I’m going to try to write a journal entry about becoming a self-published writer: every day for a year. My starting stats aren’t zero when it comes to writing, but close enough to zero when it comes to making money with it. In the past year and a half, I’ve found tremendous value in keeping a digital journal; so I see this as an easy evolution. It’ll also keep me more accountable!
Core starting stats
- Four published works via KDP (mid 2016)
- No promotion behind them, hence: $0/day in sale commission
- In various forms: about 185,000 words in the form of two novels, shorts and one work in progress
Secondary support stats
- Email list = 0
- 368 followers on Wattpad, 88.8K hits, 660 comments on one published novel from late 2014
- 1-2 contributions to reddit
- 36 prior crits on CC
Core starting tools
- Cheap PC (Dell Inspiron)
- Scrivener
- GIMP for photo editing
- Asana for task management and operations
Blog Approach
The daily update will mainly be a short list of the things I did that day that contributed to the dream! The no zero-days philosophy runs deep in this pursuit.
The production of words is the penultimate stat. The ultimate stat is ‘titles shipped.’ Everything else is supportive (including spending energy on Fitness, Diet, Finance, Social Life). Occasionally, if I feel enterprising, I’ll make a longer post about whatever’s pertinent!
Cadence
I’ll try to update daily, but the realities of life may make that less than perfectly achievable. Weekly, at minimum, is achievable.
Goal
To be able to look at the numbers post above in one year: July 31, 2018, and see what’s happened to them. If other people stumble across the blog and find it useful: awesome! I won’t be heavily promoting it beyond conversational mention and perhaps some forum signature links. My main audience is myself; secondarily: the community.
Background
I’m a 30-something digital marketing professional from Canada. Ever since I’ve been little, I’ve loved to write. It’s one of the few things that can really get me into flow state. I really enjoy worldbuilding and weaving plotlines, loosely planning a story and then letting my characters sink into it and surprise me with how they move through the place that I made for them. I work a regular day job that pays the bills and that I enjoy. I aim to dedicate between 20 and 30 hours per week of spare time writing words, shipping titles and doing support activities.
Writing Approach
After hundred of hours of research on the topic of self-publishing, a few universal truths resonate. Words are fuel, and shipping titles (i.e. self-publishing a book of some sort) is the pathway to making any sort of passive income. Quantity must not be sacrificed for quality, despite the artist’s passion. Yes, there are tons of marketing strategies and tips and tricks, more than a ton of approaches when it comes to writing well… but the universal constant is: words = titles = income.
I’m not writing and self-pubbing to get rich, I’m writing and self-pubbing to get to a place where I am making a living doing something I am very passionate about. That’s a good recipe for a happy life, so I believe! If I discover otherwise, this is where I’ll share the insight.
Today
- I wrote two new scenes for the paranormal serial (codename MIDNIGHT HANDS) at 1,400 words in 90 minutes
- Concepted for another 45, solving some hurdles re: the climax of the serial’s “pilot”
- Came up with this blog idea!
Post by Jordan Castle