Welp,
It’s been a while guys. I haven’t updated my blog in . . . almost nine months. Yikes! (Do better, S.J.)
So . . . what have I been up to? A lot, actually. Went on a really nice vacation, and celebrated nearly a years’ worth of holidays. I’ve been working more hours at my local bookstore. I now lead a first and second grade Wednesday night girls Bible study. Oh, wait, did you want to hear about my writing? Yeah, that’s probably what you’re here for. Okay, let’s dive into that.
Project Orange-Hope — Saving Hope
I found an editor. Her name is Cindy Ray Hale. She’s pretty cool. There are a number of hilariously silly mistakes that are no longer in the manuscript because she caught them. She was also able to help me raise the stakes of the book as a whole. I’m super grateful for all the things she has done to help get this book out into the world.
Speaking of editing, I read through this book FOUR times this year. You heard me. Four whole times. Cindy read through it three times as well. We in no way got rid of all the mistakes. That would be impossible. But hopefully, we got rid of the more embarrassing ones. Do me a favor please, if or when you get your hands on Project Orange-Hope and you see a mistake, don’t tell me about it.
The next big change Project Orange-Hope went through is that it got a cover and interior design. (More on who did it for me later.) This part is super cool. Be on the lookout on my social media for a cover reveal soon. I am super happy with how it turned out. The cover went through several big changes and the inside is super charming. I got a lot of control over the final project.
I’ve also been working behind the scenes on some marketing campaigns. This part is what I am most nervous about. I would like to say I don’t care about the money, and that’s mostly true. I’m not in the business to make a profit. I’m here to share my love for God and storytelling. But it does cost money to get a book published. (If you magically know how to do it for free I would love to chat over popcorn sometime.) But I would love to break even and make the money back I invested into this project. Some days it feels doable. Others . . . not so much. I believe this marketing will help to get the word out more, and consequently, sell more books. But it’s a gamble. And it’s not cheap. Fingers crossed and prayers sent.
The final thing I have been working on is brainstorming how to get my book into bookstores and libraries. Sure, the book may be produced and available online, but there is still the challenge of getting it on shelves people will see. I don’t have as much news to share here other than to say it’s a work-in-progress.
Also, this is a bit important, I suppose. Project Orange-Hope got a title reveal on my social media accounts. Project Orange-Hope is now Saving Hope. It’s not been a well-kept secret, but I thought I’d officially tell you in case you are as oblivious as I can be.
Okay, I think that mostly catches you up on this project.
Project Green-Future
I believe the last time we talked I was around the 59,000 word mark in this project. Right now, it sits at 89,932 words. So after another 30K words or so, I finished the first draft! But that’s not where I stopped.
Nearly immediately, I started a read-through of the whole book. I didn’t write it all in one consistent timeline after all. I needed a damage report. Turns out, the first draft wasn’t as bad as I thought. I actually enjoyed myself. It’s a nice feeling, to enjoy your own writing. As I read, I made notes on the timeline, the plot, the pacing, characters, etc.
After my read-through, I began making a list of all the things that would need to be fixed immediately. There was no way I’d get it all done in one draft, after all. I fixed several plot holes. I worked on the geography (the bane of my existence). I’ve got a rough sketch of a map, but I won’t be sharing it today. My drawing abilities are juvenile at best. I cut scenes and added to some. There was one point in the book where one scene did not connect at all to the following scene. That took a bit of work to fix. Finally, I completed what is now the second draft of Project Green-Future.
Midway through March, I sent the current draft to two close people in my life to alpha read. I have already heard from one of them and we had a nice long talk about the good and bad of the book. Praise the Lord, there was more good than bad. I’ve still got until the end of May before I’m supposed to hear back from my other alpha reader, but I’ve got plenty to keep me busy until then.
Project Blue-Wings
That other project I mentioned in the last blog, the one I was outlining but gave you no specifics on? That work-in-progress is Project Blue-Wings. I finished the outline for Book One and made a series map for the rest of the series. Did I mention it’s a series? The first one I’ve even tackled, in fact. So what’s a series map? It’s basically a TON of bullet notes listing all the major events in the books. It’s a little over 2,000 words right now. Book One’s outline is 5,496 words. Would you consider that in-depth or light outlining? I’ve heard of 500-word outlines all the way up to 20K.
I’ve had a lot of fun talking about this project with a few select family members and friends. It’s been a blast coming up with the worldbuilding and the lore. It’s a process, but I’ve got a lot of inspiration to pull from around me. I remember one day late last year, sitting in my friend’s truck outside of Buffalo Wild Wings, fleshing out some of the concepts and plot points. There’s nothing much like it. I’m pretty sure I’ll remember times like that forever. I finished the outline and series map at the end of last year.
As of last week, I have officially started the drafting process. I love getting to write the first draft. It’s one of my favorite parts. So far, I’ve added a scene to the prologue I had written last year and finished the first chapter. I hope to really get the ball rolling in the coming days, but we’ll see what happens as I juggle these other projects simultaneously.
Reading Life
I’m happy to say that my reading life hasn’t suffered from my busy schedule. Actually, it might be better than ever, minus when I was a little kid with hardly any responsibilities. I’ve made a goal to cut down on my unread owned books. I’ve got fifty-seven now. The plan is to read forty-four books this year. With seventeen books completed, I’m well on my way. Audible’s helping me a lot with that.
I’d like to get my unread stack to ten books, three audiobooks, and two devotionals. Forty-four was the magic number to get me there. I may have collected a few Nancy Drew books since then so I’ll have to read more if I want to reach my goal by the end of the year. I’m not mad about it though. These Nancy Drews are some of the older classic covers, and they were given to me by my older cousin. I was more than happy to take them off her hands. Some I had already read, so they just went directly to the bookshelves. Thirteen went to the unread stack. Oh, some of them were Hardy Boys books as well.
I’ve been considering writing short book reviews for the blog. Stay tuned for that. It might be a good idea that pans out or it might go nowhere. We shall see. Check out my Goodreads if you want to keep tabs on how well I’m doing on my reading goal. Here’s to getting to fifteen, and staying beneath!
LifeRich Publishing
I’m still open to the traditional book publishing route and agenting, but for Saving Hope, I’m going to be independently published through LifeRich Publishing. Basically, this means that I get the final say on things. I’m the boss. It’s pretty great. My least favorite day is payday though since I’m the one paying the bills.
I’ve been working with LifeRich since the beginning of the year, and I briefly worked with another publisher before that. Long story. They’ve helped me with the interior formatting and cover design, plus they are handling several marketing campaigns for my book. It’s nice to have a team to reach out to. It’s going pretty well, though there have been some potholes I’ve hit.
I’ve learned to course correct a lot over the past few months. Everything’s always changing, moving forward. I guess I’ll never be bored.
Short Stories
Right before I released my last blog, I also released a short story on my website. This was something I thought could be really fun: allow readers a taste of my writing style for free. And it is fun, but I couldn’t juggle it. I released three other short stories since I last updated the blog. You can still find them on my website. I have no plans on taking them down anytime soon.
My plan was to release one on the last Friday of every month. Now, I realize that if I want to make progress in my three other projects, this isn’t sustainable for me right now. I still have some ideas for short stories, but they’ll be more like random bonuses from now on.
Social Media
This beast is something I’m pretty sure I’ll never tame. Since we last talked, I’ve learned how to make a decent reel, I’ve made more posts, and my stories are becoming less irregular. I’ve had fun commenting and interacting with other readers and writers in general. I don’t understand the algorithm yet, but if I see you or you see me, I think that’s pretty cool.
Last week I posted once a day. It was a little tiring. The week before that I created several reels. Some have already been released and others are still to come. I’m excited to keep learning, but please be aware, I am not going to be “regularly posting” in the foreseeable future. I don’t think I could handle the mental strain. Social media is such a wonderfully toxic tool.
Hmm. Let’s see, anything else? I don’t think so. Then again, I’ve been rambling so long I most assuredly forgot something.
SO, to summarize:
Project Orange-Hope is going through final adjustments.
Project Green-Future is with alpha readers.
Project Blue-Wings is being drafted.
Reading Life is great.
LifeRich Publishing is a new journey and I’m interested to see how well it works out.
There are a few Short Stories on the website now but don’t expect consistent updates on those.
And my Social Media is on fire (with chaos, not really because I’m any good).
I think that wraps up today’s update. I’ll try to be more consistent with talking to you guys here, but I make no promises. Best of luck with all your writing, reading, or life endeavors.
See you on the next page! – S.J.
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