Probably my most controversial post ever.
I have given away more than 5,000 free copies of my books. Do you know how many reviews I got out of it?
Months and years of toil are worth more than .99
Value your time.
One thing I have learned is: Don’t go back! Just keep moving forward. Fix it in post. I used to keep going back to the beginning, over and over, whenever something shifted in the plot of my WIP. Just keep moving forward and get through that initial telling of your story. You’ll find the further you get in, the more it changes. If you keep going back you’re just stuck in this constant cyclic cyclone of changing and updating and it’s so unproductive. Fix it in post. Just get it done. There’s no point in going back to the beginning before you’ve reached the end. You don’t even fully know your story until you’ve reached the end, so why go back and go back and go back before you fully know your story? It’s an incredible time-waster. The first time through, just let the story out.
When you first start writing novels you think a first draft is getting your story out and your second draft is cleaning up spelling and grammar errors. That’s not what it is. Your first draft is you pushing, dragging the story out of you. The second draft is making it make sense. The third draft is smoothing it out after you made it make sense. The fourth draft, for me, is leaving subtle clues for either that WIP or future installments in the series. The fifth draft is making sure my timeline is solid. Did I start the story on a Wednesday but two days later it’s Sunday? The final draft is prettying it up.
Momentum matters so much when you’re an indie author. If you wait, two, three….ten years between books, you’re going to struggle. If you’re writing a series and you take that long between books, your readers won’t trust you and they’ll wait until your entire series is out before they buy that second book. Also, I like waiting because this gives me an opportunity to go back and leave Easter eggs in earlier installments. My new rotation for writing a indie series is: finish first draft of A, write first draft of B, write second draft of A, write second draft if B, etc….write final draft of A, write first draft of C. When I’m ready to write the final draft of B, I’ll publish A. We all have our quirks. This is mine.
In the past I have tried to build up the hype AFTER releasing a book. We know that starting numbers are important. Trying to do battle against new releases with your five month old book, is an uphill battle. Start strong.
Whoever is cheering you on, let them help you. Don’t try to do it all alone. Don’t feel like you’re asking too much. There are people here who want you to succeed. Don’t be afraid to ask them for help.
I wish I had more of these convictions when I started out. I was impatient. I was excited. I made lots of mistakes. I hope you can learn from them. #mysterywriter #indiemysterywriter
Gwenn Wright 