Have you seen that advert of a mum working from home? She is lying on the floor cooing at her baby and typing on her laptop. I bet you know the one I mean.
Well, I’m embarrassed to admit I believed this could be my life. My dream has always been to be a Novelist and I also longed to be a mother, so this image was singing to my heart, ”you can have it all!”
If I’d waited for my ideal writers life, I’d still be waiting.
Ally Aldridge
I’ve been writing stories ever since I could put a sentence together but for many reasons I put off seriously trying to get published until the prospect of children was on the horizon.
As soon as I got engaged in September 2009, I came off the contraceptive pill. I wanted it out of my system so I could get pregnant as fast as possible once married. We married in June 2011 but different factors got in the way of motherhood.
Our Wedding in Mauritius
During that time I wrote Hunted, Instinct and Drift (now published as Ocean Heart). I edited Drift, queried it, got some requests… but never an offer.
Late 2013, I had my son. He took over my life in the most glorious way, but it was obvious how unrealistic that image in my head was. My working hours were reduced but it didn’t enable any extra time for writing. If anything, I had less time. I was juggling a job and my parental responsibilities. Most evenings I was too shattered to do anything.
Once my son turned three, we decided we were ready to grow our family. Fortunately, I didn’t fall pregnant quickly because a few months later the company I was employed at went into administration. Expanding our family was put on hold until we got financial stabile again.
To my relief, almost a year later, we decided to try again and I fell pregnant straight away. My daughter joined us in the summer of 2018.
During this time I’d continued to edit and query Drift. I realised that I have to just make my situation work if I wanted my dream. That meant, I often wrote in the evenings when my kids slept. Sometimes they have worn me out in the day and I have to be okay with letting myself take a break.
I focus on celebrating what I have achieved and that I’m still making progress, instead of being frustrated I can’t do it as fast as others. I blog and schedule content on my mobile whilst my kids play. I make my social media posts on my phone often using Canva. In the smallest pocket of time, I can still work towards my goals.
Due to my new can do attitude, I’m now a published author. That’s right, in December 2021, I said yes to myself, and published Ocean Heart, book 1 in The Soul Heart series. If I’d waited for my ideal writers life, I’d still be waiting.
During lockdown, I’ve lost my childcare for my youngest . And, whenever the schools close, I’m homeschooling for my oldest. My employer has been pretty supportive and when I’ve been most impacted by the pandemic, I have been placed on Furlough.
These days I have even less time to write! But, I’m writing. Maybe not everyday, but I am getting there.
My message to you is, do what you can now because every little bit will add up. There’s nothing to lose. Worst case scenario, you have a fabulous novel all to yourself.
I couldn’t wait to show off my cover, and it was the first real piece of marketing I paid for. That’s right, your cover is an important part of selling your book.
Don’t judge a book by it’s cover…
A book with an eye catching cover will naturally attract more attention. It also should communicate what the book is about, so your ideal reader picks it up.
DIY Cover
It’s fine to make your cover yourself. But, if you do make sure you have permission to use any images, fonts, or any other element in your design. You may need to buy certain licences from the creator to use them.
If you want to design your own cover, check out author Elexis Bell’s blog post series on the topic:
Commissioning a professional can ensure you make the right impact. Check their portfolio and testimonies to see if they are right for your book. You may find it useful to check out my post on how I found my cover designer.
Cover Reveal Images
You will need to prepare the images for the cover reveal. My Cover Designer included a social media package which included social media banners, 3D Renders and an IG version.
Ocean Heart – IG Social Media Image
The 3D Renders have been so useful. I often add them to various social media posts I’ve made. I’d highly recommend them.
3D Render
I am fortunate that my cover designer created me 3D renders of my paperback and my eBook. However, if you don’t have that privilege, here are some ways you can obtain one.
BookBrushhelps authors to create images to market their books, including 3D renders. You can try it for free or pay for more options.
DIY Bookhelps indie authors create covers and has a tool to easily create 3D Renders.
Stock image
You may want to utilise a stock image within your social media post. Make sure you have permission to use it. Here are my favourite sites:
Unsplashis a resource of images by photographers made available for free.
I like searching for flat-lays I can add my book and text to.
Decide on a date
There is a lot of division on when to do your cover reveal. What it boils down to is personal preference.
One successful author recommend 6 months, or as soon as possible. Another, suggested 3 months at most, as they struggled to keep the momentum going. A lot of authors said only a month.
I started mine during the 1st week of September, with the full reveal on 7th September. My book was on preorder on 1st October, and released on 1st December. This worked well from me.
Cover Reveal Teaser
Cover Reveal Teasers
You should have already been talking about your book and generating interest. As your cover reveal approaches you want to incite interest. You can capture peoples curiosity with a partial reveal, announcing the date you will reveal all…
How I created my partial reveal pics…
I created mine by using a torn paper image from Unsplash.
I edited the image in a free app called Adobe Photoshop Mix . I cut out the part of the image where I wanted my book to show through.
I uploaded the cut out image and my cover to Canva. Canva is my favourite app for creating Social Media posts. It was here that I added the text.
If you have Book Brush, you can use their templates to achieve something similar. Personally, I prefer Canva as I have more freedom to do what I want. However, if you are stuck how to start, you might find Book Brush easier as the templates are specifically for authors.
Of course, you could achieve a similar affect by wrapping your book in paper and tearing a teaser rip in the paper. Then take a nice photo. You may still wish to use an app like Canva to add text.
Cover Reveal Team
You can ask friends, family, and/or fans to support you by sharing, liking, and/or commenting on your reveal pic. The more engagement the pic gets, the better it will perform in the algorithm.
Make sure the post is public and that you use hashtags your ideal reader follows. It’s okay to tag the book title but it’s unlikely anyone will be following that hashtag yet, so choose ones that describe the themes and genre of the book.
I was really fortunate that a number of my IG followers were willing to share my cover to their IG stories and I had loads of lovely comments on my post.
If you don’t have anyone to help, you can pay for a cover reveal service. On 1st Nov, I used Xpresso Book Tours for a Book Blitz and was really impressed by how many signed up. They also provide a cover reveal service which I’m sure would be just as good.
Cover Reveal Image
You need a nice picture of your book for social media.
Manually: Again, you can do this manually by taking a nice picture of the physical book.
Digitally: I didn’t have a physical copy so I created my image digitally.
I mainly searched Unsplash for flat lays, books, beach, ocean, mermaid, and any other theme relating to my book. I then edited it in Canva.
Once you have done the cover reveal, you must keep up the momentum until release (and beyond).
It’s a waste of your time to get everyone excited about your book and then let them forget. Once you’ve shown off your gorgeous book, got them excited, you need to keep reminding them it’s coming. Get then to sign up to your news letter, and you may want to have a preorder option.
It can help to set aside a day to come up with content ideas. Then, schedule the content ahead of time so you can space it out and consistently post. Here are some good apps for this:
Preview: This app is free and enables you to see how your IG content will look on your feed. You can schedule post reminders or to post automatically.
Facebook Business Suite: It’s free to use and enables you to schedule posts to FB, IG and Twitter.
Planoly: The free plan enables you to schedule to two platforms for free. I paid for extra features during my launch month in Nov, so I could schedule videos.
Hootsuite: The free plan enables you to schedule posts to FB, IG and Twitter. You can pay for more features.
Later: Allows you to schedule posts to Instagram.
IFTTT: A useful app for sharing posts you posted on one platform, to another.
I also regularly schedule my blog posts. There’s no reason you can’t do your cover reveal on your blog. You want to spread the word so why not on all your social media platforms.
Ocean Heart Gallery
The first image, with the shells, candle and yellow blanket is one I took of my physical book on my bathroom floor. The others, I created in Canva using images from Unsplash.
I added some of these to my Facebook group album and told my street team and blog tour team, they were welcome to use them. Having a bank of images of my book enabled me to keep posting fresh content to IG, in the lead up to my book launch.
I hope you found my cover reveal experience useful. I’d love to hear your thoughts and what worked for you.
A guess a good place to start is on how I found my Cover Designer.
How I found my cover designer?
She ran a competition on Instagram to giveaway one of her design packages to a lucky winner. The winner of the competition was author J.D. Groom who had tagged me.
I don’t think I entered because at the time I was still planning to get a Literary Agent. Here’s the cover J.D. Groom received as her prize (it included eBook & paperback).
I loved the cover! As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted this designer to do my book cover…, if I self published. I then discovered other covers I loved were by the same designer.
Read Behind the Book & Book Review for JD Groom’s Sorceress of Truth (cover by Original Book Cover Designs).
Read Behind the Book & Book Review for Kara A Weaver's Crown of Conspiracy (cover by Original Book Cover Designs).
Read Behind the Book & Book Review for Cassidy Reyne’s Agent Undone (cover by Originam Book Cover Designs).
Where to find cover designers?
I’ve seen people speak about sites like Fivrr but I’ve not used them. Here’s where I’ve found Cover Designers.
Instagram: There are lots of cover designers on Instagram. It’s an image based platform so an ideal place to show off their designs.
Facebook: A lot of designers also have a Facebook group. It enables them to share offers with their fans and build connections.
World Indie Warriors: Joining WIW is free. It’s a great resource. You can connect with other authors and get recommendations and check out the WIW brochure to discover cover designers.
You must love it: You need to love the cover they create. It is essentially the first tool in your marketing arsenal. It needs to be something you’ll be proud to flaunt. Look at their portfolio and decide if you like their other designs.
Genre suitable: Each designer will have their own style, and it will likely be more suitable for a certain genre. I write Fantasy and Original Book Cover Designs definitely has a flair for it. Readers of your genre will expect a certain style so you don’t want them to pass your book assuming it’s not for them based on the cover.
Budget: We all have to operate within our means. People will judge a book by its cover but there are affordable options. Many designers do pre-made covers and if you can find one that suits your book, you can save on the cost of a bespoke design.
Extras: If you want to do eBook & Print, does the designer do a discount. Will they do other formats like hardback or audio. Do they offer some social media images or 3D Renders. Do they offer other services as a bundle discount (like formatting or blurb writing, etc).
Recommendations: If you can find authors the designer has worked with it can be very insightful. You could reach out to ask about their experience. You can also see if they have continued to use the designer and if they recommend then to others.
Benefits of a cover designer
Professional: I love creating my own covers. I often make them in Canva and use them on Wattpad. But, when it came to publishing my book, I wanted the cover to be perfect. I wanted my readers to find it hard to tell it is self published. It had to look professional.
Dimensions: I went a little cross eyed when I tried to figure out the spine for paperback. The width changes depending on paper type and page count. Ingram does have a tool to help you work it out and you can use the template in InDesign.
Technical Skills: I don’t know how to use Adobe or any other fancy design software I’d love to learn it but I just don’t have time. Outsourcing the cover design to a professional was a massive time saver.
Marketing: As mentioned earlier, your cover is the first thing anyone sees of your book. It needs to be eye catching, genre appropriate, and you need to be proud of showing it off. If it looks nice, other people might show it off too!
Working with your cover designer
Quote: Firstly, you’ll need to reach out to your chosen designer for a quote. I liked that Original Book Cover Design’s has some packages on their website so I knew they were within my budget and had already started putting money aside for it.
Timeframe: A good cover designer will likely have other projects on the go. You need to tell them when you’d like the job done by so they can confirm if they can do meet your deadline.
The deadline will need to be before your anticipated release date. This is because you should market your book before you release it. This period is often referred to as your book launch. Mine was about 2-3 months.
You also need the files before release to upload to the site you are using to create your book. I used Ingram Sparks. You’ll want to order a proof to check it is printing right, so allow time for quality control.
Also, if you are doing a print version, your cover designer will need to know what size to do the spine. Your manuscript will need to be edited and formatted.
Ideas: You’ll need to tell the designer about your book and your ideas for the cover. My cover designer had me complete an in depth questionnaire. She then worked with me to create a cover I love for my book Ocean Heart.
It was a dream come true.
Final design: The first draft looked incredible. I gave myself a little cooling down period – it was crazy exciting seeing my book – to look at it critically. I then requested some minor changes which my designer made. I was in love. It was a dream come true.
I hope this has helped you decide on whether you want to use a cover designer for your book, where to look for a designer, and how to pick one.
With Valentines Day coming up, I thought it’d be fun to share some of the romance tropes that can be found in Ocean Heart, and possibly in Sky Heart. Warning: Lots of snogging Gifs!
Redfae Bookshop is my Affiliate Bookshop.org Shop Link. NB: This post contains these affiliate links…
Friends to Lovers
This is a favourite romance trope of mine because my husband and I started out as friends. For us it had a HEA, we have a beautiful home and two fabulous kids, and later this year we’ll be celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary. But getting together wasn’t easy, and it risked our friendship if it didn’t work out.
In Ocean Heart, Mariah is crushing on her BFF. It starts off as an unrequited love, but during the novel they deal with first kisses, jealousy, and a break up. Can they rekindle their romance, save their friendship, or do they need to move on?
Enemies to Lovers
Sometimes I don’t like the trope because I don’t want them to get together. It depends on why they are enemies but, I made it work in Ocean Heart. Check out the reviews of Ocean Heart.
When Mariah beats swim star Murray in a race, he doesn’t handle losing well. After behaving like an idiot, he starts to take an interest in her but she’s not interested. She’s heard about his reputation.
This is the one where the bad boy falls in love and changes his ways. I’m a sucker for this one as a fantasy, but in real life not so much. Bad boys are bad news and rarely deliver a HEA.
Murray has an Instagram feed of all his conquests and he’s not ashamed to brag about it. It’s why he’s so protective over his sister Kiely. He knows guys only want one thing, until...
Love Triangle
Some people really hate this trope. Eek! But, not me. Throw in more hot guys, more romances, more complications, and I’m hooked turning the page.
There are technically two in Ocean Heart. First up, when Mariah realises she’s crushing on her BFF Jace, he already has a girlfriend, Kiely. Later, when Murray takes an interest in Mariah, he attempts to draw her attention away from Mariah.
This is where two people are meant to be together. It’s common in paranormal romances, where a wolf imprints on their mate.
Mariah is a mermaid. She doesn’t know it, but when she accidentally marks one of the guys as her mate for life, then they are bound.
Fake Relationship
People fake relationships in books often to raise their status, or to get a reaction from someone else. In Out Of My League the MC accepts the deal to save face at a party where she catches her boy friend cheating, and in The Practice Boyfriend the MC strikes a deal to gain access to the elite parties.
In Ocean Heart, Mariah agrees to a fake relationship. Both parties have different reasons but united on one goal; to end a romance.
As a teen I loved a book called Ginger’s First Kiss by Janet Quin-Harkin. It’s the first book in the Boyfriend Club series where a group of friends pact to help each other get their first kisses and Ginger realises she’s into her BFF’s brother. I got it free with a teen magazine at the time called BIG. Over the years I have lost the book and it is no longer in distribution.
Both Keily’s BFFs have brothers, and both are off limits. It’s a rule the girls made. A rule Kiely is tempted to break when one of them offers to help her get over her ex in a way nobody else can.
This trope is so exciting. There’s all the danger of getting caught, and whatever the stakes are.
It’s not just her friends that Keily needs to hide who she is seeing, it’s also her over protective big brother, Murray. And later, she must keep it hidden from someone more dangerous than she ever imagined.
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This post is based on my personal experience with Evenstar Books. I choose the Cinderella package because, if I was paying someone to do it, I wanted it to be everything I could possibly dream.
How I found my formatter?
It was mostly via recommendations. So, other authors had used. I bought Sorceress of Truth by J D Groom and something I loved was the unique formatting.
I found out other authors had used this formatter too. And, she does logos. She’s also listed as an Indie Service in the World Indie Warriors brochure.
First up, I love that the prices are on her website. It enabled me to plan my budget upfront before I committed to self publishing.
When I was ready, Julia was easy to contact and ask questions. I reached out to her via Instagram, @evanstarbooks.juliascott.
Working with my formatter
I had to wait until my manuscript had its final edit. Julia does include a round of corrections in her price but you want to save that as a “just incase theres a problem” safety net.
I emailed my manuscript to Julia and my ideas. She then mocked up a few designs. I shared these in my Soul Heart Readers FB Group, to get their opinions on which design to go with.
Early drafts of Ocean Heart, I had included mermaid silhouettes as my chapter breaks. It was incredible to see Julia’s talent bring my idea to life and to a level I could not have achieved.
Choosing the font
Before cover design and formatting, I had never given fonts much thought. Julia gave me some options and explained why serif fonts are used for the body of text.
I then spent a lot of time (with the help of my 7 year old son), analysing the fonts in my favourite books. One of the reasons I wanted a formatter was so my book could stand next to traditionally published books and fit in. I wanted a font that was similar to what readers expected.
Julia was so patient with me going through the options. She understood that getting this right for the first book in my series was incredibly important. She created different mocks with different fonts so I could see how it all looked together.
I finally went with:
Heading Font: Alice
Body Font: Palatino Linotype
The formatted files
Julia then created my formatted manuscript ready for upload with Ingram Sparks and other popular formats I might need. I uploaded the print & eBook for distribution.
I then had to tell my Cover Designer the final page count so she could finish the spine for the print copy of the book.
Editing the files
One of my ARC readers, Cassidy Reyne, brought to my attention some mistakes I had made in my version. I made Julia aware of the mistakes and she corrected these for me, and provided the updated files free of charge.
Unfortunately, Ingram Sparks charged me for updating files. This was an expensive lesson I learned, but I won’t make this mistake again.
The printed book
Here is how the interior looks in the final version I chose:
I absolutely love it. Look at all that detail on the chapter page. The mermaid is simple and reminiscent of the one I used to use, so it’s very personal. The coral reef at the bottom is a nod to the cover designed by Original Book Cover Designs. The chapter breaks is a heart and a wave – what could say Ocean Heart more?
Is professional formatting worth it?
Yes! Being able to discuss my ideas with someone that had experience was very helpful. Julia also made sure I had the correct file types.
There’s a lot involved in publishing a book. Being able to delegate this task out freed me up to focus on other activities required for a successful book launch.
I wanted my book to fit in with traditional books, but Julia went one better. She helped make my book standout for all the right reasons.
I’m so happy with the result and can’t wait to work with her again for the rest of the series.
When I decided to self publish I knew I would need an editor. As much as I love writing and creating stories, English language was never my best subject at school.
I wasn’t the worst but I wasn’t top of the class either. Even if I’d been good at English I’d still need an editor, because people miss their own mistakes.
Once ready for an editor, I was over whelmed by how many different types of editors there are. For Ocean Heart, I used many rounds of Beta Readers, and two rounds of professional edits, and used a professional formatter.
The two terms are often used interchangeably as they are similar and it’s important to check what your editor means so you can ensure what you are paying for is what you expect.
CopyEdit: Unsually involves checking SPAG, readability, and clarity. They may highlight where it’s not flowing right.
Line Edit: Usually focuses on the content and use of language. They highlight inconsistent style, where pacing is too fast/slow, if you’ve overused a word (or repeating yourself).
If you can afford both, do it. Traditionally published books will have a copy edit, then a line edit. If you can’t afford both, don’t skip the copy edit. Your spellchecker is not enough.
How I chose my Copy Editor
Avery was at the top of my list as I’d already had such a good experience with her, but I did consider letting another pair of eyes run over my manuscript.
Budget: This was a big deciding factor. I had a limited budget and had to operate within my means.
Recommendation: Connecting with other indie authors gave me a good source of recommendations, many are listed in the World Indie Warriors brochure.
Expertise: All of them had experience as an editor. One was new, but had already built a portfolio and I’d attended a workshop she did which helped build trust. But, Avery was the only one that specialised in YA.
I went with Avery as she ticked all my boxes and was already familiar with my book. As she does writing workshops with teens, she also has a close relationship with my target audience.
My experience
I paid Avery for a copy edit. But, it definitely over lapped into a line edit. For example, she highlighted a scene where the emotional impact needed work, and another scene where my character came off rude towards her friend.
Through Avery’s comments I learnt a lot about my writing. Once I’d actioned her feedback, my novel was definitely better.
Unofficial Proofreader
I wish I could have afforded a line edit but my budget was maxed out. Avery didn’t get to see it again, as I went ahead with my next step – formatting. Once formatted, I sent it off to my ARC readers.
One of my ARC readers was author Cassidy Reyne. She did an unofficial proofread for me. I didn’t ask her to do it, she’s just sweet like that.
As I’d already paid Ingram to publish Ocean Heart (it was on preorder) there was a fee to amend the files. I paid it because I wanted my book to be as perfect as possible. I’m so thankful to Cassidy for letting me know.
For my next book, I will seek out Cassidy’s eagle eyes – if she has time. If not, I will consider getting a professional proofreader.
This year, I’ve really struggled with creating my goals. The problem is there’s so much I want to do but where to start?
I know if I have too many plates spinning, they’ll all crash. As I’m writing this it’s January 1st and I’m finally choosing my goals after agonizing over them for two weeks. And… I may still tweak them before this post goes live.
Personal
Skincare routine: Over the years, I’ve tried loads countless products and I’m constantly changing my routine. During 2021, I plan to finalise my skincare products which I think will benefit my skin.
I hate waste so I need to use up products I already have, and it also depends on money too. I’ve already decided on the products and look forward to sharing these with you as I buy them.
Visit Hollowtree Farm: Fear of the virus and lockdowns reduced the number of places we visited. We even had a gift voucher for a fun day at the farm and never got to go. They’ve said it doesn’t expire so this is a priority for 2021!
Selfcare: I never have time to indulge in things like doing my nails or a face mask. So, I’m planning to reward myself with products to support this when I hit my other goals.
Writing
Sky Heart: This is the BIG one. I want to finish book 2 in the Soul Heart series. But… there are many steps to a published book so this will likely take me all year.
Publishing a Novel To Do List
For accountability, I’m going to tweet my progress every Sunday.
Novella1: I’m working on two novella’s but I want to finish “Denny’s story” first. I’m thinking of using it as a readers magnet.
Novella2: This project will be on standby and only worked on if I’m waiting on stuff for the other writing projects. This is ”Luna’s story”. I’m still working on the titles of my novellas.
Ocean Heart: I have ideas to do something special in Mer-May. But, I can’t say more until I’ve figured out the details.
Reading
10 Books: Yes, it sounds low but when I’m busy on a writing project I only read a chapter or two a night making my progress very slow. 2020 I only just hit my goal of 12 books. ?
I do only record fiction books but I also read a few non-fiction books on writing. I’m hoping to review these on my YouTube channel this year, as well as other bookish content.
I will keep posting my reviews to my blog, Goodreads, Amazon, Book Bub, Litsy, if able to. I will track my reading goal on Goodreads.
Goodreads/Litsy/Book Bub/Book Sniffer: I’ve used Goodreads for a few years but never been very active. I hope to improve that and get better at using the other reading social apps. Which brings me on nicely to my next goal…
Social Media
Website update: I’m going to quarterly review my website content to check it is up to date. And, update during that month.
Shop: Okay, it’s not social media but it is connected to my website. I’m trying to create a shop on my website but struggling. I will master it! I mastered moving my website during my book launch.
Trial Canva Pro: I love Canva and been tempted to pay for the pro version. But now there’s a scheduled too. It would be incredible to have everything in one place.
I bought Planoly during my book launch so I could schedule videos and carousels on IG. There’s been a few occasions it hasn’t posted, so I’m tempted to try other schedulers.
Consistently Post: This went really well this year for my blog and Instagram. I want to continue it and add YouTube and Twitter to my goals.
Blog: Mon, & Thurs
IG: Mon, Weds, & Fri
YT: Tue (fortnightly)
Twitter: Sun
Newsletter: end of month (was every other month)
Followers/Reviews: I’ve seen people track their followers growth. I’ve never done this but it’s a good idea. I will aim for a 20% increase over all platforms.
2021 Followers Count
I’d love to reach 10k on Instagram as it opens up certain features but it feels still too far out of reach. Until I worked out what 20% was, I was thinking of aiming for 5k by June. I think 4687 is more realistic and although social media helps with marketing my passion is writing.
My Facebook page has been around longer than my group. The Soul Heart Readers group was created in October to help with Ocean Heart’s release. I’m hoping members will stick around for Sky Heart – I’ll need BETA and ARC readers later this year.
I use Parler the same way I use Twitter, and really like the platform. My numbers grew fast when I first joined but has now slowed down. It’ll be interesting to see which of the two platforms has more growth in 2021.
My YouTube channel is very new, I’m not sure how fast it will grow. I’ll also be posting to Odysee to try out the new platform – I’ve not used it yet. Over the Christmas break, I created a new Intro & Outro which I’m looking forward to using.
Reviews: I have a page on my website where I’ve collected my favourite reviews of Ocean Heart, and directed readers to where the original can be found.
Reviews are really important for a books visibility, so I will be tracking how many I have and – eek – remind my readers to leave reviews.
January Goals
Listing my goals for only this month looks like a lot. Eek ?
Personal
Record unboxing of Naturismo box (then start using products)
Writing
Sky Heart: Write 5k per week – track progress on Google sheet. Share progress on Twitter/Parler for accountability
Reading
Set annual reading goal on Goodreads
Finish reading Cinderella is Dead (paperback) – track progress on Goodreads
Finish reading Winter Trials (eBook) – track progress on Goodreads
Social Media
Update website content
Add shop to website
Blog & IG: Create January content & make a start on February content (aim to always be two weeks ahead)
Record, edit, schedule two YouTube/Odysee videos
Try out Canva pro – if scheduler is good, cancel Planoly
Spoiler alter! I didn’t reach 50k. I knew I wouldn’t because November is a busy month, mainly with birthdays galore, but add to that everything that goes with launching a book and it’s pretty impressive I wrote anything.
Maybe I should have passed this year’s NaNo but I just can’t help myself. I love the NaNo community.
Planning
The goal for NaNoWriMo is to write 50k words in 30 days. This works out to roughly 1,667 words per day.
But, what if you can’t write every day. What if you know on certain days it will be near impossible to write? And, 30 days is a long month if never allow yourself a single break.
I made a calendar in Excel and put Y or N depending on if I could write or not. I think counted the Y, and worked out I could write on 18 days of the month. This meant on my writing days, I needed to achieve 2778 words.
How It Went…
Week 1, went well. I had planned for a day off for for going live with Holly but joined a World Indie Warriors writing sprint afterwards. I also planned a day off for my birthday but decided to celebrate by writing This put me ahead of target. I needed to hit 13,890 words and had 16,306 words.
Week 2, I allowed one day off for my son’s birthday so it didn’t impact my goal. But, I also skipped two planned writing days, and that put me behind. I needed to hit 30,558, but I only had 26,725. This is why in my mid point check in I said I was behind, even though I had more words than NaNo participants that were on target, because I knew I had less days than them to write.
Week 3, was not good. I had planned a day off for going live with Nicola. But, I agreed to an unplanned live with Lyndell. Then, I decided to sell my house and had to tidy up (everywhere) for the Estate Agent (and then we decided not to sell). Then our boiler broke and spent a whole evening trying to create a bath warm & deep enough to bathe. This resulted in my not writing on four days I planned to – not good. I needed to hit 47,226 words, and I had only reached 31,473 words.
Week 4, was getting close to my release date and I wanted to give it my full attention. I only planned to write on one day and I did. This week involved pre-recording a radio interview. I also attempted to migrate my website myself from one server to another, and transfer my domain to the new location. It wasn’t smooth sailing. I also attended a full online writing festival, Indie Fire. I needed to reach 50,000 words but only had 38,643. I could have written some evenings but I didn’t want to burn out.
Week 5, is just the last two days of the month.
Was It A Success?
I didn’t get 50k words, so I failed NaNoWriMo. But…
My big goal for this year was to publish Ocean Heart, and I wasn’t going to let NaNo ruin that. If NaNo had distracted me from my launch then it would have been an epic fail.
When I set out to do NaNo this year, I just wanted to get back into Sky Heart. I achieved that. To me, personally, that makes this NaNo a success.
What’s Next?
I’m going to enjoy my book release week as I need to recharge and revel in this long awaited moment.
I will continuing working on finishing Sky Heart, book 2 in The Soul Heart Series. I’m hoping the first draft will be ready for Betas by the end of January.
Book 2 in The Soul Heart Series
I’ve created a work in progress cover, to visualise achieving my goal. Do you like it?
I’m also working on two Novellas. I’m hoping with these being shorter they’ll be quicker to get out & help with the wait for Sky Heart. I’ll announce those once I have a title.
All Author Cover Contest
Ocean Heart is currently entered in the All Author December 2020 Cover Contest. If you like the cover of Ocean Heart please vote for it.
I hope you were able to watch my recent series of Live Streams. The last one was earlier this week for my Ocean Heart launch party.
My Stream Team have been amazing, and we’ve had lots of fun learning Stream Yard together and getting to know each other better. But, I want to give you a chance to discover more about them too.
Stream Team
JD Groom
Jodie is an author with two series out and working on another. She has done Behind the Book interviews for Envy and Sorceress of Truth.
Holly is the Urban Fantasy author of the Shifters of Caerton series. You can buy the full set or individually. She’s also author of the Goal Setting For Writers book, runs a popular podcast called Unstoppable authors, and was behind Indie Fire.
https://youtu.be/SezLe9VSvrY
Nicola Hebron
Nicola Hebron is author of the YA Fantasy Romance series the Wiccan Romances. The first two books (Amelia’s Story and Sam’s Story) are already out, and the other two can be expected in 2021.
https://youtu.be/vpQ4SH8MgvU
Launch Party
I was so happy to share my launch party with these fabulous authors, that are part of the incredible supportive indie community.
https://youtu.be/Ho6J-PQTvvI
Congratulations to Aimee (UK) and Nora (International) for winning the Giveaway. Both have been notified and I am looking forward to dispatching their prizes this weekend.
Discover more about my fabulous team by visiting their websites.
I want to say thanks to my virtual book tour team who all made sure they posted something unique and meaningful to spread the word about Ocean Heart in the lead up to my release.
Virtual Book Tour Team
Here’s a little more detail about the team and links to their articles:
J D Groom
Jodie is an author with two series out. One is a collection of short stories (Book 1 is Envy), and the other is a Paranormal Romance series (Book 1 is Sorceress of Truth).
Ciara is an Urban Fantasy Irish writer with her debut series planned for early 2021. Sign up to her newsletter to discover more about her Upcoming Hybrid Wold series.
Laura is book blogger with a dragon. She’s often uncovering hidden gems by indie authors. Her site is packed with content on various genres, book reviews, and author Q & As.
Sarah is an Australian author of fiction and nonfiction books. Sarah enjoys travelling and her writing often challenges people to rethink their beliefs.
Cassidy is an author of Romantic Suspense novels, with several titles out, including her popular The Sentinel series. Check out my review of her book Agent Undone.
