plans

My 2016 Writing Goals Vs The Reality

~ ChanAtkins ~ 7 Comments

Towards the end of 2015 I listed my writing goals for 2016 on this blog. I didn’t really expect to achieve them all, but at the same time, they did feel achievable! I also listed them as a way to kick myself up the backside and keep track of what I wanted to get done this year. So as we draw to the end of 2016, (oh my God how fast did this year go??) how many did I manage?

  1. Finish the first draft of Elliot Pie’s Guide To Human Nature (nearly there!!)

Yay! I did this one! This book nearly ready for release, but I’ve been waiting for some final feedback from a trusted beta reader and working on the first draft of A Song For Bill Robinson. Once this is done, I will be rushing back to dear Elliot to give his story a final going over or two and then deciding on a release date! (Plus I need to think about front covers and so on!)

2.Whilst letting that first draft breathe, do the final rewrite/edit of The Tree Of Rebels and submit to agents and publishers. I want to try the traditional route with this book, as I think it is a worth a go every now and then!

Well, as you may know, TheTree Of Rebels is still not ready despite being now two years in the making. A while ago I decided it needed another rewrite and possibly some further storylines introduced. But it has to wait until Elliot Pie is released before I get back to it, so this one is still not done. It is much improved though and I’m glad I’ve been patient with it.

3.Whilst waiting for responses, dive into second draft of Elliot Pie, which also means developing a Pinterest storyboard for it.

Yep, as mentioned above, second, third, fourth and so on drafts have happened for Elliot Pie, and I have started a Pinterest board for it too. Cool, can tick that one off!

4.If no success with trad publishing, then release The Tree of Rebels with my indie publisher,with my detailed promo plan in place!!

Well that indie publisher went out of business in February 2016 and I then published with Amazon for a while and am now with Pronoun. That threw a spanner into the works for a few months and set everything back a bit, so the detailed promo plan for The Tree Of Rebels will have to wait a bit longer to be set into motion!

5.Have a real life/in the flesh book launch in my local library (eek scary!)

Well, obviously as neither novel was ready for 2016 this goal was not achievable. However, I have recently made contact with my local library in a bid to foster links with them for this sort of thing. I’m holding a workshop there in March and will be talking to them about lots of other ideas too, so this goal is definitely one for 2017. I hope!

6.Have an online launch/promo etc (see point 4)

Again, neither novel was launched so couldn’t do an online launch either, but very much looking forward to this in 2017!

7.Finish putting together another short story collection, which will be partly shorts related to my novels, other shorts, and partly previous blog posts and musings

Aha! One I did achieve! I released Bird People in May 2016 and I’m really pleased with how it turned out

8.Plan a local author event! This will be under my Chasing Driftwood Writing Group banner, and will involve getting other local authors together for a meet/greet/signing and workshop extravaganza, all designed to put readers in touch with writers,, and spread the word locally about our books.

Yay, well sort of. I have a workshop booked for March which will be the first adult one I’ve put on, by myself, under my Chasing Driftwood Writing Group business. I did also take part in a Writers Day Event in October with Dorset Writers Network which was a brilliant opportunity for spreading the word and making connections. My workshop is about building an author platform and part of it will be unveiling my idea for a pop-up book shop to put on at any future events, the library and so on.

9.Enter competitions and submit to awards!!

I have entered two or three competitions this year I think? Always worth a go. Not submitted to any awards, though, which is worth looking into I think for 2017

10.Plot/plan the sequel to The Tree Of Rebels and add teaser chapters onto end of first book

Done. Most of the sequel is written or planned, but I did go off the idea and it fizzled out. When I do finally go over The Tree of Rebels again I will be deciding if I want to do the sequel or not, or just leave thinsg open incase I do another day.

11.Start the sequel to The Mess Of Me (if I finish Elliot Pie, or when I am having a breather between drafts)

Didn’t get time for this, as a lot of time was spent republishing books this year, and rewriting Elliot Pie and Tree Of Rebels, then a few months ago an old story started to plague me and turned into my current work-in-progress A Song For Bill Robinson. The sequel to The Mess Of Me is planned and half-written and will happen, one day, though!

12.Start writing the screenplay to The Boy With The Thorn In His Side, which involves writing in extra scenes between the two books, so as to make a TV series. Well, why not dream big??

I started this! I also wrote a later episode which I intended to enter in a competition but I missed the deadline! Fully intend to keep working on this in 2017 as it was a whole lot of fun!

Results; seven out of twelve, not too bad!! I think writing this list at the start of 2016 was hugely helpful to me. I knew I wouldn’t be able to tick them all off, but they were all things I desperately wanted to achieve, so it made sense to me to list them like this so I’d have something to spur me on. I am going to write a new list for 2017 writing goals which will be next week’s blog post!

How about you? Do you write lists or make plans? What do you hope to achieve in 2017? Did 2016 go as planned or did you have things go wrong or veer in other directions, like I did? Please feel free to comment and share!

 

Book Promo Plan (Getting my arse into gear)

~ ChanAtkins ~ 3 Comments

It’s about time I made a proper plan.

Now, I’m not really a plan kind of person. I will freely admit that I do not have the remotest touch of OCD or perfectionism of any kind. I am by nature a messy, laidback, go with the flow kind of girl. I don’t need all my picture frames to be straight on the wall. I don’t need my books organised in height level on the bookshelves. I don’t mind a bit of dust here, a cobweb or two there, or sticky fingers on the windows and walls.

But when it comes to promoting my books, something needs to change. I need to sort it out. I need to work it out. I need a proper plan and I need to stick to it. Now, like I’ve mentioned before, I do all the right things, or at least I think I do. I pick up tips and advice all the time. I just don’t always find the time to follow through with them. I make great lists. I am a list sort of person. Lists are great, because without lists and remind-me notes, I would be living an even more haphazard life than I already am!

Just recently I signed up to a free on-line course by a successful author. Daily emails came through with tips on everything you can think of. Some of these emails contained links to join up to more courses, so I did, and one of these was a Book Launch course. No, I haven’t done it yet. I don’t have the time! I am sure I will get to it eventually, and I am sure I will make some lists of things I should be doing to promote my books. Maybe this blog post, this ‘plan’ will be the first step in me getting it together with all this. Well, I’ll aim for it.

So far, my approach to promoting my books has been sketchy, disjointed, back to front and upside down. I’m not joking. I have never done a book launch thing. Not sure how to. (Haven’t read those emails yet, remember?) I have never done the promo before the book release. Well, not really. Not unless posting on my Facebook author page counts for much, which I doubt. I don’t have a marketing strategy, and I don’t even know what one is. When I started all this two years ago, all I thought about was writing. To me, writing was, and still is, the most important thing. I learnt the hard way, like a lot of indies. Getting a book out there and patting yourself on the back for making a dream come true does not automatically guarantee you sales. Not even from friends and family. It is much, much harder than that. And I have learnt. And I have come a long way. Things have changed, and things are always getting better.

But! I still feel I am missing a trick. I see and hear other authors talking about their sales and I start to think; what the hell am I doing wrong here? How can I reach more people? I still feel like such a novice. It’s never too late for me to start better promoting the books I already have out there, but what better way to get my head around this marketing plan thing, than to start with a brand new book? In other words, try to get it right this time? So this plan will go into action as of now with my brand new book The Tree Of Rebels. This book won’t be released for some time as it is only in the third draft. But I can start the ground work now, right? Isn’t that what they say? And if it makes a difference I can then apply this plan to all future books!

So here is the plan. Tell me what you think. Tell me yours! Please feel free to comment. Let me know what else I need!

1) Write first draft (done)

2) Write second draft (done)

3) Send out to at least three beta readers (in progress)

4) Receive feedback/critique and start third draft – make better!(now in progress)

5) Fourth/Fifth/sixth – you know the score – until it is done

6) Arrange front cover (done)

7) Enter in competition to drum up promo (done already!)(noooo, this competition is now cancelled, so need another idea here!)

8) Write short stories inspired by the book to draw people in and get them interested in the whole book and post these on Wattpad and blog (in progress)

9) Post segments of actual novel on blog and share

10) Create Pinterest storyboard, make memes with quotes and images and share

11) Approach people for advanced reviews

12) Get the street team involved in promoting/sharing/reviewing in advance

13) Start a countdown to cover reveal on FB page

14) Sort out ebook and print book at SAME time so that both are available at the SAME time and people don’t have to wait ages for me to faff about getting prints done!

15) Announce a release date for both

16) Contact as many promo sites as can (free ones and pay for ones)

17) Do same with review sites

18) Create a release day event on FB and get other authors to guest and join in with q and a sessions and their own giveaways etc

19) Email everyone I know about release date and release event

20) Have release day event on day of release!!!

BOOM!!!

So ,what do you think??

Well, it’s an improvement on what I’ve done so far anyway. This feels more professional and organised, and when I forget what I am meant to be doing I can refer back to this post and remind myself. Thanks for reading, don’t forget to add your comments and suggestions re book promotions.