in point form, the post became MASSIVE. I am going to start a series on the steps to getting your book out there, which will help clarify the process.
For today, I will keep it simple:
- Book is written
- Series is outlined (3 books drafted, 2 more planned)
- First half of the book going through the critique partner edit stage. This process is taking longer than it will for future books, because I am still in the process of finding critique partners that are a good fit for my book.
- Second half of the book is still in personal edit stage, but will probably be ready for critique by the time my critique partners have caught up on the first section.
- Right now, I am still shopping around for a critique group.
When will the book be released?
I don’t have a date yet. I’ve never done this before, so I can’t know how long every step of the process will take. My dream would be to have it out before Christmas 2018. This depends on a lot of factors I can’t fully control (like how busy my critique partners are, how long the edit and cover design takes, printing times, etc.)
All I can say is I am working away at it, and that I will keep you all posted on my blog, twitter, and facebook.
Shout-outs:
Before I end this, I need to give a few shout-outs. First, to my husband, Jared. This blog wouldn’t be possible without his amazing computer skills, not to mention all of his support throughout every step of the writing process (even when I get a little crazy…). Next, to Scarlett, Rowen, and J.D. for your truly helpful critiques. Not only was the feedback insightful, but you didn’t crush my spirit in the process! You ladies are amazing. I could give shout outs all day, but I’ll leave it there for this week :)
Feel free to post any questions or comments, here or on facebook/twitter!
-Alison