As July draws to a close, it’s time for another literary check-in. Back in mid-June I had started the summer season with a checklist of things that I wanted to accomplish over July and August. I’ve been making my way through the list and have ticked a couple of things off so far. Here’s a summary:
1. Novel WIP#4, which is my supernatural/psychological horror story, is at 70,400 words. I’m three chapters away from the finish line, hurray!
2. I bought myself a great new Acer laptop yesterday (which was slightly above my budget, but it’s for writing/publishing purposes so it’s worth it!)
3. I have found Canva to be much more user-friendly than I had been worried about; pleased to say that I’ve designed my own professional-looking cover artwork instead of having to hire a graphic designer. Win-win!
4. I have decided to go with a distributor to enable my book to go wide. During the past few weeks I’ve been doing my homework – namely research comparing the different options (Bookbaby, Draft2Digital, Ingramsparks, etc) and watching YouTube videos by Indie Authors on how they did it. It’s feeling far less overwhelming than this time last month.
5. I’ve also been doing my homework re book marketing services and have found one within my budget who has had a thumbs up from at least one successful Indie Author I know. A trepidatious yes on this one.
As for the writing side, novel WIP#3 is basically finished and ready to be published. I’m lucky to have an amazing team of beta readers to read my final drafts, so I have no doubts about the quality of the manuscript on this particular book. Whether the theme is what may interest readers is another matter. But, if I could predict what an audience wants to read, then I’d be a bestselling author, wouldn’t I? Ah, but to dream!
Leilanie Stewart 