determinedRecently, I realised that I just don't want to be a professional novelist any more. I had been my ambition from a very young age, but back then it was possible to write a book, submit it, get it accepted and make a little money. Then you'd write another book, submit it, rinse and repeat. Now it's all pressure, pressure, pressure. You have to have a "break out novel", sell tens of thousands of copies and agree to 3 book deals with tight deadlines as to when the next book is due. I realised that, even assuming I could write something to please the modern market (very doubtful!), I would hate the deadline pressure. It wouldn't be good for me. For a while I thought I'd just abandon everything, until, finally, a glimmer of an urge to write returned and so I have set myself the goal of completing the first novel in the fantasy series and having it ready to publish by this time next year.
This is what I have to do:
- Tidy up the first draft of the first novel in the series and complete any missing bits.
- Revise it and have a cover designed so I can self-publish, either with Lulu or Lightning Source so I have a printed copy of my novel by my birthday next year (i.e. Late May).
This should be achievable if I actually sit down and get on with it instead of procrastinating. It's realistic because I have a more or less complete first draft, so we're talking mostly revision and filling in the gaps and I've written much faster in the past. It may not actually take a year, but if I do it more quickly, I can work on book 2 next and then 2 and 3 can be published simultaneously because book 3 stands alone and actually was finished years ago.
So that's the plan...
