“Current Downloads and Upcoming Projects, Part II”

This post will conclude an update on current projects, first started a week ago.

There will be some changes in my personal writing environment in 2017.  As I am retiring in August 2017 from my full-time job to write full time, I must outfit my home office to make that possible.

I’ll be getting a new laptop (probably a Dell) and a small printer for that office.  We already have an AT&T U-verse hub at our house, so internet access should be okay.

In order to make all this work, I’ll have to clean up the little office, which is crammed with books in almost every available corner and space.  Many of these books will have to go and some will likely wind up being donated to Goodwill or some other worthy cause.  I hate to do it  but there’s no other way I can fit in what I need without doing this.

Also, I’ll have to work out a daily schedule for writing, editing, marketing, researching, etc.  I like to work by page count…so many pages per day.  Currently I am working on another Tales of the Quantum Corps novel and additional episodes of Nanotroopers.  Since I’m also working full time at another job, the most I can consistently get is about 2 pages for each project every week day…about 10 pages a week.  It doesn’t sound like much but it adds up.  Of course, with Nanotroopers, I do have a schedule to follow.   In my new life, next year, I hope to do about 3-5 pages a day, plus other smaller writing jobs as needed. 

As an indie ebook author, marketing and promotion are very important.  I just updated  my current downloads over the last 2 weeks and I picked up an additional 172 downloads over this period.  So there is activity, but I’m sure I could do more with some targeted marketing efforts.

One marketing effort that Smashwords strongly recommends when activity is slowing down is to develop new covers for your key titles.  For Tales and Nanotroopers, I think this is a good idea.  In 2017, I hope to work with some professional cover artists to re-cast the covers of these two series with a new look that will attract even more eyeballs.  A well designed cover can really boost downloads and sales, according to Smashwords, so look for some new looks.

Another action I can undertake is to start a new blog for the Farpool series.  I’m currently maintaining 2 blogs, this one and one called Quantum Corps Times, for followers of Tales of the Quantum Corps.  Operating a third blog is not really something I want to undertake at the moment, but after Nanotroopers is done, I might consider it.  My original story of this series is up to about 450 downloads after about 2 ½ months, so there may be some interest there.

A final step that can be taken, once I have retired, is to plan time and resources to begin attending writers’ conferences and book fairs, something I just can’t do holding down a full-time job. 

Okay, I know you were waiting for an excerpt from Johnny Winger and the Battle at Caloris Basin, but I want to keep these posts to a reasonable length, so I’m going to defer the excerpt until next week. 

But October 3, I promise you’ll get an early peek at the concluding story of Tales of the Quantum Corps.

See you then.

Phil B.