The Road to Magic Arrives – It was a long struggle. Let me lay out step-by-step how I wrote and published my first fantasy.
The Road to Magic Arrives – Writing
Magic Arrives Back Cover
I track all my writing of all my books in a spreadsheet. Thus, I know the date I started and the date I ended my first draft.
Start date: April 3, 2023
That’s three years ago! No wonder it felt like forever.
However, this is the beginning of the planning document. I wrote down all my ideas as ‘vignettes’ and then I organized them as an outline.
The REAL first draft was: April 19, 2023
I had to organize six plot threads, one per chapter, for 54 chapters. Whew!
When did I finish? April 2, 2025 with 111,345 words!
The Road to Magic Arrives – Editing
I rediscovered the Book Progress app in Word Press and I decided to use it to report on the progress of my first fantasy book, with the working title, Magic Arrives. The app asked me about my writing method and I decided the Snowflake method is the closest to my process. I work on multiple parts at a time. Here’s the overall structure:
Story Structure – Done! April 19, 2023
Characters – Done! April 2, 2025
Scene List – Done! April 2, 2025
First Draft – Done! April 2, 2025
Editing – Content editing done January 26, 2026 (Line edit) – Dori Harrell
Proofing – Done! March 31, 2026 (copy edit) – Dori Harrell
Format edit – Done! ebook, paperback, hardback April 8, 2026 – Rik Hall
Cover and content assembled on Amazon – done April 26, 2026 – Illustrator Sean Flanagan
Publishing on Amazon
ARC Copy
The process looks like:
Upload your book contents in pdf format.
Upload your paperback or hardback cover spread (they’re different)
Review uploaded book for errors.
Schedule publication date. May 17th for Magic Arrives. The book is on pre-sale before that.Buy it here on Amazon:
For the ebook, the process is:
Upload your ebook contents in eps format.
Upload your front cover for the ebook icon
Review uploaded ebook for errors.
Schedule publication date. May 17th for Magic Arrives. The book is on pre-sale before that.Buy it here on Amazon:
The Road to Magic Arrives – Story Structure, the Series
So far I’m 100% complete on the Story Structure phase. I’ve captured my plot for this book, and the next two books in the triology.
Have a preview of the spines of the trilogy here.
Magic Arrives
Magic Wars
Magic Rules
Your Part
First, join my newsletter. I’ll give away free copies and discounts to my subscribers. Click here to join.
Next, beg, borrow, or buy a copy of Magic Arrives and read it.
Zombie Turkeys front cover. Click to get a copy! Sam Melvin, an underachieving e-reporter from a small town, changes forever when he meets turkeys that won’t stay dead. You can shoot ’em, chop ’em, burn ’em—they come back stronger. The undead plague of poultry spreads uncontrollably, rocking the whole country. . .
My 7 Year Journey as a Self-Published Author–What did I learn? What were my mistakes? What worked for me? I’ll tell you all about my last seven years and how I sold 3,500+ books.
My hopes and dreams were that everyone who bought Zombie Turkeys would buy my other books.
How’d that work out? About 43% of those who bought Zombie Turkeys bought the other books. Not bad, but not great.
But later on, the .99 lead in helped me. I’ll tell you how below.
I was pumping them using Amazon ads and in person sales and my newsletter. But I wasn’t getting rich. Nor was I breaking even. But I was having loads of fun.
My Undead Mother-in-law
My Undead Mother-in-law back cover
Blurb:
My mother-in-law’s a zombie. And she has anger-management issues. What ticks her off is when people don’t treat her like a normal human being—with glowing red eyes and super strength and speed.
Zombies charge first, ask questions later. Middle-aged, overweight, and undead, Diane Newby leads the paranormal privateers against criminals and corruption. Sailing to trouble spots too sensitive for the US government, with zombie strength and regeneration they beat bullies into submission. Aided by zombie turkeys, corgis, and bulls, vicious criminal geniuses fall before them
Not everyone like zombies, not even funny ones. But everyone likes superheroes. One of my author friends specializes in middle-grade books, Paul Maitland. He said there was a dearth of books for that age group. So I made my four main characters are in 7th grade.
My daughter is disabled and drives an electric wheelchair. She asked me to write a book with a flying wheelchair. So I did, Secret Supers.
My main character is Jeremy Gentle, in an electric wheelchair with cerebral palsy, just like my daughter. But he gets telekinesis and can make his wheelchair fly. And his super-powered friends.
After completing 7th grade and cleaning up crime in their town, the four friends go to a coaster park for summer vacation. Too bad their worst enemy is also there and out for revenge. Find out more inVillain’s Vacation.
Secret Supers in Space audiobook cover. Click to listen.
But that’s not the end of their summer vacation. They become bored and their parents send them to Space Camp. They get more adventure than they expect.
So I have two series. Both start with .99 books. Why?
During the COVID-19 pandemic, I had my best year for sales. I couldn’t sell as much in person, but there were tremendous sales online. I think the .99 price invited a lot of people to try my books.
Zombie Detective cover
But these six books aren’t all I’ve done. I inserted Zombie Detectivein between Zombie Turkeys and My Undead Mother-in-law. Then I wrote Oops! Tales of the Zombie Turkey Apocalypse, my short story collection. I put all the wacky ideas in it I couldn’t use in my other books.
Oops cover final medium
My 7 Year Journey – My Non-Fiction Book
Finally, I wrote a book in another genre which I’d never done before: Bible helps. The Gospel Medley. Here’s what the book is about:
The Gospel Medley cover. Click to get
Are you curious about Jesus Christ? Do you struggle to understand the Bible? The Gospel Medley includes the four Gospels in a single narrative, faithfully pulling the text from the World English Bible. You are now able to read all the gospel as a single, easy-to-read story.
Each Gospel describes Jesus’s life from a different point of view with different details and insights. The Gospel Medley combines every word into a single perspective with all details and events arranged chronologically.
Unlike other harmonies, The Gospel Medley doesn’t put the four gospels in columns or rows. Instead, the text is integrated word by word into a smoothly flowing narrative. Further, each paragraph references the four gospels so you can read the original citations. You also get footnotes of all the quotes from the Old Testament, giving you the context of Jesus’s words.
For a unique perspective of the four gospels, read ‘The Gospel Medley’ today.
My Seventh-Year Anniversary as a Self-Published Author–how did I do it? How is it going so far? Hold onto your socks, because I’ll tell you all about it.
But before anything, grab a copy of my book for free. It’s free for 3 days, October 1-3 to celebrate my anniversary! Click here now!
On October 31st, 2016, I published this book:
Sam Melvin, an underachieving e-reporter from a small town, changes forever when he meets turkeys that won’t stay dead. You can shoot ’em, chop ’em, burn ’em—they come back stronger. The undead plague of poultry spreads uncontrollably, rocking the whole country. . .
Caterpillar forcibly retired me in October 2015. I didn’t want to rust on the pile of retirement, so I decided I would start writing a book. But I needed a topic. I wanted something light and funny.
We got a new turkey fryer and I tested it out. I brought in the fried turkey on a platter and said, “Imagine if this turkey came back to life!” Then someone said, “It’d be a zombie turkey.”
“Eureka! That’s it! That’s my book! Zombie turkeys! A whole apocalypse of them. It’ll be a parody of all zombie books ever written.”
My Seventh-Year Anniversary – What Happened Next?
I wrote about 48,000 words in November in the book for NaNoWriMo. Then I finished it in December. Then I edited it: six times over until March. I decided I needed an editor–and got her, Dori Harrell.
Then I decided to learn about publishing. I read about six books. I also took a writing course at my alma mater, Bradley university. Who knew point-of-view was so important?
I created a project plan for self-publishing. Then I decided to publish through Amazon, since it was easier and cheaper.
I went back and forth with my editor about six times. The novel was ready to publish, with 54,000 words.
Oops! I forgot to get a cover illustration! I needed one done and it was July 2016.
Text formatting–so simple–NOT! Readers expect books to be formatted a certain way. If you break the rules–like not starting your book on the right-hand page–you look like a rank amateur.
Which I was. But I didn’t want to look that way. I only got one chance to make a first impression. So I hired Rik Hall. He’s fast. He’s experienced. And he made my book in both paperback and ebook formats.
Finally I was ready. I uploaded my file to Amazon and ordered my proof copy. My launch date was set for October 31st, 2016 and ordered fifty paper copies from Amazon.
I was ready to launch. What happened next? Read my next blog to find out!
