Don't know what I am doing...

 Let's be honest here, I'm betting about 11 people will read this, and 7 of them will be bots. 

When it comes to crafting an excellent story, I'm your guy. When it comes to getting a following... not so much.

I honestly don't know how to do this. I'm going to try to learn how to market myself, but I have ADHD. From what I can tell, marketing is a LOT of consistent work, which is something I struggle with. Habits are not things I form. So when I'm told I have to post VIDEOS (I'm a writer and have no right being in front of a camera) 4 times a day... My brain shuts down.

Seriously, how can anyone do that? I can't think of that many things to talk about! And if I did, they wouldn't be interesting or apropos. Which I suppose brings me to the real issue.

I am doing this alone.

All those authors on BookTok, they have people. Either someone with knowledge/time is helping them, they have a team, or they have a budget. Or all 3. I don't. The rest are super-type-A people who scare me. Being a "content creator" is not something I've ever desired. If I was asked to choose between producing drivel but getting personal fame or producing good, meaningful work but no one knows I did it, I would choose the second in a heartbeat. I want my WORK to be famous. I don't want to be. Just knowing that people are reading something I wrote fills me with a sense of satisfaction and joy, even if they never know it was me. (That being said, I am not about to promote plagiarism. I'd rather have no name attached than someone else's.)

I looked up the cost of a marketing team and holy crap on a carp, I cannot afford that. We're talking 6 digits.

I have had great help from my brother and sister, and great help from my editor, artist, and publisher. But none of them have the ability to dedicate the kind of time I need to do the things I want to do. It means 1) I end up waiting for someone else while I sit in Limbo or start working on a future project, 2) I end up having to figure out how to do things myself. I am *truly* grateful for the work they've done, don't get me wrong. I couldn't do this without them. But I want to work at a faster pace than I have been. Making a Kickstarter campaign takes a huge amount of time and thought (which makes it so much suckier when it fails due to ad shenanigans and an election). That's time I could spend writing/revising/editing/reading. 

I'm working against the clock, here. I'm 43 now, and I've only got so much time left before my brain decides to self-destruct. If I publish 1 book a year, by the time I am finished with what I am currently working on, I will be 55. And believe me when I say I will never run out of ideas for novels. Good ones. I got started late and I'm scrambling to make up for all that lost time.

If all I do is write, no one will know my books exist to read them. If all I do is promote, I'll have nothing to promote. 

This seems to be a sucky pattern in my life. If I am given a position of authority or power, I end up faltering. As leader of my lodge, I had a ton of great ideas and got to implement none of them because I just couldn't get anyone motivated enough to actually partake. When I was doing my Eagle project, a parent tried to take over for me because the volunteers kept running off to work on my brother's project instead. I had to tell him that it was MY Eagle and I had to be permitted to fail. I recorded a "how-to-play" video for the Board Game Rundown which involved writing a script and working on the camera work and all sorts of things. I never got to see it because it kept getting pushed aside for other videos so the editor never got around to it. I had so many ideas for fun videos but I couldn't get anyone to *do* them with me. I have failed at *so many things* and I don't want this to be just another failure. I can't do it on my own, but I can't rely on others, either.

If I had the equipment and know-how, I'd have a little bit better of a chance. But honestly, what I need is someone who knows what they are doing and can do it in a timely manner. There's a big difference between posting 4 videos a day and posting 4 *good* videos a day. 

Being neurodivergent *really* doesn't help.

Another Campaign Done—Another Lesson Learned

The campaign for "Fate & Fortune" ended with a little over 200% funding (though there are some backers that need to update their payment methods).

It was only half as successful as "A Sinister Love." While that is certainly disappointing, at least it made it past the $1000 mark (which is where it pays for the art and editing). This means that I will need to sell it in person and possibly have a second Kickstarter later.

The deluxe edition is a bust, however. The cost of each book goes down depending on how many I order, but at 9, it will cost more to print them than I sold them for. I am going to have to order a lot of them and sell them in person or in future campaigns. 

I did not anticipate the election becoming an issue. However, a lot of authors have told me that it is messing up their campaigns as well. Let's just say that this election, and everything it has touched, sucks. I suppose this means that I will need to be aware of other major events that could mess up campaigns.

I also could not have foreseen the mess-up with the ads. In short, my ad account on Meta was suspended (through no fault of my own) on day 1 and I received no notice of it. I did not discover it until day 5. I'm not sure how to prevent this in the future besides checking all my ad sources on a regular basis. It was a perfect storm of incidents.

The feather/quill bookmarks were not enough of an incentive, apparently, for anyone to share the campaign on their social media. When I sold at NekoCon, people thought they were awesome, and I did end up giving almost all of them away. Perhaps they're just a thing that must be seen live to appreciate. I am going to have to do a lot more for the next campaign...

...which won't be for a while.

There's a lot on my plate besides sending out my newest novel.

I'm having a launch party for my first book on December 7th at the Culture Cafe here in South Bend, so I want to get the word out and see if I can get some sort of interest. There's a small chance I'll have copies of my second there as well.

I am going to take part in at least one anthology (and will be looking for more).

I have to start revising book #3.

I have to finish the outline and rough draft of book #4. (Not to mention numbers 5-infinity)

I have to figure out a timeline for the children's book.

I need ads up for A Sinister Love! I need to get audible to actually post it since they approved of it months ago.

I have several short stories I want to get printed.

I need to make certain my trademark goes through.

I have a video series I want to launch. The first one was already recorded.

I have 2 separate animation projects AND a pitch to work on with my brother.

And on top of all that, it's the holiday season, so there's already a ton to do. The 1-year anniversary of my father passing is coming up and I don't want it to go by without something planned.

So, with that, I must go prepare dinner and do household things. Tonight... well, I'll figure it out then.

I had a feeling there would be complications

Hello everyone!

I wanted to let you all know how my new Kickstarter Campaign is going.

I suppose I’ve been in a rush to get it published. After all, it’s my first! And I suppose I have this idea that if I can write more than one book a year, I’ll really be a professional writer. Well… PUBLISH more than one book a year. We’ll see!

I’ve already had to push things back, however.

The original plan was to start the campaign on the 4th of March and start felling the book on April 8.

Then I found out that we weren’t really ready for it. The video had to be worked on, the graphics, lots of logistics. It got pushed back to the 12th… then the 21st…

There are good reasons, though. A Kickstarter campaign is a lot of work! So is designing merchandise. And since I’ve been told that Monday are the best time to start a campaign, I keep pushing it back by a week…

And last week I had 2 birthdays in the family. My wife was traveling, too (she does that a lot). We have a new kitten. And now there’s Easter, which I am not at all ready for. On top of that, family is visiting! 

I don’t know what this means for things. I haven’t been able to push the book as much as I’ve wanted to. I’m still tentatively starting the campaign on the 1st, but I meet with my publisher tomorrow and we’ll see!

Publication has to be postponed because the printer hasn’t sent us the proofs yet, so I haven’t seen the final product myself! 

Work work work

I thought it would be a good idea to update you all on my current situation (even if most of you are just bots).

I have been hella busy.

• We have a new kitten (8 months) who took a while to acclimate but now he always wants to play and loves yowling at random intervals. However, he is freaking adorable and super affectionate.

• I have been teaching a bunch of junior high kids about writing! And not just "this is grammar" and "this is how you write a 5 paragraph essay" (though I did go over common grammatical errors yesterday), but how to write professionally. There is so much about writing novels that you simply don't learn in school. Hell, I didn't learn this stuff in college; I had to venture out on my own to teach myself. But no, I don't just stop with The Hero's Journey, Scene & Sequel (I formally petition we change that awful name to Action & Reaction thank you), or worldbuilding. I'm teaching them things like how you can't use any lyrics in your book without violating copyright, the different kinds of publishing, query letters, crowdfunding, how to give AND TAKE critique/criticism, formatting, etc. I want to teach them how to actually get a book published. My theory is that they don't teach you this stuff in college because most professors can publish through the university press or go through very different channels, so they simply don't know. I find it fulfilling, even if so far only 2 or 3 of the kids have actually turned in their assignments.

• The next two weeks, I am single-parenting it again. Doesn't seem like a big deal? Yesterday, I didn't get to sit down at the computer until 10 pm.

• But mostly I am working on Kickstarter. In case you were unaware, I am setting up a Kickstarter campaign to help fund my first novel (well, really, to help fund my career as a novelist). It is exciting! However, there's also a lot of learning, trial and error, logistics, planning, etc. In other words, work. I've got most of it ready (and I owe a huge amount of that to my brother (https://www.hixonart.com/) and sister for doing most of the graphics and teaching me basic photoshop skills.
  
  We'll be offering the books, of course, in paperback, hardcover, e-book, and audiobook formats (as read by me). I'm also making these Soul Stone amulets that I think look awesome! I have a crazy expensive tier for one person to take where they get to collaborate with me to make a character for my fourth novel (which is the sequel to the first and the one I am ready to start drafting). My favorite thing, however, are the bookmarks!
  
  They all feature Surli, a Siri-esque digital assistant for demons who has an attitude (not quite Bad Janet from The Good Place but it's a good starting point). One each bookmark, she has a snarky comment about what you're reading and I adore them (and her). "Some of these words are hard. For you." "You're only this far? Ugh, you're so slow." "Is this smut? Does Jesus know you're reading this? I'm so proud of you!" Each physical copy will get at least one.
  
  I've also got some pretty awesome stretch goals, I think. Now, I'm still new to this whole world of book collecting, so I don't have any upgrades to the books (but I likely will in future campaigns), but I do have an amazing artist who will provide more sketched to purchase as well as a full-color image (but we've got to raise quite a bit for that). Backers can also unlock some free short stories that I have yet to write, so they will be exclusive to this campaign, at least for quite a while.
  
  What's left? Well, I need to finish mastering the audiobook (mostly there), I need to get a PO Box, I need figure out the logistics of providing signatures, I have to fix the audio on my video, I need to finish the images (we're still working on the bookmark mock-ups), I need to submit it for approval, I need to start campaigning and spreading the word...

So, as you can see, I am a busy bee. And because of that, I will be signing off. Hope to see you all on the Kickstarter!

Updates and Scams and Kittens and Stuff

 Hello, hello!

Yes, it's been a little bit, but I hope you (all 3 of you, you know who you are) can forgive me. It's been busy.

First, I have been working to get this Kickstarter campaign for A Sinister Love off the ground. I'm making amulets I call "soul stones" because that's a thing in my book, but so far they all seem to get strange bubble-like patterns beneath the cabochon and I do not know why. It appears days later. I've been using mod podge, but I may have to try out an alternative, like UV resin. OR it might be the image not sticking right to the amulet. It's not a huge deal, but I want to be able to make the best product I can for you!

I've also been working on the audio for the video that will play. My brother and sister are putting together the video and various images. I finally got the voice over recordings from the actress I hired, but they were raw and needed to be mastered. Luckily, I've become rather decent at that if I do say so myself, on account of having to do it to my audiobook (which is a lot longer than 30 seconds). Somehow, I was able to remove all the mouth noises, background sounds, artifacts, etc. and put all of it together into one file (it's 35 seconds but close enough). Then I looked around for royalty-free music. I played one and it sounded good, it almost matched, so I deleted the first 5 seconds (it was a build-up anyway) and suddenly it fit the audio *PERFECTLY*. I was almost in tears. I love it!

My artist, Graziel (maybe I should ask if she'd like a character with her name in the book), has provided me several more pieces of art to showcase other characters. Now I just need the cover image, Surli's image, and images of the merch... then I think we can start throwing it all together! At some point I need to record myself to add to the video, but that's not a big deal.

The goal is to have it up by March 8th. Mark your calendars. (Actually, I would like to launch it on March 4th... but we'll see if that's enough time).

We also got a new kitten! He's a grey, medium-hair fluffball filled who is turning out to be full of affection and playfulness. It's just taken him a few days to come out of hiding.

I've been secretly teaching myself something that I plan on showing off when I meet with the family in April. I just have to make sure I've got it down pat or I'll ruin the effect.

We have the memorial for my father in April, as well as the total solar eclipse AND the release of my book (yes, I put them both down for the same day).

I've been tossing around an idea in my head for a tiktok series where I tackle fan theories or incomplete shows coming from a writer's point of view. I noticed that there is no shortage of fan theories (for everything under the sun), but soooooo many of them would make for a terrible show. Though I also think I could add that I have ADHD. See, it never occurred to me that I could highlight this as a reason to buy my book. Then I found this Youtube series called "How To ADHD" and wow... it's definitely worth watching, whether you have ADHD or know someone who does (and you probably do). The one that really got me so far is about rejection sensitivity and avoidance. As she started describing it, I started to realize that it explains SO MUCH about the choices I've made in the past, from my relationships to my schooling to my writing. It also never occurred to me that someone with ADHD may have *stronger* emotions than other people. I just learned to mask mine.

But enough about that. I wanted to finish this post up with a little story about this time I thwarted a scam artist.

Yeah. I know. Random.

(Hello? ADHD!)

---------

I used to work in a school district in South Carolina. I was their grant writer, but I was new and so they wanted to train me (which in the end didn't work, but that's a story for another time). They found this big seminar where some expert was going to give those of us who signed up a workshop and lecture about grant writing.

Well, they were supposed to send me a packet with information (like which building on the campus they were going to use, the itinerary, etc.). I kinda needed it. But they sent me an incomplete packet which didn't have the all-important information. So I called them up in California and got to someone who said they would send me the packet right away and told me which building and room it was supposed to be in. But, being the inquisitive researcher that I am, I started to look this up. Something smelled fishy (namely I had a piece of conflicting information). Well, the room *had* been set aside for the seminar, but the group putting it all together canceled their reservation with exactly as much time as they needed to get their money back (I figured that part out). The event space owners had no clue. MAJOR red flag. So I researched the lecturer. He had been quickly contacted by the group and asked to give a lecture about grant writing, but knew almost nothing else, not even that the reservation had been canceled. ANOTHER major red flag. Then I researched the group.

They had done this many times in the past. Their M.O. was to call local professors and get them to show up to give a lecture with the promise of pay (which never happened), make it look and sound all official by having pamphlets and a location and stuff, get a bunch of people to sign up, then cancel their reservation and pull out *fast*. I tried calling them again, but never got an answer after that first time. I wonder why. This left the professors hanging in the breeze and looking like they were responsible when a bunch of people showed up to a locked building. The professors never saw any pay from it, either. But the kicker is this—they had done this about once a month for the past 6 or so months, but after the lecture I was signed up to go to, their schedule massively ramped up to 1 or even 2 a week all over the country. 

I told the school district and called the bank to tell them about the scam. We were able to keep our $600 entry fee. And then I started sending out emails. You see, I managed to track down the location they were working out of. I no longer remember which agency or agencies I contacted with all the information I had. I also reported them to the BBB and began leaving scathing and truthful comments on every platform they had.

I don't know for certain that I shut down their operation, but I certainly did my best and would have made the cops' jobs easier.

Exciting news!

 As I'm sure I've stated before (or maybe I haven't), I have a tentative date for the release of my debut novel, A Sinister Love. 

April 8th! The solar eclipse!

I can't wait. It is exciting and daunting and nerve-wracking all at once. It may not be with a big publisher, but this is still a lifelong dream come true! 

But we're also going to do a Kickstarter for it! We have some pretty good ideas for what to offer you all, but it is going to mean a lot of hard work in a short period of time.

It doesn't help that this is the first time I'll have been on the other side of a Kickstarter campaign.

Here's a list of the things I need to do for it... or at least some of the things.

1- Get a video
    My brother will take care of this, but I need to get him all the information, a breakdown/script of what will be in it. I also need to get interviews in for the video, as well as sounds effects, voice actor(s), etc. I will need to do some research.

2- Make an outline of the campaign page
    I've dealt with plenty of Kickstarter campaigns as a host of the Board Game Rundown. We used to do a segment on what was new to crowdfunding, plus I've made connections with people who have run their own campaigns, both successfully and unsuccessfully. But this is the first time I'll be on the other side of the page. I'm looking at similar projects now to get an idea of what they do.

3- Images
    Part of getting the outline of the page done is figuring out every single image in it so I can assign these to my sister or others to put together for me. This not only means a mock rendering of the novel in its various forms, but of all the merchandise as well. Plus there are headers, stretch goals, and other miscellaneous images that must be made.

4 - Tiers
    Seems obvious, but it's not. Every KS has different levels of rewards you can earn for donating so much money. Offering too few can hurt sales, but so can offering too many. So, my current thought is:

• get on the mailing list
• get the e-book and some bit of merch
• get the audiobook and some bit of merch
• get a signed paperback
• get a signed hardcover
  
• book club tier

I also want to offer a really awesome opportunity for 1 or 2 backers willing to pay. But I'm not going to say what it is. 😜

4- Merchandise!
    As a wise culture once said, "Merchandising! Merchandising! Where the *real* money from the movie is made." Well I don't know about that, but it certainly isn't going to hurt. Plus there are a lot of things I can offer. At the moment, I'm toying with a few ideas but I need to narrow and pin them down. I also realized that one of my characters, Surli (a snarky digital assistant), is perfect for merchandising. Options include: Surli pins, Surli bookmarks, Surli stickers, Surli thumb drives, postcards, coasters, signed digital copies of the cover art, soul stone jewelry, heck even a Surli plush (squeeze it and it insults you!). 

5- Stretch goals
    Most crowdfunding campaigns do better if there are good stretch goals that are achievable. I've come up with a few that I am proud of. First, I have already asked my artist and she is more than willing to produce new art, so one or two of the stretch goals will be to break open new art prints as an add-on. She already did a second piece of art for the book, so one stretch goal might be to offer the choice between two different covers. Not only is more art going to be available, but with enough backers, I will offer non-digital prints of the signed art, even a metal print! Finally, with enough backers, everyone will get a free short story (or two) telling them more about the characters (I already have several in mind that I would love to write). 

6- Shipping and other logistics
    Boring stuff, but super important. I've got to figure out how to ship everything. I'm just one guy, so if this operation goes viral, I'll need to have a plan for how to tackle that. I need to be able to estimate shipping costs to the various parts of the world (if I can find an overseas press, that might help with a lot of it, but they'd likely still have to mail me book covers I can sign and then mail back to them). There are a lot of logistics to consider, include pricing, what pledge manager to use, timing, monetary goal for the campaign, etc.

7- Risks
    Everything carries risks, even if you don't see them at first. I learned from some good friends who have also sold books via Kickstarter that some risks just can't be anticipated. No one could have guessed that a worldwide pandemic would cause the price of both shipping and PAPER to skyrocket, for instance. Now, there are ways to mitigate some of this (for instance, not including the cost of shipping in the campaign, just an estimate, and having the shipping cost be applied during the pledge manager part to eliminate some of the time between estimated shipping and actual shipping). I can only cross my fingers that something doesn't happen that will kill the campaign.

8- Transparency
    I'm bad about updated as frequently as I should, but that would have to change the moment the KS campaign opens. The site would need to be transparent and truthful about timing, costs, shipping, etc. and I would need to keep the backers in the loop regularly.

9- LLC
    I'm not a businessman and I've never taken business classes. But it was brought to my attention that if I start offering a host of merchandise to go along with the book, it might behoove me to start my own business...

There's more, there's always more... and I'm already thinking towards the future.

We are kicking around the idea of having a second Kickstarter later (or just part of the KS for the next book). Having a full-cast audiobook would be awesome. I would love to offer a leather-bound, gilt hardcover with ribbon bookmark and illustrations throughout. Plus, I might be able to figure out some way to make an actual Surli, either an AI or some sort of Siri/Alexa modification. For a later KS campaign, where I have more than a month to pull it all together (and hopefully a bit of a following by then), I would have a second group of Stretch Goals—Social Goals! I've seen this used to great effect in the past. It would be some awesome stretch goal that is only unlocked when enough people fulfill a list of social requirements, spreading the word on social media while tagging someone (and maybe mentioning something related to the book), taking a picture of yourself with either devil horns or a halo and posting it online, etc. I even saw one campaign that included a bunch of puzzles to solve and those who solved them all got a free add-on (less "social" and more "get them excited").
Or, there's always the possibility of... a crossover with another IP...

So there you have it. For the next month I am going to be hella busy. I can't wait, to be honest, but it's still a bit intimidating.

Wish me and A Sinister Love luck! If you have an idea of some piece of merch you would like to see, post it in the comments below.

Getting Things Done

 Well it has been a busy time, as per the norm around here. And this is of course made all the busier with the advent of Advent/Christmas.

And yet, I managed to finish the penultimate round of edits (I think) of Novel #2. How do I do it?

Neglect!

No, really, it requires putting things into a priority list and being willing to either cut corners or leave something undone for a while. I’ve posted before about how much work I have ahead of me (through every fault of my own), so I won’t go into the details. But in order to do these things, I’ve hired a maid to clean the house (and the basement remains a mess more or less… for now), I find quick and easy recipes for dinner (fall-back recipes and crockpot recipes are great, as well as frozen food), and I set aside a time for specific things (having a time limit helps me with doing the essentials first). This last one I am still working on.

But it’s hard. I have a supportive wife (who works long hours but also helps with chores), and honestly, if I was single, I would likely be living in squalor. I am lucky that I don’t have to worry too much about money, while so many writers out there struggle to make a living.

I also have given some things up. TV has become rare. I don’t watch TV to unwind… I write or work on other projects. The closest thing I get to TV is watching youtube channels (science, late night comedians, or history typically) while I cook or do dishes. I used to roleplay online, but I’ve stopped that (and, if you are someone I RPed with, I apologize for disappearing). Once upon a time, I had a ton of hobbies and groups I partook in, but most of those have been put on an indeterminate hiatus.

And why have I given all these things up? I normally would never condone surrendering hobbies.

But being able to craft a novel, getting it ready for publication, improving a story through feedback and editing, working with artists…

It not only makes me happy, but it is deeply fulfilling.

I’ve always wanted to be a novelist. When I was a little kid, I wanted to be a substitute (everything, substitute everything) and a writer. When I got a bit older, I wanted to be a paleontologist and a writer (and when I say “older” I mean that one of the biggest reasons I’m not currently a paleontologist is because the university that had the program I was interested in never responded to my application). In college, I wanted to be an engineer and writer, then a technical writer and fiction writer.

So it shouldn’t be surprising how excited I am to be on the cusp of achieving my lifelong dream.

At the moment, I am working with the same artist on some supplementary art and eagerly awaiting my publisher to finalize the contract (hopefully in the next few days). I’m also recruiting my brother (a rather accomplished computer graphic artist) to help me with ads and promotional material.

Seriously, I’m so excited about this I’m showing random strangers I run into my cover art! If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to hold a physical copy of my book by Christmas. I might cry a little. Or a lot.

I think the next thing I am going to tackle is finishing the audiobook. I have the initial recordings done, but I need to make sure it is all satisfactory (no random cat meowing in the background, for instance), free of artifacts (pops and the like), and then meets the requirements of Audible (my low and high ranges are good, not the mid, and they require a certain amount of “silent room noise” before and after every track).

One thing I *could* use is a beta reader or two to go over the second novel for me. If you happen to be interested, leave a comment (no one is going to leave a comment).

Now I must go. My time limit for blog-writing is nearly up.

A Milestone

 BEHOLD Hixonites. I HAVE RETURNED from my cave of hyperfocus. And I bring tidings of joy!

I have finished the rough draft of my third book! At the moment it is a little over 50k words long. I was getting a bit worried there, but I’m sure it will get longer once I go through it again.

That means in 2023 I have written and mostly edited a book (my second, “Fate & Fortune”), written a children’s book (working with the author, my good friend Monica Marier, on the pictures for it, “Brian Buys a Brachiosaurus”), recorded an audiobook, written several small “bathroom reader” type books (rough drafts), and finished the rough draft of another book (Book #3, “A Date with Destiny”)! And it’s only mid-November!

As soon as my cover artist finishes and the formatting is completed, I will also be able to say that I published my first book! I’ll be a published novelist!

I cannot express how pumped I am about this, not to mention how proud I am of myself.

So, I have a month and a half until 2024. What shall I accomplish?

Here’s a list of things I could tackle:

• finish editing Book #2 and send it off to an editor
• hire a cover artist for Book #2
• get my website up and running
• make ads for Book #1 and figure out how to get them out there
• look into events where I can sell (probably author signings and the like—getting a table will have to wait until I have more products to sell)
• “master” the audio for my audiobook and figure out how to get it set up
• record audio for Book #2 OR look into Forteller and see how that process works and its cost
• figure out this whole “social media” thing to start getting my name out there more
• get some short stories into some publications to start getting my name out there more
• look into ARC readers (do I need them?)
• start writing Book #4 (which I’ve already outlined and am SUPER stoked about writing—it continues the story of Scribble and Paul from Book #1. It will be titled “A Sinister Hope”)
• start writing Book #4 (a creative nonfiction piece I’ve been trying to write for years. obviously whichever one I decide to write first will be #4)
• figure out how to link ads to Amazon in such a way that it increases my profits
• edit, format, and finish the bathroom readers
• write more bathroom readers (I’m planning a series of them that, who knows, might become a compendium)
• write and record music to play at the start and end of the audiobook

I clearly will not be able to do all, or even most, of these things in the next month and a half, so I will need to prioritize. And I have several other novels in mind that I want to get to after these, so from the look of things, I have my work cut out for me.

Oh yeah, there’s also Thanksgiving and Christmas, the Board Game Rundown, and family obligations. In addition, my father has Lewy Body Dementia (and probably Alzheimer’s). He’s currently in hospice and we do not know how long he has. For all the wonderful things happening right now, there are some pretty unpleasant ones, too.

Until next time, keep reading, keep creating, and have a happy Thanksgiving!

Back on Track

 Hey-o, Hixonites!

I’m proud to say that I have my cover artist working on my novel’s cover right now! It’ll take a bit, but that’s just how things roll sometimes.

I’m a little behind where I wanted to be (before Halloween) but I think I’ll be able to start selling by Thanksgiving. At least online.

Speaking of, I have so much to do for Halloween yet! I haven’t decorated or bought pumpkins or planned the party or figured out costumes…. I plan on hosting my wife’s department Halloween party dressed as Sweeney Todd and she’ll be Mrs. Lovett. We’ll serve meat pies (of course)!

But unfortunately I’ve been sick. This is the second week I’ve had something keeping me from doing the Rundown or really being myself. Last week, stomach issues, this week it’s a nasty cold that just won’t go away (it’s not COVID at least—I still haven’t had COVID). It’s been giving me headaches that have made it hard to look at screens.

Here’s hoping I’ll be healthy the rest of the year, what little of it remains.

Setbacks

Writing a novel is fun and I love it.

Publishing that novel is definitely a job.

In the last week I was supposed to get my manuscript back from my editor and have amazing cover art for it.

Instead, my editor needed an extension because she had to go to the hospital. On the plus side, she said that so far my novel is "brilliant." But it still means having to wait a little longer.

And this morning my cover artist canceled the contract because he is sick and cannot continue it. I will give them both the benefit of the doubt, as I think they are both talented and their work history is at a professional level. I am a bit concerned for the artist though; if he is sick enough to have canceled the contract outright and not ask for an extension, he could very well be seriously sick. 

I do hope they both get better soon. Hopefully I will be able to consider him for a future project.

But this does mean I need to find a new cover artist.

Now, I have a rather robust imagination. Apparently it is unusual to be able to not only hear your own inner monologue, but also "see" detailed, colored scenes as well as "smell", "taste", "hear," and "feel" them. This is a serious advantage when I am attempting to describe a scene, emotion, or situation. I can attack it from various angles, easily rewrite it, go as in-depth as I wish.
But for me it is also a disadvantage when it comes to art.

I don't think in *still* images. What looks good in my head might not look good on paper because in my head, nothing is static. I also default to "photorealistic" things; figuring out an art style is completely foreign for me.

What this boils down to is that I end up scanning through hundreds of examples/samples of artists' works and rejecting the ones I know I don't want. That's easy... the first go around. But then I have to do it again on the ones that are left, and so on, until I have it narrowed down to one. That part is not so easy, partly because I'm not set on any specific style. And it all takes time.

I can't take weeks to decide this time. So wish me luck. My busy schedule just got busier.

Yay Capitalism.

 Hello Hixonites!

Yes, I just came up with that term. You can all call yourselves that now.

I have been working hard to get this book done, though I'm working on other projects as well, and I'll be on vacation in a week so I'm trying to get done what I can before then.

As such, I thought it would be nice to finally utilize the domain name I've been paying for for several years now. I have a free site using Wix, and that's the same place I purchased my domain through.

What I find awkward is that I cannot use that domain, even though I'm paying for it, without upgrading from a free site to a not-so-free site. So what should cost something like $15/year will end up costing more like $219/year.

... yay.

Here's the rub. I want to be a successful writer, And making money takes money. I have no delusions that my debut novel will be some amazing, runaway bestseller or get any movie deals (but, honestly, it would make for an awesome movie or series). But I have to keep costs in mind.

If I sell my book at $15 and it costs, say, $7 to publish, that's a supposed net profit of $8. Let's take taxes out of that, assume 1/3, and that gives me a profit of about $5.33 per book sold. Now, there's going to be a cost to ship the book, most likely, and I don't know what that would be.
But now let's add in the cost of an editor and cover artist. For the sake of easy calculations, I'll estimate it all to $1200. Yeah, not cheap.
In order to pay for that, I need to sell about 225 books. BUT I also need to pay for advertising and I haven't looked into that, yet. How many more books must I sell just to break even?
Except now with this website nonsense, I wouldn't be breaking even. I'd need to sell at least 3 books per month to pay for the website.
If I go to a convention, I would need to pay for the table. Let's say it's $300. Just to pay for that table would require I sell 56 books.

I'm a new author, with a debut novel, no agent, an indie press, and minimal fame (if you can call 3.3k subscribers to the Board Game Rundown "fame").

Seems fairly obvious that breaking even with one book it not going to happen for a long time, if at all. I *need* to get more books and gain an audience. If I can sell 1k books online, I'd be cooking.

But all this ignores one, final, deadly calculation.

My value. I did the calculations. My first novel took a long time to write, probably about a year, give or take, if you only count the days I was able to write. And taking the time spent, that could've been 6 months full-time. But my second novel took about 4 months to write, but that wasn't full-time. If I wrote it full time it might have taken a month. That's ~160 hours.
If I want to make just $15/hour, I'd need to sell 452 books per month BEYOND what I would need to sell to break even.

This is kinda daunting and depressing, is it not? Writing has been my life-long dream. It was always in my plans, even when I wanted to be a paleontologist. But unless I write a LOT or make it big, there really isn't much money in it. I'm blessed that I have a loving, supporting wife who makes a lot more money than I'll ever make (I'd need to sell well over 1k books a month just to get close). And I do know and have met authors who earn 6 figures writing.

If I lived in a society that places human values over money, artists would get a stipend. But how do we do that? Well, everyone is an artist deep down inside. Instead of subsidizing oil and corn or throwing ungodly amounts of money at military contractors (and before you claim that we need to have a strong military and lowering their budget would make us weak, I'll have you know that the Defense Department is the ONLY federal agency that has NEVER passed an audit), we should just give everyone enough money to survive.
Some of us would be happy just having enough to get by, but most of us would want to earn more than that. However, having enough to get by means we can take risks. If I wasn't married to my wife, I would need to have a full-time job and write on the side, which is very difficult to do. If I didn't have to worry about having food and shelter from the elements, I would probably just write books because I know that if I fail, I'm not going to starve to death or end up on the street.

Sadly, we have decided that human value is directly tied to your income. By that rubric, I am worthless scum, for I cost a lot more money than I bring in. Forget the fact that I'm a stay-at-home dad who does chores around the house all day, volunteers at numerous nonprofits, and plays music for my church pro bono. According to capitalism, none of those things matter.

I like to think that they do. And so does art. Even if I touch just one person, I've made a difference with my writing. One of the things that keeps me going is the idea that my book(s) will be someone's favorite(s), they just don't know it yet. 

Editor Established!

I have procured an editor!

I am excited and I very much hope she is worth the cost. I'm also a bit nervous. But now, it is the waiting game.

Once she finishes, I get to go through all her notes and fix things. Hopefully that won't take too long. Then, COVER ART!

Of course... as I'm writing this, I realize now that I had intended to fix all those hyphens (- ) into m-dashes ( — )...

I thought I would give a quick overview of some of the ideas I have rattling around in here that I want to be made into books:

• An urban fantasy set in the same universe about a man trying to change his fate. (in editing stages as well)
• A sequel to the previous book. (currently writing)
• A sequel to my FIRST book. (been in the outlining stages for a while) which will bring in the previous two books as well.
• Potential sequel to that one.
• A creative nonfiction piece about my sister and having to deal with psychosis. (ALSO been in the outlining stages for a while, but I've got some research done on this one)
• A fantasy book/series about a dragon cursed to live as a human. (rough)
• A sci-fi about living on a planet that has been ejected from its star (rough)
• A tongue-in-cheek non-fic about adulting
• A fantasy series that I started writing ages ago.

So there's certainly not much need for inspiration as far as what the next book will be...

Welcome to Life

I know only a handful of people will read this (unless I somehow become extremely lucky and gain fame and notoriety that would put Beyonce to shame). I know I have a lot of work ahead of me if I’m going to start gaining a readership. I once had a good 80 or so people reading this thing you know!

But I’m going to do it.

It’s scary. I remember hearing someone say “you aren’t really afraid of failing, you’re afraid of succeeding.” Well, no, I’m definitely afraid of failing. I’m afraid that I’m either a terrible writer whose beta readers, friends, and family have all been lying to, or that I will become just another story of an amazing author kept down by his inability to market himself. But in a sense I am also afraid of succeeding.

I don’t know what I’m doing when it comes to marketing and self-promotion. I used to be internet savvy, back when Numa Numa was still a thing. Not so much any longer. I’m using a few guideposts while looking for more. But I know I have my work cut out for me. I know it will be a ton of work that I’m unfamiliar with and might not be good at if I am going to succeed. And if I succeed, what will that do to the family dynamic? Our schedules will become complicated.

As an example, I am also one of the co-hosts of the Board Game Rundown on youtube and we’ve earned over 3.2k subscribers as of this writing. We’re talking about turning this gig into a paying job with hours and everything… which will mean writing and marketing and publishing and selling will all have to happen on off hours.

If I am successful, life will get complicated.

But I think it’s time for that. I’m 42, never had a real career, always had a hard time holding on to jobs (apparently have some self-respect is not something employers actually want), and have been spinning my wheels for 10 years. It is time I got my professional life started. I might be a late bloomer, but by God I’m going to bloom.

Paying the Piper

So I've done it.

I pulled the trigger.

I finished removing passive voice from my story and have inquired 7 editors for quotes.

I got 5 of them back.

Now I am sad.  One of the problems with starting out on a venture is you have no idea what a good ballpark figure for expenses is.

I was told by some that they have good editors who will look at work for $200. The last time I got a quote from an editor (nearly 10 years ago), it was around $500. These professional editors, however, are looking more like $1,500 - $2,000 for my 100k novel. 

This starts to become an issue in terms of pricing.  I do not want to take a massive loss on my first book (well, more than I have already but I will explain later). I have a publisher lined up who will charge $7 per copy, pretty much wholesale.

Let's assume I sell this book at $15.

I have to include any money I spend on advertising and other costs. So let's say in the end I have about $5 profit.

I will need to sell 300-400 copies of my book to break even from the editing alone.

Ouch.  For a first book from an unknown author, that is ouch.

On top of that, there's the cost I haven't included...

my own worth.

I have to take into consideration what my time is worth and how long it took to write the book. It's a $/hr thing.

Granted, my first book took a while, but my second took much, much less time. As I continue down this road, the time will likely decrease which will increase my $/hr. 

I eagerly await the estimates of the final two editors, and I will continue my search. There may yet be a decent editor out there who will charge a lot less.

But at least one good thing came out of it. One of the editors, whose specialty is my genre, said the sample I gave her was entertaining. That's got to count for something.

Impatient

 Am I impatient?

Yes.  Yes I am.

We all are, aren't we? We all want that instant gratification that modern technology promises, that we've all grown accustomed to. But while looking for a literary agent, instant gratification is just not happening.

All that I've learned says that I need to take the time to gain exposure in the community.

I've won Daily Deviation from DeviantArt 3 times, but I doubt agents care too much about that.

I used to write flashfic every Friday, but it means nothing if it's not published in a magazine.

I disliked Twitter before it was purchased on a whim and run to the ground by a puerile, spoiled manchild. Now I hate it. I hate that it's gradually turning into an extremist echo-chamber. I hate that everyone in the industry uses it so much.

I tried to be involved locally, but COVID shot that down.

The Board Game Rundown is growing and I love it, I'm excited for it. But it's not exactly a writing forum. I've also been absent from the discord. It's not that I'm not interested, I just have so much to do and don't know what to say.

So my dilemma is, do I start getting myself out there now while I look for agents, or do I wait to look for agents until I've gained some exposure?

I am impatient. So I will attempt the former. But I'm going into this guns blazing. Twitter, yes. Short stories for magazines, yes. Articles for BGR, yes. I might even check out Goodreads. And this blog? I used to have a readership, now I must build it from the ground up all over again. At one point I was writing a story one chapter at a time here. I think I might start that up again.  Then there is HixonArt. My twin brother is a rather good digital animator, but he is never satisfied with the stories he comes up with. He has asked me to write some for him, and we've already started. We are both happy with what we've come up with, and I cannot wait to see it transition into reality!

The most likely reason I feel impatient, other than the fact that it's taken so long to get things in order, is that I am close. Those last 100 yards to the finish line can feel like a mile.

Hitting My Stride

 

I'm terrible at making good posts. I don't use pictures because I don't feel I should be bothered. I rarely edit them. And so far, posting has been few and far between as it is.

It's been like that for A LOT of things in my life.

There was a point where my basement was torn up and basically unusable, I'm forced to deal with a child with encopresis (look it up) which included a hospital visit, my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, I was spending time going to my sister's house hundreds of miles away to prepare a house for my mother who will be *very* ungrateful for all the work we've done, I was busy with the freemasons, the house was a disaster...   The list of things goes on and on and on. Truly, I could continue for paragraphs about how insane things have been. This is just scratching the surface.

A lot of that was due to COVID. It really messed things up, physically, psychologically, etc.

So I decided enough was enough. I was 40! And I've accomplished none of my goals!

At some point in the last 2 years, I became fed up with incompetence. I decided I would no longer coddle those who did an unsatisfactory job. This, however, included myself! Nay, it was mostly about myself. So I started taking steps to improve my life.

Step 1: Get my ADHD under control. 

I've had it since I was a kid, but I'd never properly educated myself about it. So I did. It was eye-opening to finally connect certain behaviors and understand what was really going on. If you want to know more, check out my article about it on the Game Talk Network. One of the things I learned, though, is that ADHD is highly treatable, and it had been ages since I took medicine for it. So I went to my doctor and we tried out a few until we found a medicine and dose that works for me.

Step 2: Get my depression under control. 

While dealing with ADHD, my doctor realized I was also suffering from depression, and had been for quite a while. This did involve medicine as well, but it also involved finding a therapist. The first one was not a good fit for me. We got into political arguments and she offered no insight or help. The second, though, is a very good fit and I like her a lot. It helps to have her break things down, even just to have someone to talk to about things.

Step 3: Get in shape.

I've always been an active person, but my relationship with gyms has been on again, off again. Part of the problem is that I have NO IDEA what I am doing at the gym. This is where not putting up with incompetence comes into play. I hired a personal trainer. He knows about general fitness, as well as strength-building, stamina, agility... This summer will mark 1 year with a personal trainer. I've gone from doing 0 pull-ups in my entire life to being able to do over 12 in a row. I have gained strength, I look better, and my knees hurt a lot less.  Oh, did I not mention that I have arthritis? Pretty severe arthritis, in fact. I could barely climb stairs. Last week, I used a single leg to slowly sit and stand, 3 times each leg. There are other benefits. Being fit improves your focus, your confidence, your mental acuity, and your immune system. 

Step 4: Stop pretending I am what I'm not.

I'm not a plumber. I've never laid tile. I have no idea how to do electrical. I have no interest in learning these things, either, yet I've been youtubing it for years. No more! I hired someone to take care of my floor. I will hire someone to get rid of our ridiculous amount of dead leaves (we are literally in a forest of massive trees). I may even end up hiring a maid to help keep this house clean. These are things we can afford, and they will free up SO MUCH TIME AND STRESS. Yes, they can get expensive, but it is worth it for me.

Step 5: Get back my time.

One of the biggest problems I've had is not spending my time wisely. I roleplay online, play video games, watch tv and movies... being a gamer/geek takes a lot of time. Well I have almost stopped with video games altogether, TV and movies have been cut down drastically. I spend the time, instead, writing. To me, it is actually more entertaining and fulfilling to be able to work towards my goals and write my own story than watch someone else's story. Facebook and the like can get dangerous, so I must be cognizant of how much time I spend on social media. Online roleplaying has been cut down, but at times I feel guilty for abandoning my online friends. It will likely always be a balancing act there, one I'm bad at.

Step 6: Get my house in order.

This is the one I am currently stuck on. But because of all the other things I've done, it has been easier. I put in a system to help with dishes - and often this means paper plates. I was tired of my dishwasher never getting things cleaned, so I got a new one. We've replaced curtains we've hated since we moved in. We took off the terrible wallpaper in the office and painted it. Things are slowly getting cleaner and the house is gradually becoming "ours". But it is still a work in progress.

Step 7: Return to hobbies and prioritize them.

I am a creative person, not just in writing. I've had goals and hobbies that have fallen by the wayside. So I'm reigniting the passion. I'm trying new ones. I'm drawing, building models, playing guitar... and there are so many that I cannot do them all! So I need to prioritize, give them the time they need and give more time to those which are more important. My therapist says that this is actually quite important for my mental health, and I have to agree. Since I've picked up guitar again, I've been calmer and I get excited at the prospect of getting to play. Instead of watching TV, I'll transcribe a song by ear. I have plans for videoing and voice acting as well. It will mean improving my time management.

Step 8: Reconnect with my wife.

This is another one we are working on. Don't get me wrong - we're not in trouble or anything. We love each other and are loyal and happy. But a couple's therapist can help even strong couples, and we were hoping to get one. Time has been an issue (if you think I'm busy, I've got nothing on my wife!). We've been working to implement regular date nights. The last thing I want is to lose touch and for us to drift apart. Recent events have led me to appreciate her more. I'm hopeful that this all will lead to an even better relationship with her.

Step 9: Act like a professional.

Here's a tough one. I want to be an author with all my heart! But that means I will have to act like one. This means I need to start gaining an audience, to improve my social media presence, to spend real time looking for agents, to plan when to write, when to handle the other half of being an author, and when to handle the rest of life. I will keep doing what I can to work towards being a true professional, keep learning and finding tools to help.

Step 10: Adjust expectations.

No one wants to hear this! We all want to get what we want in all its glory without any compromises. I want to be picked up by an amazing, talented agent who gets my book into big stores and turns me into a bestseller with movie deals and the lot! And I can hope for that, but I need to be prepared for failure. How long do I look? How many agents do I try? Assuming I do not find an agent or publisher, what is my next option? Self-publishing. I am lucky that I have a friend and he is starting up an indie press, but I will still have to do almost all of my publicity and sales. It'll mean getting tables at events. I'll want artists, maybe crowdfunding or online events. In the end, I want people to read and enjoy my books, even if I have to do all the legwork myself.

None of this is professional advice and I've not researched any of this. All of this is just what I've done.
The result?

I just finished the first round of edits for my second novel. Unlike the first, which I am still looking to publish, this one was finished in about 4 months. I'm currently looking for readers, but I am STOKED that I've been able to write my story in such a timeframe! Not only that, but it has inspired me for more! 

The next step is to look for agents, but I in a few months I will be start my third book. I can't wait!

New Website!

Good morning/afternoon/evening/night!

Since I have been focusing on becoming more professional, I took it upon myself to begin setting up a personal website.  I went ahead and got a head shot, asked my brother to work on a few images for me, and started working on the layout.

Although it is still a work in progress, spencerhixon.com is now live!

Don't worry, faithful readers; I have not abandoned my blog.  Granted, I should be posting more often in it, but I will still be posting regularly here.  I have simply linked here from my website.  And I'll likely start putting my new website info in all the right places as I discover them.

However, I have more good news.

On June 1, 2017, I was given my third Daily Deviation award on DeviantArt.com!  It was for my Twinfessions Collection #1!  Amazing!  I now have over 400 followers over on DeviantArt!  So, I will likely start updating there was well as here.

Things are looking up!  But I've still got my fingers crossed that I will get the agent I really want.

Branding

So a good step in getting an agent is to get an audience first.  Agents like knowing the person has saleability.  In an attempt to get a larger audience, I have decided to do several things:

• Return to writing short stories.  I will be writing more short stories that involve my characters and genre, and sending them to actual journals like http://glimmertrain.com and the like.
• Create a website.  I need a professional author website to give agents and readers some place to go to if they show interest in me.  I'm still figure out exactly how to do this...
• Professionalize.  I need a headshot, icons, business cards, newsletter/email list, etc.
• Start a Patreon.  In case you aren't aware, patreon.com is a place where artists can offer special incentives to people in exchange for money.  I may very well use this to promote myself using unique short stories and other opportunities.
• Social Media.  I already have a facebook page (and now I have two), a twitter, a Tumblr, and a DeviantArt page. Now I need to start utilizing them better, to start using them more, and to spread to other forms of social media.
• Try out other forms of media.  I have an idea of making a trailer for my book, as well as possibly a short webcomic series to familiarize people with my characters and world.  Images could also be very helpful.

It is a LOT of work.  Whoever said being a writer was easy never tried.

How to get Published Step One: Don't Despair

I've spent the last several days reading up on just what it takes to be a published author.  Let me tell you, it's not easy. Then again, you knew that already, didn't you?

There are a lot of things that one needs to consider, not the least of which is "HOW do you want to be published?"  Do you want to go through a traditional publisher?  Would you prefer a smaller one?  Want to crowd-source your novel?  Print-by-demand and do all the work yourself?

The trouble I see with ALL of these approaches is the same: fat chance.

Fat chance getting the eye of an agent.
Fat chance getting selected by the publisher.
Fat chance that the publisher will give your novel more than 90 seconds to sell it to a distributor.
Fat chance the publisher will do very much to promote your book.
Fat chance that a smaller publisher will give you the audience you want.
Fat chance that you'll be able to find a large enough audience to successfully crowd-source your novel.
Fat chance that you'll be able to get your novel into any stores if you do it all yourself.
And no matter which route you take, fat chance you'll make any money at it.

Of course, fat chance is better than no chance.  If you don't try it, you have no chance at succeeding. And, of course, you can increase your chances by doing the right work.  Make a blog.  Use twitter.  Read the work of others.  Write short stories to promote yourself.  Learn how to write a synopsis, query letter, outline, etc., then DO IT.  Learn how to brand yourself.

Take the time.

But most importantly, don't despair.

Despairing is what I'm struggling against right now.  I just came off the high of having finished my novel and now I see that the chance that my work of the last 6 years will succeed is low.  What have I been doing with my time?  And I've never HAD to brand myself, so I don't really know how.  More research is needed.  I'm going to need to learn how to adjust my time between being a stay-at-home dad, a writer, and a promoter. It's hard enough just finding the time to WRITE while watching the kids. I've had to surrender most TV and some time with my wife. Now I have some major decisions I will have to make.  It is a lot of work.

I just want to make sure that it is worth it.

A Sinister Love

I have finally done it!  I have finished my first novel!  Hopefully soon, you will be able to purchase A Sinister Love and enjoy it yourself.

I started this journey about 6 years ago.  I've dedicated endless weekends and getaways, nap times and nights to the pursuit of this goal.  In that time, I've had 2 kids, moved, discovered that I have early-onset arthritis, and made dozens of friends. The rough draft was finished nearly 4 years ago, but the editing process has been grueling, fulfilling, time-consuming, thorough, and all-too-often side-tracked.  Despite this, I did not relent. Despite the self-doubt that I would ever finish or that it was any good, I pushed through.  Despite giving up TV, games, and really most of my free time, I pressed onward.

I'm stoked. I'm proud. I'm ecstatic that I'll be taking the next step to sharing my writing with everyone.

So, in the days, weeks, months (years?) to come, expect updates from me about my journey through the publishing process.  I do not plan to stop writing, but I do plan to split my time between writing and pursuing publication.

Next on my writing agenda?  I have a number of projects I want to pursue.  In no particular order, the first is a sequel (or two) to A Sinister Love, which is still being brainstormed and fleshed out.  Second, I would like to try to return to short stories once in a while.  Third, I have a creative nonfiction story about a girl with cancer that I wish to tell, based loosely on my family's experiences. It is my hope that these do not take me 6 years to write.

In case you want to know about how I wrote the story, I'll tell you below.  If you don't care, you can get off the train now and no one will blame you.  But I am happy you were here to share in my victory.

So there are a ton of blogs and books and courses on "how to write."  The topic is huge and includes grammar, style, plots, tropes, dialogue, and pacing. Because of this, I will not go into details here. I would say that the general rules I've gleaned are: 1) Know your audience. Write with them in mind, even if "them" is "you."  If you enjoy reading it, chances are someone else will, too. 2) Don't stop.  Write everyday. 3) Don't be afraid of editing. It is your friend.  Erasing huge swathes of your novel is just part of the game.  Think of it more like a chance to replace a flat tire with a brand-spanking-new one. 4) Don't stop. Write everyday. 5) Don't be afraid of critiquing.  Not only should you critique other works (it can really help you out as a writer, too), but you should be open to the criticisms of others.  That doesn't mean to make all their suggested changes; it's your novel, not theirs.  6) Read.

So, first, when I wrote, I tried to set aside an environment for it.  For me, writing in public helps keep me focused, especially if I'm plugged in to some non-distracting music. What that music is changes according to my mood. It ranges from the soundtrack to Koyaanisqatsi to Debussy to Metal.  But most of the time I had to write at home.  Keeping awake was a problem when at home, where being comfy leads to sleep.

When writing, I first outline.  Then I wrote the first draft.  That was the longest one to write, taking a good 2 to 3 years. It was not pretty.  I even had a section that just said, "COME BACK TO THIS POINT AND FILL IN WITH HISTORY." After that, I went over it again, filling in holes, reworking dialogue, and generally working at the grammar.  This, which I called my first draft, I was willing to have a select group of people read.  I did so and got some general feedback.  The second and third drafts were based partly on this, but mostly on my own feedback.

The fourth and fifth rounds of edits were the most important, I feel.  I started taking my work with me, two chapters at a time, to a critiquing group that meets locally twice a month.  It took me a year (I think) to get through the entire piece.  My fellow authors were able to bring a variety of opinions and points of view to my work, and in good detail, highlighting what needed to be fixed (in both small and grand scales) and what needed to stay.  I learned a lot from them, and got to critique their work as well.  The fourth round of edits was mostly addressing their suggestions, and the fifth round was going back and tackling some of the major changes I personally realized I needed to make to the story after hearing their feedback.  Then, after a brief read through, I made the last edits on Tuesday, April 25th, 2017.

...at least until a publisher or agent gets their hands on it.