I had a goal of trying to get the first draft of Follow the Heart finished by the end of January and, as you can see from the counter on the right side of the page, while I made some progress (about 10,000 words), I’m still not even halfway finished with the book. So, what am I going to do to make sure I get this book finished by mid-March at the latest?

Well, first off, I’m cutting my cable TV service off. Really this is more of an issue of finances than commitment to writing, but it should help with both issues.

Second, I’m going to try to get my house organized and cleaned. One of the outward signs/symptoms of depression is the inability to keep house. And the resulting chaos only feeds the feelings of being surrounded and overwhelmed by chaos.

Third, I need to start getting more physical activity every day. I had to drop my gym membership (finances, again) so I don’t have that outlet, but there is a community center in my neighborhood at which I can use the walking track for free when the weather’s bad. Also, the first week or so, spending time cleaning/organizing the house every day will add to that activity.

Fourth, I need to print and re-read the first eleven chapters of Follow the Heart and try to connect and fall in love with my characters and my setting. Because right now, there is no connection, which makes it really hard to write.

Fifth, I think it might be time to take some stuff down off the walls, pull out my synopsis, and go to my old stand by . . . scene-card Post-its to track where I’ve been and where I need to go:

Sixth, I need to be writing an average of 1,800 to 2,000 words a day. And to do that, I need to be doing at least one 1k1h sprint every afternoon/evening. If I do that, I can definitely meet that mid-March deadline.

So, that’s where I am with my writing.

How are you doing with your writing goals one month in to the new year? Share your successes/challenges!

Have you ever heard/read one of these self-publishing gurus say or write something to this effect?

Avoid all legacy publishers. You can do everything they can, faster, and you don’t have to give away the majority of your income.

That’s a quote from this post from Joe Konrath’s blog where he proselytizes for self-publishing.

Let me take issue with a few things he says in this blog post that get under my skin:

I don’t see any noticeable sales boosts when I’m mentioned in some major periodical. The best media attention I ever received didn’t account for more than a few hundred extra sales. I’ve sold almost 700,000 ebooks. A few hundred doesn’t mean diddly.

Really? A few hundred book sales don’t “mean diddly” to you? Well, for a traditionally published author whose sales put me squarely in the midlist category, a few hundred sales are huge! Most traditionally published, midlist authors can expect to sell anywhere from between 5,000 to 20,000 books. A “few hundred” books to us represents a huge bump in sales and can mean the difference in whether or not we’ve sold enough to earn back our advances so that we actually start making royalties.

The majority of self-published authors would kill for a “few hundred” sales—because most self-published authors are going to do well to sell a “few hundred” in total.

Look at my Amazon reviews. I’ve got thousands.

Um, yeah. Because you got your start as a traditionally published author who, through the marketing/publicity efforts of your publishing house (and your own efforts, too, I’m sure), became a best-selling author with name recognition and a dedicated fanbase—from which you made a good living (I’m assuming)—before you moved into self-publishing.

But I didn’t make $140k in the last 30 days because of thankful writers, old fans, or a mention in the Guardian. I made it because I positioned my titles properly.

And you were able to pay to position your titles properly because you’re making money from already being a best-selling author and making money from your previously published books. The majority of authors, whether traditionally or self published, will never make that kind of money.

2. Focus, as always, on writing good books and presenting them in a professional way. The more, the better.

3. Social media and word of mouth are helpful, but you have to reach a lot of people before these become a factor. Less tweeting, more writing.

Totally agree with these two points!!!

And, back to the quote at the beginning of my post:

Avoid all legacy publishers. You can do everything they can, faster, and you don’t have to give away the majority of your income.

Um, no, actually, Joe, WE can’t do everything a traditional publisher can do (though if he’s truly making $140,000/month and believes everyone else e-publishing is too, then I can see how he could be under this misconception). Most e-published/self-published authors are lucky to make between $100 and $200 per month. Traditional publishers have so many more resources, so many more contacts in the industry, and so much more MONEY than we authors do to effect promotion of our books. Oh, and that’s not to mention the expense that self-published authors must (though some don’t) go to for professional editing, typesetting, copywriting, cover design, etc.

We can do it “faster”??? Not hardly. We could spend twelve to fifteen hours a day working on production and marketing and never make the impact that having a traditional publishing house behind us has.

“You don’t have to give away the majority of your income”???? How does he think we’re going to pay for all that editing and marketing and promotion that traditional publishers do for us after they’ve PAID us to write the book? Even traditionally published authors have to put some of our own money back into the promotion effort on top of the money our publishers are putting into getting our books out in front of (hopefully) the right people to try to increase sales.

The truth of self-publishing that most people considering it don’t get told is that once you go down that path, you’re going to find yourself struggling for time to write because if you really want to make money from book sales, you’re going to have to put hours and hours and hours of work every day into marketing. I still have to do this, too, even with the marketing efforts of my publishing houses doing what they’re doing.

There’s an old adage from the sales industry that is also true of the publishing industry: You have to spend money to make money. And in our industry, you also have to spend time to make money. The question becomes is how much are you willing to spend to ensure you have a quality product that will go a long way towards assisting your promotion efforts?

And don’t just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you’ll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you’re serving is Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn’t cover up bad work.
Colossians 3:23–25, The Message

If it’s worth doing, it’s worth taking the time to do it right.