2018 - The First Two Weeks
Posted 15 Jan 2018
science fiction
Wow.
Just. Wow.
I knew, at the end of December, that I felt very positive about 2018. And it wasn't just me. There seems to be this hum, this buzz, this vibe. I heard excited, unabashed whispers from everyone and every corner that 2018 is going to be big. My buzz increased with everyone I talked to. Whether artists, writers, cooks, actors, entrepreneurs, it didn't matter. Everyone knew 2018 is going to be massive.
And it really feels as though the people who shared that sensation with me are already making big things happen in the world and in their own lives. Everyone is putting action behind those brave whispers, and the fruit is already starting to fall for harvest. It's really, truly, amazing.
And I'm not just watching it happen. I'm part of it. I'm driving myself forward every day, propelled by the day before and tethered to the visions of myself in the place I want to be in the future. It's already on its way, and I'm on the move.
A sudden project I took on in December became my first book to market. KICKASS KETO: Your 28-Day Quick Start Guide To Health, Fat-Burning, & Weight Loss went live in digital on January 4, and the print book became available on Amazon on January 11.
Did I expect my very first published book to be non-fiction, co-authored with two of my closest friends? Not.at.all.
Did I expect the overwhelming, positive response from people - some of whom are buying the book in both digital and print formats for themselves and then buying additional print copies to give as gifts?
Well, yes. Because that's the intention I set when I sat down to work on the layout (which then became work on the meal plans, which became the shopping lists, which became additional text in the opening of the book). I wanted this to be exactly that book, for exactly those readers. This is the book I wish I had when I began keto three years ago. I set the intention, and I believed in it.
Which doesn't mean it magically happened. I worked for it, I worked hard, and I didn't doubt it for a moment.
While working on the KICKASS KETO book, I also finished another revision round on Salvage (Peridot Shift Book 2) and submitted it to Parvus Press to begin the process of getting it to market, aiming for January 2019. Not only did I beat my self-set deadline of December 31, I sent it in on the 29th. Is it perfect? No, of course not. While Flotsam was just about ready to publish (revised, edited, proofread, and laid out) when Parvus got that from me, the norm is Parvus will be a larger part of the journey to complete the sequel. I am giddy with excitement at the process ahead.
Momentum carried me forward. In an episode of The Hybrid Author Podcast recorded in December, Brian and I discussed all the kerfuffle that went down with Patreon, and my resulting decision not to rely on middlemen to manage subscription content. I knew that episode would air on January 11, so that set the intention for me to launch my subscription series, Phantom Traveler Season One, to be live when that podcast went live.
I set the intention, and even with the KICKASS KETO book publishing at the same time, I made my own release schedule. I didn't do it perfectly, but it's out, and it's happening, and I did it.
By January 11, I re-revised The Bantam: A Phantom Traveler Novella and got it up on Amazon. I completed set-up on the Wordpress Plugin which manages my subscribers, and launched Phantom Traveler Season One, set up my payment gateway, revised the first episode, and made sure it was available for any new subscribers who found me on day one.
I also, and this has little to do with writing, but also I feel it has a lot to do with my creativity, finally picked my fitness routine back up. I started a new workout program designed by my friend, and stuck to it last week, despite everything else going on. Another time version of me would have used all this business to push back the fitness, claiming I was already stressed enough. But in working out, listening to music with more driving rhythms than powerful lyrics, and in just taking a break from my constant work and focus, I find that I'm coming up with new story ideas everywhere I look. Everything is inspiring a new story concept in the past week.
Oh, and the same day that KICKASS KETO and The Bantam hit Amazon? I spoke to Colin at Parvus, and wouldn'tcha know it? The book I thought would be my first release available on the market, Flotsam (Peridot Shift Book 1), is now available for pre-order on Amazon.
Boom. 2018. Two weeks in, and toppling goals. Two weeks in, and three books listed on Amazon, available to purchase, with my name on the covers. Two Author Pages on Amazon, for my fiction and non-fiction.
So now, here I am, almost feeling like I've done all.the.things. And I've got to be careful with this. Whenever I hit a conclusion, there's usually recovery time. A pause while I try to figure out what's next.
But I know this about myself and I'm not going to trip over my own feet.
I need to move forward, create new things, and now add marketing for existing products to the mix. It's overwhelming, I'll admit, but it's the future I planned for myself when I set out onto this path.
I set my intentions and I met them. That doesn't mean it's time to stop and catch my breath. There's little air to breathe at the summit anyway. And the view will take away what breath remains.
So, my next steps?
I have fourteen essays to write which will become guest posts on various blogs. I picked out many of the blogs I'd like to appear on, and Colin picked out a few for me. It's January, and for most of these blogs I want to have the essays ready to give their owners by the middle of February. I started a few of them already but they weren't tight as I'd like them to be, so I'm backing up and re-approaching them all, now that I have a wide open field ahead of me. I won't start Peridot Shift Book 3 until I get feedback from Parvus about Salvage, so I have time.
There is a novella which I outlined on January 5, during a Frankenstein-themed writing event at Westport Library (yes! another thing I managed in the midst of preparing two books for release). I can't wait to get started on drafting it, but as the events of the novella follow the events of Salvage, there's no rush to get that completed (I wouldn't want it out in the Amazon store, taunting people to read things out of order).
So essays it is, plus I want to finish writing the entirety of Phantom Traveler Season One so I can not only have those posts scheduled for the subscribers but I can begin work on packaging it together to become the second Phantom Traveler novella release in the Amazon store. I've reached out to a cover illustrator about creating a cover, and will begin that process this June. If it's feasible, I'll also have the cover to The Bantam redone. While I've received compliments on the cover artwork I created, it's not my perfect vision and I do intend to update it.
Also need to update this website now that there are titles to click to buy. The home page has existed as an override to the site's template because I had only one cover to show off, and nowhere to send people about it. Now that has changed, dramatically!
So yes. 2018. Feelin' it. Workin' it. Using my momentum to never stop never stopping.