The First 5 Things I’m Focusing On In My Indie Journey

1. My main focus right now is writing that first draft

Because the fact is, if I can't even finish a first draft of the book I want to indie publish, then there's no point going too deep into the other stuff. So I need to make sure I can. Luckily, so far, I've already written 25k words in a few days and it's all I can think about. I can't sleep, seriously! It's love at first sight.

2. I've set a deadline and a vague plan

I think I want to publish the first book in my series next Feb / March 2022. As I write this, that's 4 months away. Ideally, I want to publish 2-3 novels of the series in reasonably quick succession, so I'd like to have at least first drafts sorted by then. By having this plan in the back of my mind, it gives me that little push. Obviously, once I finish this draft, I'll then have an idea of how long my next two novels will take so I might need to adjust plans. But it's good to know for when I need to hire the decent cover designers, editors etc in advance.

3. I also found it useful to do a small bit of fun research into the market

For me, that's the sci-fi romance market. I read sci-fi romances anyway (obvious tip of the day for any authors reading this: read what you want to write) but I wanted to drill down. So I found the bestsellers in the category (yeah, you know you love those manchest covers and quite frankly, so do I so you'll be seeing a hella lot of manly chests when my books are out!). I took the chance to check out the titles, pen names and descriptions to help me come up with a provisional working title, pen name and blurb so it feels more real. Plus I purchased a report from K-Lytics on this market. Only about £20 I think and worth it!

4. I’ve created a file of useful stuff

But I don't want to get distracted by research! So I've created a file of useful stuff 'for later'. So if I come across a cover designer I like the look of, or a useful piece of advice about marketing, I don't dwell on it as right now as right now is all about the writing. But I do save it in my special little digital file to return to.

5. I've set up a website and Facebook page for my pen name

I don't think this is absolutely necessary but now I'm happy with my pen name, I've created a holding page (with the chance for people to sign up for info) meaning at least I've registered my domain and start the mailing list super early, even if I get one sign up this year! I've also snagged the FB page name too.

That's it for now, I better get on with writing about Tharin and Kate (little hint of the names of the main characters there!)... x