I can get lost in the stories forming in my mind. What writer can’t?
Maybe that doesn’t sound like a bad thing, especially if you are a reader and really like an author’s work. I think a map of my brain, at least the creative part, would look like a nebula giving birth to a million stars.
But life is more than clouds, even ones that spawn new solar systems.
I’m glad I signed up for marketing course that I’ve been taking this spring. As painful as ripping my mind away from daydreams and plot twists can be, I have to do it to make use of the lessons. Sure, I’d rather write. What author wouldn’t? But I’d also like my books to do well and be enjoyed by more than me. Again what author wouldn’t? 😉
I’m hoping to gain a feeling of satisfaction by learning marketing similar to that I find when editing. Really. I actually love editing. It is like taking a fuzzy photo that has some nice colors along with a decent arrangement, and bringing enough of it into focus until the beauty is breathtaking. That is the goal anyway. And seeing my books do well and hearing back from happy readers… that is a significant reward too.
But it is hard to balance knowing I need to pay more attention to marketing when I itch to write. I’ve found myself stuck with my WIP open, ready to type away, but thinking I should really be looking for new sites to connect to or maybe tackle the quickly growing pile of edits that need to get done. The conflicting desires, or lack of them, can stall everything. Which is why I keep weekly goals on each. It forces me to pay attention to everything, at least enough to see some progress!
A book doesn’t get written by dreaming about it. Editing doesn’t happen by complaining about it. And books don’t sell by wishing it.
Maybe you are just as surprised as I am that I’m writing about marketing and editing (otherwise known as the publishing part of writing), when I thought I’d be talking about writing the last three chapters of the last book in Friends of my Enemy. Because I am. The end of writing this book, this series, can be counted in fewer than 10,000 words.
This week I will finish writing an entire series that will see release this year. This week the first book, Stories from the War, also went on pre-order at Smashwords and Amazon. Endings and Beginnings: I like balance.
It’s a big week. Maybe too big to really talk about.