Three at a Time? Try FOUR!
You may be wondering why I didn’t have some pithy, or otherwise just brainless, Fun Friday post last week. Well, you see, the realities of being a published author with three books a year coming out definitely hit home this weekend.
Most published authors will tell you that at any given time, they’re working on three books—one that’s just been released (or is about to be released), one that’s in the final production stages (edits, galleys, etc.), and one that they’re writing.
I found that to be the truth back in January when I was working on writing a book, working with an editor to revise the manuscript I’d just turned in, and trying to get some buzz going for a February 1 book release (and I wonder why I missed that February 1 deadline to get the new one turned in).
Well, this weekend, four of my “babies” clamored for my attention.
In trying to get the first book of the next series written and revised, as well as keeping up with my freelance editing work, I’d fallen behind on some of my marketing for A Case for Love, so I spent several hours this weekend answering interview questions and getting some copies out to people I thought might be beneficial. Did y’all even know it was on the FIRST Wild Card blog tour last weekend? Poor Forbes and Alaine have definitely been the most neglected of my “children,” not getting a lot of my attention when it comes to marketing the book’s release. So I had to spend some time doing that this weekend.
In addition to post-release marketing for Case, I started working on a pre-release marketing plan for Ransome’s Crossing, due to be released June 1, 2010—uh, that’s only about two months away! I’m trying to figure out a contest (without going broke) as well as getting the word out about its release to some of my more nontraditional Christian fiction contacts—like those I have in the Jane Austen blogosphere. The marketing push for this book is necessarily different than it is for one of the contemporaries—not just because it’s a historical, but because the Ransome Trilogy is a continuing story, not a set of books that could stand alone. So that takes a little re-thinking about how to position it as I talk to folks about it.
The biggest chunk of my time last week and this weekend was taken with working on the edits/revisions of Love Remains. I’m hoping that we were able to push through to get the manuscript finished in time for it to still come out August 1, 2010, as planned! This has been one of the toughest turn-arounds I’ve ever had to do on a manuscript—with only three months to write it and then a couple of weeks for the edits/revisions, my stress level in working on it was higher than any other book I’ve written. But as I read back through it to read and respond to my content editor’s comments/questions and make the requested revisions, I started liking it again. Maybe by the time it comes out in August, I’ll be back in love with it.
And, of course, since I have a deadline of July 1 (actually, June 26—the day before I leave for St. Louis for ICRS) to get the first draft finished, I’ve also been trying to find time to work on writing Ransome’s Quest. My goal, starting March 15, was to average 1,000 words per day—which would get me to just under that 105,000-word goal by June 26. I wrote about 2,300 words this weekend (which aren’t reflected yet in my counter to the right), so I’m about 8,000 words behind where I should be for today (15,000 words). But I did spend time this weekend re-familiarizing myself with the crews of both of the Royal Navy ships as well as developing five or six important characters on one of the pirates’ ships.
So that’s what it means when we authors talk about working on more than one book at a time. Sometimes we have the luxury of being able to focus on just one book—hopefully just the one we’re writing or just the one that’s releasing—but most of the time, it’s more of a balancing act, like this.
Comments are closed.
KayeDacus.com 
Wowsers! I can’t imagine how crazy hectic that must be for you! I hope you get some “me” time in between all the hustle and bustle.
LikeLike
I’m glad to hear you use the term “re-familiarizing” in terms of characters that you, yourself, invented. It definitely makes me feel better about my having to look up character sheets during editing and in starting the next book!
Just don’t forget to BREATHE!!!!
LikeLike
I can’t imagine your stress! But this fan is loving all those books! =)
LikeLike
That sounds STRESSFUL! Maybe I don’t want success as a writer, after all. : )
LikeLike
Wow, so much work! I have to say, like Michelle, I’m loving all those books that keep my wish lists growing. I know it’s a lot of work for you, but it means a lot of happy reading for your fans. I do hope they give you a break soon, though. 🙂
LikeLike
Is that the cover for Love Remains? I must have missed that announcement. I LOVE that cover…. and the fact that the male model looks so much like Helo is just slightly awesome.
LikeLike
I haven’t gotten word on the final cover tweaks yet—there were still some things they said they were going to work on for this cover. But since it’s supposed to be out in just a little over four months, I figured it was okay to start using the version that’s “almost final.”
LikeLike
Its what’s being used by Amazon as well….. I double checked there. Like I said – I love it. If I didn’t know you I would want to buy it just based on the cover.
LikeLike
I like the cover too.
Wow, now that’s a wagonful of stress! Hang in there, Kaye. Hugs to you.
LikeLike
I love to cover, too! Sounds like you’re becoming an expert juggler! Good for you, Kaye. You’re in my prayers.
LikeLike
Speaking of covers, I noticed on Amazon that the cover for Ransom’s Crossing changed her gloves to white. I like it!
LikeLike
Is it wrong to say I’m looking forward to the day I have your problem? 😉
LikeLike
I’m with Jason! I know, I know, it sounds nicer looking in that I’m sure it is actually being there… but… I still look forward to someday when I get to have that problem!
LikeLike
Like Jason and Krista, I think I look forward to the day when I have your problem. But I also have to admit it scares the snot out of me to think about have those deadlines coming so close together amidst all the other stuff.
LikeLike
Speaking of marketing for A Case for Love:
http://ashokes.blogspot.com/2010/03/new-book-case-for-love-by-kaye-dacus.html
LikeLike
And you do it without appearing to break a sweat.
LikeLike