Tag: publishing

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My Sixth-Year Anniversary as a Self-Published Author

My Sixth-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.

On October 31st, 2016, I published this book:

Get Your Zombie Turkeys Laughter Sixth-Year Anniversary
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. . .

From Zombie Turkeys’ Blurb

So, what happened next? What happened before the publication?

In the beginning . . .

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.”

Only Three Days Left: Get Your Free Book My Sixth-Year Anniversary
A turkey who missed the free book offer. Click to get your free book.

“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 Sixth-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.

The Making of the Zombie Turkeys Cover

Fortunately, I already wrote a blog post about this process. Click the title or here to read it.

My Sixth-Year Anniversary
A cover draft. Click to see more.

Oh, I forgot. I also worked with my illustrator Sean “Fuzzy” Flanagan on my chapter icons. Read about it here: How we Made Zombie Turkeys Chapter Icons.

My Sixth-Year Anniversary – Format Editing

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. I set my launch date for October 31st, 2016 and ordered fifty paper copies.

My Sixth-Year Anniversary
My first copy. Click to get yours!

I was ready to launch. What happened next? Read my next blog to find out!

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Writer’s Block My Experience – This is why I don’t write more

What Do Readers Think

Writer’s Block My Experience: I’ve written eight books in seven years. It doesn’t sound like I have writer’s block–but I do.

I’ve been struggling to finish Secret Supers in Space for seven months. That’s the first draft—just 50,000 to 60,000 words. Usually, I get that much done in two to four months.

What’s my big problem?

Writer’s Block My Experience – What Is Writer’s Block?

It means you can’t or have difficulty writing. Duh!

A more official definition is:

Writer’s block—wanting to write and not writing—is a persistent problem that every writer (yes, every writer, even Stephen King) deals with, and one that has ended far too many writing careers.

The first thing I saw in my search

The last book I wrote in this series was Villain’s Vacation:

Writer's Block My Experience
Chapter icon from Villain’s Vacation

I got off to a flying start in November, writing for NaNoWriMo, the official National Novel Writing Month organization.

Here’s a chart of my monthly writing, so you can see what my writer’s block looks like:

MonthWords Written
November3,973
December0
January423
February0
March1517
April211
May (so far)0
Chart of my writing ‘progress’

Total? 6129 words in 42 hours of writing for 142 words per hour.

Pretty pathetic for a professional author, but I have an excuse: I was finishing two other books: 1) Zombie Detective audiobook (now published)

Andy Zach Newsletter Zombie Detective Audiobook Writer's Block My Experience
Audiobook cover – click to listen.

and 2) my first non-fiction book, The Gospel Medley. Believe it or not, this is at least the 20th round of edits for this book, over the 35 years I’ve worked on it.

The Gospel Medley Writer's Block My Experience
The Gospel Medley cover. Click to get

So that takes care of December through March. I can’t multi-task. What’s my problem in April and May?

Writer’s Block – the problem of self-publishing

I get easily distracted while writing. First of all, there is research. I’ll write and then need some fact, like “Where are there underground nuclear silos in Kansas?” This question arose for My Undead Mother-in-law.

Writer's Block My Experience
My Undead Mother-in-law, front and back cover spread. Click to get.

The same thing happens for Secret Supers in Space. What does the ISS look like? What is the capacity of the Dragon capsule for SpaceX? Where does SpaceX launch from? What is the curriculum for Space Camp? What is the daily agenda?

But that’s not all.

More Distractions

Every publisher and author needs to market your book. That doesn’t mean selling, although that’s what you want to happen. Rather it means telling people who might like your book that your book exists and is worth reading and WHY it’s worth reading.

This is a very important thing to do. You, as an author or publisher should do it every week, if not every day. If people don’t know about your book, they can’t buy it. If people don’t know how much they will enjoy and laugh at my books, why should they buy them?

So I joined Story Origin this year to market my books. That’s absorbed my time, every week, as I promoted my newsletter, books, and other newsletters and books.

I also have maintained Amazon ads, although I’ve cut my expense from $300/month to $50. I found a better way to advertise: through Free Kindle and Discount Books.

The Bottom Line – What Should I Do?

Give me your best and worst suggestions. Everyone who does so will get a free ebook of mine to read and review. Reach out to me any time at my email: [email protected] Or subscribe to my newsletter for all my blog posts and news, as well as free books.

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First Draft Complete: Now What? Andy Zach Will Tell You!

Happy Mother's Day

First Draft Complete: Now What? Andy Zach Will Tell You!

Andy Zach here to tell you what to do when you achieve your book’s First Draft Complete stage. First of all, celebrate!

First Draft Complete
Chipmunks celebrating. They’re key characters in ‘My Undead Mother-in-law’. Click to learn more.

Take a day or two off! Go hunting zombie turkeys!

First Draft Complete
Zombie Turkeys fly to escape to Zombie Turkey hunters

But you say, “Andy! I want to publish my book! Can I just ship my first draft to a publisher or editor or agent?”

Of course you can do that! They’ll be happy to take your money! But on the off chance you want to sell your book, you need to do more work. That’s what this blog is about.

First Draft Complete: My Editing Steps

First, these are my steps I’ve borrowed from articles I’ve read. You’re different and may need to/want to do this differently. But these are my starting points for my second draft.

These are the actual steps I followed for my latest novel Paranormal Privateers.

First Draft Complete
Andy Zach’s ‘Paranormal Privateers’ cover. Click to order

Paranormal Privateer Edits: The First Three Steps

Don’t worry: I’ve deleted spoilers out of these notes. I plan my editing before I even start writing.

  1. Read through, noting problems – For me, these’ll be comments inserted in my Word document.
  2. Add missing scenes, if necessary – This step, well as the next two, depend upon having a scene chart, as documented in my earlier blog post.
  3. Delete/combine scenes, paragraphs – The goal here is to simplify and clarify for the reader what is happening and eliminate unnecessary words. I had 98,000 words after the first draft.

Paranormal Privateer Edits: The Next Three Steps

4.  Rewrite 1st POV into 3rd. – If you write only in 3rd person point of view “he said, she said”, you won’t need this step. But I wrote several characters from a first-person point of view.  I had too many first-person POVs, in fact, so I had to trim this down.  The narrative becomes too confusing and the reader’s focus can be diluted.

5. Review character arcs: Paranormal Privateers has eight protagonists, five antagonists, and minor characters:  You need to check character arcs, their entries and exits. Are they introduced properly? What happens to them during their scenes and afterward? Do they teleport between scenes? What happens to them?

6. Update timeline and scene chart, detailed scene flow. See here for more information on this important chart.  Ask yourself,  Is this scene really necessary? Do the scenes fit together on the overall timeline?

The Final Set of Edits

  1. Read the book out loud. I’ve found this is the best way to find awkwardly worded sentences. I also find logic errors and wrong words that I’ve used.
  2. Look for passive words: is, were, was, am, be, been. Combine this check with Grammarly Free Version to find spelling and grammar errors.
  3. Review adverb use. Search for “ly”. Adverbs should be used sparingly, like salt.
  4. Read aloud again
  5. Finally, send the manuscript to my editor, Dori Harrell

What’s Next?

Do you think this is all that’s necessary for the next great American novel?  Nope! The first half of the editing process is complete. Now you must work with your editor to perfect your novel.

That’s it for now!  Andy Zach, signing out!

First Draft Complete
Get Your Ridiculous On! Andy Zach