Day 124: Some thoughts on preorders
Wow, because I skipped social media yesterday, I had a lot to do today online! Mostly just replying to people and stuff, but it still took more time than usual.
I saw a conversation thread on Facebook where I got some good ideas for some stories I wrote that I can repurpose as marketing tools, but I'll have to think about it. I want to weight the cons and pros, because it might be work without any return on investment.
When I was on social media, I was also reminded that I need to spend more time refilling the creative well each day. I haven't been as good about reading fiction everyday and I need to change that! I don't want to burn out on my writing!
I also thought last night about my release schedule and about preorder links. Originally I was going to release volume 1 with a preorder link to volume 2 in the back of the book, but that means I have to set a preorder date for volume 2. If I set it for 8 weeks later, that means when volume 2 releases I have to have the preorder link for volume 3 in the back of that.
But if volume 3 isn't finished when volume 2 releases, I'll have a preorder link for a book I haven't finished yet, and I don't like that. Having a firm preorder for an unfinished book is just too much stress for me, and might even make it mentally difficult for me to write the book.
Then again, having a deadline again might be a good thing for me, since I know I wrote fast when I was under contract. But it was also extremely stressful. So which is the better option, writing fast under stress or writing slower without stress but potentially having a really late next volume?
I'm inclining toward no preorder deadline, because of the lack of stress but also because recently my health hasn't been as reliable as it was when I was under contract. If I get hit by a bad migraine, I'm out for at least a few days. If I accidentally eat something I shouldn't, IBS will plague me for almost a week.
Hopefully my health will continue and I'll be able to release a book every 6-8 weeks. For the latter half of volume 2, my writing pace wasn't as fast as I'd like, but I was writing more hours a day and getting in 3000-4000 words a day. And for the month of September, even with some very bad sick days, I was averaging 2500 words a day for the days when I did write. So I know it's possible, God willing. Please pray my good health continues!
Also the 6 Figure Author podcast talked about how for the back of the book content, readers are more likely to do something if there’s only one thing to do, so it’s best to choose just one thing you want--leave a review, buy the next book, join my newsletter. For the first book, especially, I probably want to encourage them to write a review. For books 2 and on, I can ask them to sign up for my newsletter and then send an email when the next book is available. So a short preorder period for each book and no preorder links at the back of the book might be okay if I can get them to sign up for my newsletter.
I'm off to eat lunch and then get straight to work! I want to get more done on my Reader Magnet so I can start writing it soon. I don't want to wait too long between finishing volume 2 and starting volume 3.
***
I did more brainstorming on my reader magnet and it actually might be more like a short novella. So I treated it like a novel and did Snowflake step 1 (one-sentence summary), step 2 (one-paragraph summary), and step 4 (one page synopsis) for the book. Now I'm working on Snowflake step 6 (extended synopsis), which is detailed enough that it will help make step 8 (scene spreadsheet) and my blocking go rather quickly.
I also realized I don't have visuals for some of my characters, and I've found that having a photo of what I think my character looks like helps me write each character with a more distinct voice. So maybe tomorrow or Sunday? I'll search for photos for the characters that don't have them yet.
Writing: Time spent: 5 hours, 59 minutes
Writing: Total number of words: n/a (I didn't record my words while brainstorming)
Writing: Average speed: n/a
Time spent doing other writing-related business: 3 hours, 3 minutes
My takeaway for today: Because of my health and to avoid the stress of a preorder date, it might be better for me to do a short preorder duration and no preorder links at the backs of my books.
I saw a conversation thread on Facebook where I got some good ideas for some stories I wrote that I can repurpose as marketing tools, but I'll have to think about it. I want to weight the cons and pros, because it might be work without any return on investment.
When I was on social media, I was also reminded that I need to spend more time refilling the creative well each day. I haven't been as good about reading fiction everyday and I need to change that! I don't want to burn out on my writing!
I also thought last night about my release schedule and about preorder links. Originally I was going to release volume 1 with a preorder link to volume 2 in the back of the book, but that means I have to set a preorder date for volume 2. If I set it for 8 weeks later, that means when volume 2 releases I have to have the preorder link for volume 3 in the back of that.
But if volume 3 isn't finished when volume 2 releases, I'll have a preorder link for a book I haven't finished yet, and I don't like that. Having a firm preorder for an unfinished book is just too much stress for me, and might even make it mentally difficult for me to write the book.
Then again, having a deadline again might be a good thing for me, since I know I wrote fast when I was under contract. But it was also extremely stressful. So which is the better option, writing fast under stress or writing slower without stress but potentially having a really late next volume?
I'm inclining toward no preorder deadline, because of the lack of stress but also because recently my health hasn't been as reliable as it was when I was under contract. If I get hit by a bad migraine, I'm out for at least a few days. If I accidentally eat something I shouldn't, IBS will plague me for almost a week.
Hopefully my health will continue and I'll be able to release a book every 6-8 weeks. For the latter half of volume 2, my writing pace wasn't as fast as I'd like, but I was writing more hours a day and getting in 3000-4000 words a day. And for the month of September, even with some very bad sick days, I was averaging 2500 words a day for the days when I did write. So I know it's possible, God willing. Please pray my good health continues!
Also the 6 Figure Author podcast talked about how for the back of the book content, readers are more likely to do something if there’s only one thing to do, so it’s best to choose just one thing you want--leave a review, buy the next book, join my newsletter. For the first book, especially, I probably want to encourage them to write a review. For books 2 and on, I can ask them to sign up for my newsletter and then send an email when the next book is available. So a short preorder period for each book and no preorder links at the back of the book might be okay if I can get them to sign up for my newsletter.
I'm off to eat lunch and then get straight to work! I want to get more done on my Reader Magnet so I can start writing it soon. I don't want to wait too long between finishing volume 2 and starting volume 3.
***
I did more brainstorming on my reader magnet and it actually might be more like a short novella. So I treated it like a novel and did Snowflake step 1 (one-sentence summary), step 2 (one-paragraph summary), and step 4 (one page synopsis) for the book. Now I'm working on Snowflake step 6 (extended synopsis), which is detailed enough that it will help make step 8 (scene spreadsheet) and my blocking go rather quickly.
I also realized I don't have visuals for some of my characters, and I've found that having a photo of what I think my character looks like helps me write each character with a more distinct voice. So maybe tomorrow or Sunday? I'll search for photos for the characters that don't have them yet.
Writing: Time spent: 5 hours, 59 minutes
Writing: Total number of words: n/a (I didn't record my words while brainstorming)
Writing: Average speed: n/a
Time spent doing other writing-related business: 3 hours, 3 minutes
My takeaway for today: Because of my health and to avoid the stress of a preorder date, it might be better for me to do a short preorder duration and no preorder links at the backs of my books.
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