190624 Writing Update

Had a non-working weekend. 

Did some research reading, spent a few hours doing the edits for book 2 of the Thousand Li. And that was pretty much it. Once I finish the edits, I'm on to book 8 of the System Apocalypse. I also spent a little bit of time rewriting the arcs for the System Apocalypse, so that there's a rough guide of the various themes that I intend to use. It looks like the 3rd arc will only be 3 books long with a total of 12 books in the entire series.

I think I'm definitely turning off Patreon for July. Maybe not August if I end up with enough chapters. But the tendinitis is pretty bad and refusing to go away so I want to take some time to let it heal and not force too much writing.

Overall, I think my idea of launching... 9(?) books this year was a bad one. As it stands, we've already launched 4 books and have 2 more in the editing stage that should be done. I (hope) to get at least one more book done for launch this year, but I think I'm going to call it done by then. That book (Rebel Star, SA 8) should be out towards the end of this year. 

That should still allow me to build up words for launch next year too in January/ February or so.

Business Talk

One of the things that happens when you launch / inform people of a book you intend to launch is that you see an increase in sales. In particular, you see a huge increase in sales / revenue on launch month. This is particularly true for series that have multiple books like System Apocalypse, but I see it even with things like Book 1 of the Thousand Li series.

As it stands, I'm looking at an August 1 release for First Step. I'm debating between a mid-July release for the Forest's Silence (when I get the book back from editors & proofers) or a September release. A September release means that I get a bump / continue the bump from August.

Assuming I'm writing slow for SA 8, I expect to release that in November or December. That leaves July, October & say December as low months. Which isn't horrible. But at the writing speed I have right now, I doubt I'll get another book out till at least February. 

That's not horrible and it's not as if I haven't saved my income from previous 'big' months for unexpected swings downwards.

But it does make me think that I need to plan releases a little better next year. If my hands get worse this year, I might have to slow down releases a little more. Which means I should seriously consider building up and spreading releases a little more. Like planning a 'big release every 3 months, rather than releasing soon after I've done. 

As patrons, that won't make a difference to you guys. You'll get the preview chapters long before anyone else in that case, sometimes up 3/6 months. But it does mean that I can regulate my income flow a little better.

Or I can ignore that and just release when things are available and save money. 

Isn't business fun?