I honestly can’t remember what inspired me to write about Alexander the Great. I think it was probably the Horrible Histories song , but I could be wrong about that. I suddenly just wanted to know everything there was to know about him, and to put it into story form. I actually started the story before I knew much about him and his campaigns at all so, still in its first draft condition, the opening chapter of the book has some rather hilarious mistakes and inferences. By the second chapter, I had eased into the story a little more and, by the fourth chapter, the research was there to support it too. This story was unique among my historical fantasy because of the sheer quantity of research which I did for it. I devoured anything and everything I could find about Alexander the Great. There was a wonderful blog called The Second Achilles, and I spent hours poring over archived posts, reading as much as I could about different theories and stories about the great conqueror. The blog disa...
Anyone who writes is a writer but, in my humble opinion, you need to be published to be an author. This may be a contentious view to some, and I'm sorry if your offended. If it's any consolation, self-publishing counts. If fact, I'm writing this blog with self-publishing in mind.
When you publish your own books, you have to be on top of everything. Not only are you writing the book, you organise the editing, you organise the marketing and publicity. And don't get me started on distribution! It is enough to drive the most sane person mad!
So, to get all of this done, it's important to set yourself realistic goals. You could say you would get everything in a month, but you'll burn out pretty quick.
If you have a book you'd like to publish, here is my calendar for publication. There are a couple of points to make first, however.
1) I work best under pressure. If you don't, add on a couple of months to the timeline!
2) If you'd like to try and get your book featured in national channels like newspaper, you need to add at least six months onto the timeline. Personally, I don't worry too much about this because the chances of newspapers picking up a small indie book are slim to none!
So, with those in mind, here's my ideal timeline...
Five months before release
- Organise a cover reveal.
- Finish your final redraft.
- Write the book blurb
Four months before release
- Do a cover reveal.
- Edit, edit, edit.
- Write a calendar for social media book-related posts.
Three months before release
- Finish the final edit, but do a proofread or two. Listening to your manuscript is a good way to pick up any typos.
- Do a book trailer and upload it to Youtube.
Two months before release
- Organise online book tour through a blog tour organiser. I'm trying out several blog tour organisers this year and will be writing a full review at the start of next year.
- Complete a final proofread of your book.
- Format your ebook and paperback.
One month before release
- Upload final manuscript to Amazon and any other distributors/online shops you'd like.
- Write guest blogs for your blog tour.
- Register ISBNs for your books.
Yes, there are many more things to do, but this is a starting put for each book that we publish.
Don't worry if you want to change the timings, or take out a point or two. It's certainly not vital that you have a book trailer, but I find it great fun to make them!
What's New With Crowvus
It's going to be a crazy mad week, but Virginia has been working away on the Hooded anthology. It is now all set and ready to go, and it'll be available as a paperback on Amazon on the 31st March. It's already available as a ebook pre-order here.
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