books by s.r.

Wanted to give a quick shout-out to all of you guys and thank you for being so patient with me! I know I haven’t posted a writing update in AGES, so your patience has been super-duper appreciated.

Since the whole COVID craziness began, the truth is, I haven’t had as much time for writing as I’d like. It’s been very easy to be here at home and not make time for writing — so much easier to know that I have for-sure income coming in through my editing, so I’ve been focusing on it more than the main part of my business.

That’s definitely not the model I’m wanting to have in my business… Eventually, I really want it to be 75% writing and 25% editing, not the other way around. But we live and we learn, and if there’s anything this craziness has taught me, it’s this…

1. Apparently I need to work on a schedule for setting specific time aside for writing. I am the WORST at procrastinating writing, but it was a real wake-up call this past month when I realized that I can be having the most productive editing week of my entire life, but I’m using THAT as procrastination for writing time. A goal of mine, especially going into May, is to set aside time for writing, even if I have to put it in my phone reminders to alert me. No more procrastinating. (Or, at least…not as much! *winks*)
2. I had the reminder that the business model you want to have in life usually doesn’t just grow overnight. I’ve known this since starting, but somehow, once staying at home became mandatory, I thought it might change. “I can’t really go anywhere, so I’ll have extra writing time and churn out a ton more books!” I said. “People will be looking for books to read, so I’m going to sell a ton!” I said. But most businesses don’t work like that. You often have to work for years to get your business model the way you want it. I think one of my favorite indie authors that I like to learn from, Joanna Penn, said that her business model took nearly ten years for her to complete. Granted, she did have a separate full-time job at the time, and that attributed to it. But the reminder was much-needed, especially since I was getting frustrated with myself for not “doing more” or not having the business model I want. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither are businesses.

That being said, I haven’t been completely hopeless. *winks*

Back in early March, my editor returned Tales of Nottingham book 1 to me with her thoughts, and her help was literally instrumental in getting this book publishing-ready. I was so pleased and thankful for all of her notes, and I immediately went through and tweaked and plugged away at the book until it was ready to send to beta readers. I had four lovely beta readers join my team, and so far I’ve gotten three of the four questionnaires back. All have been incredibly helpful as well, and I’m looking forward to compiling their advice and thoughts so I can get one FINAL round of edits in!

Publication date for book 1 is getting SO CLOSE guys… If you happened to miss it on my social media account, I announced a hint for the release month… Late May! I’m keeping the official date hush-hush for now, but if you follow me on social media, be on the lookout for a sign-up to help me out with the cover reveal coming soon… *SQUEALS*

There’s still so much to do in preparation for it, but I’m excited. I’m about to finalize cover stuff with my cover artist, and I’ve gotten bookish goodies for the series made by another wonderful designer and friend of mine, Solange! Things are getting pretty real over here, and I’m hoping that I’ll have time in May to slow myself down and really take in the moment.

On top of that, I got to sit down for the first time in three or four weeks and write on Tales of Nottingham book 2. *gasp* I have to admit, it was soooo therapeutic. I’d really been struggling with not writing for so long, so I made sure to block out a morning not too long ago and get a chapter written. There’s so many nerves that go into drafting a new book, especially when that book is a sequel… (Ever heard of sequel-itis? It’s when book 2 of a series is a complete flop compared to the first. It happens a lot more than you’d expect.) Something I’m having to keep at the forefront of my mind when I draft this book is my mantra: “Write for yourself before you write for anyone else.” Because if I worry what others will think, I’ll never be able to get the story down.

Anyways, that my short and sweet writing update for you guys! How are your projects going?