Google self-publishing. Do it now. The results are staggering and, often, very helpful. And, as always, confusing at the same time. There are so many options, which I think is great. Options writers never had before! It’s a beautiful thing.
No, my question isn’t how to self-publish, it’s how often. Let’s use my Modified trilogy as an example. Dominant Race is scheduled to come out at the end of the month. The sequel, New Fate, could be ready and publishable by the end of July, maybe early August, and the third novella, Selfish Nature, could be ready by October. If I really pushed myself I could have a novella out June, July, and August. But is that too much too fast? I have nothing else ready after those novellas (well, nothing that’s of publishing quality aside from short stories).
So how do you set your self-publishing pace? How frequently do you publish?
Ha! I’ll let you know when I publish! As a sideline writer, it’s looking like the chance of a novel a year, if I’m lucky. All I can imagine, however, is consistency. Publishing on a regular basis gives your readers something to look forward to. Without that, I can imagine it would be easy to become a one-hit wonder.
A novel a year, for writing on the side, isn’t bad at all. I want to write as my full-time job, so I expect more from myself out of a year. Despite that, I still haven’t produced a single published novel/novella yet. It’ll happen though!
So basically, what I need to do is make sure I publish this stuff in a spread-out way, that way when I manage to produce something 3-6 months later, and it’s a novel, then people can expect something new from me consistently. That’s a tall order, yes?
I wouldn’t pressure yourself to churn them out; it’s probably the best way to compromise the quality of your writing. Stephen King, perhaps the most prolific writer of our time, has written fifty-five novels in the past thirty-eight years; less than one and a half books per year. Of those, over thirty have been less than 100,000 words. And this is (apart from the first) as a full-time, doing nothing else writer.
People won’t rush out to buy your book the day you release it, especially as a first-time author. It will likely take a very long time to build up any meaningful reader base, and if you release them too close to each other, there’ll be nothing left to look for when people hear about you months later down the line.
Besides, there’s no harm in having a backup novel to ship out if you’re stuck for ideas on your next one!
His speed is impressive, really. I wish I could write that fast (and maybe some day I will). But I think you’re right. I shouldn’t rush.
Thanks for the reassurance, Satis. I appreciate it.
It’s a good idea to have a couple of things available, especially if it’s a series and you can give one away to get interest in the others. Building a brand can’t harm your chances. But if you have nothing beyond those three I’d say to double the length of release and that gives you until the new year to get other stuff ready. Sounds like your output is pretty pacy, but don’t burn yourself out!
I’ve only got one novel out and it’s 100,000 words. I can’t wait to get another one out and am ploughing on with it, but ‘only’ at 20,000 words now, so my aim is to get it written, edited and out by Christmas.
I’m impressed though!
Aw, well don’t be impressed yet. None of this is 100% finished yet. If I manage to do what I want to do, I’d put out at least 2-3 novels per year. That’s the only way I’m going to keep up with my brain. It keeps throwing new ideas at me constantly!
Since I don’t any novels or short stories or other novellas done past those three, I’m probably going to spread them out over the rest of the year. Maybe make it 3 longer works a year until I can get the hang of that (and finish college), then maybe step it up a notch. I don’t want to give myself such a huge order to fill each year that writing isn’t enjoyable anymore — or worse, my writing quality suffers.
I think it’s a balancing act. The calculation is true whether self-publishing or writing for the mainstream houses. What they do is an indicator, though – they plan a year’s output to ensure that books complement each other in the market place, building releases around dates and times when the marketing’s optimal. Self-publishing’s no different – same calculation, similar products, same market.
That said, I think the onus is on authors to be productive – to put at least two books a year out (and make them GOOD books, not throw-aways). The days when an author could run a single title per annum, or one every two years, are gone.