BWFoster78
Myth Weaver
Though I want to continue to improve the quality of both my technique and my storytelling, I'm focusing right now on improving my quantity of work. By November 1, both my debut novel, Rise of the Mages, and a novella, Abuse of Power, will be up on Amazon (exclusive or wide release - haven't decided). My plan is to take a break from that series for my second novel.
Enter Repulsive, a novel in the superhero genre.
Some thoughts on the genre:
- It's not nearly as crowded as epic fantasy, but it seems to have a decent following. Looks like a category ripe for entry.
- The books in the genre lend themselves to the stories I like to tell.
- Books in the genre are a lot shorter than epic fantasy. I'm shooting for 65k for Repulsive whereas Rise weighs in at 120k.
So from not a single word published, how quickly can I get to hitting Publish on Amazon? I'm shooting for aggressive but realistic, meaning that the schedule requires daily butt in seat but doesn't require an unattainable work product for each day.
First thing, I'm going to abandon my pantsing ways and try outlining. The timeline below assumes a completed outline from the start.
- Start of production: November 2, 2015
- Rough draft: 10 weeks. 45 chapters (I write short chapters), 3 passes per chapter (expanding the outlined beats into an actual scene, making the scene readable, and final pass to smooth it out). That equates to 2 passes per day. That's the minimum I'm doing now. Probably averaging 2.5 to 3 at the moment.
- Content Edit: 4 weeks. The goal is to step away from the project for an entire month. Not even think about it until the editor finishes.
- 2nd draft: 7 weeks. Same number of chapters, but only 2 passes per.
- Beta Readers: 2 weeks.
- 3rd draft: 4 weeks. 2 passes per chapter but 3 passes per day average. Picking up beta reader comments are usually a lot more straightforward than content editor comments.
- Copy Edit: 1 week. I insist that the editor provide me with the edits as she works on them. That way, I can start my work with only a short lag.
- Final Draft: 3 weeks. I can pick up copy edit changes at a rate of 2 chapters per day.
- Proofreading: 1 week.
If all goes well, I can hit publish on May 23, 2016. That seems like too long, but the timeline includes 7 weeks of pure downtime. If I'm using those weeks efficiently, that's a big jump on getting started on Griffin (Gryphon?).
Any thoughts on ways to improve efficiency? I'll keep everyone posted as to if I'm able to hold to this schedule.
Enter Repulsive, a novel in the superhero genre.
Some thoughts on the genre:
- It's not nearly as crowded as epic fantasy, but it seems to have a decent following. Looks like a category ripe for entry.
- The books in the genre lend themselves to the stories I like to tell.
- Books in the genre are a lot shorter than epic fantasy. I'm shooting for 65k for Repulsive whereas Rise weighs in at 120k.
So from not a single word published, how quickly can I get to hitting Publish on Amazon? I'm shooting for aggressive but realistic, meaning that the schedule requires daily butt in seat but doesn't require an unattainable work product for each day.
First thing, I'm going to abandon my pantsing ways and try outlining. The timeline below assumes a completed outline from the start.
- Start of production: November 2, 2015
- Rough draft: 10 weeks. 45 chapters (I write short chapters), 3 passes per chapter (expanding the outlined beats into an actual scene, making the scene readable, and final pass to smooth it out). That equates to 2 passes per day. That's the minimum I'm doing now. Probably averaging 2.5 to 3 at the moment.
- Content Edit: 4 weeks. The goal is to step away from the project for an entire month. Not even think about it until the editor finishes.
- 2nd draft: 7 weeks. Same number of chapters, but only 2 passes per.
- Beta Readers: 2 weeks.
- 3rd draft: 4 weeks. 2 passes per chapter but 3 passes per day average. Picking up beta reader comments are usually a lot more straightforward than content editor comments.
- Copy Edit: 1 week. I insist that the editor provide me with the edits as she works on them. That way, I can start my work with only a short lag.
- Final Draft: 3 weeks. I can pick up copy edit changes at a rate of 2 chapters per day.
- Proofreading: 1 week.
If all goes well, I can hit publish on May 23, 2016. That seems like too long, but the timeline includes 7 weeks of pure downtime. If I'm using those weeks efficiently, that's a big jump on getting started on Griffin (Gryphon?).
Any thoughts on ways to improve efficiency? I'll keep everyone posted as to if I'm able to hold to this schedule.
Last edited: