Day Three: Novel Challenge

I started off running some errands, then got to WMG Publishing around 2 p.m. Then off to do more errands, then back to work on workshop stuff.

Then at 7 p.m. after one more work-related errand, I headed home to take a nap and cook dinner.

5 hours of work.

I did some e-mail after dinner and then Kris and I went out for a walk. I got back after getting my 10,000 steps around 11 p.m. and got in here writing.

1 hour plus of exercise.

That late of a start won’t work past tomorrow on this. Yikes.

I managed in two short sessions to hit 1,400 words by 12:15 a.m.

Went to watch some television and got back in here around 1:15 a.m.

I managed 1,050 words by 2 a.m.

Short break, then 1,300 words by 3 a.m.

Another short break, then I managed 1,350 words by 4:10 a.m.

So for the day I finished 5,100 words. Barely made it.

4 hours and 14 minutes of writing.

This is going to get much more interesting shortly. Five thousand words didn’t worry me. Neither does six thousand. But those last three days sort of look daunting. (grin)

Day 1… 3,000… Actual words… 3,100. Total so far… 3,100 words
Day 2… 4,000… Actual words… 4,400. Total so far… 7,500 words
Day 3… 5,000… Actual words… 5,100. Total so far… 12,600 words
Day 4… 6,000… Total word count to be over… 18,000
Day 5… 7,000… Total word count to be over… 25,000
Day 6… 8,000… Total word count to be over… 33,000
Day 7… 9,000… Total word count to be over… 42,000 (or end of book)

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September Online Workshops

Click the workshop tab above for description and sign-up or go to www.wmgpublishingworkshops.com.

Questions about any of the workshops, feel free to write me.

Class #21… Sept 6th … Author Voice
Class #22… Sept 6th … How to Write Thrillers
Class #23… Sept 6th … Speed
Class #24… Sept 6th … Writing Mysteries
Class #25… Sept 6th … Character Development
Class #26… Sept 7th … Depth in Writing
Class #27… Sept 7th … Advanced Character and Dialog
Class #28… Sept 7th … Cliffhangers
Class #29… Sept 7th … Pacing Your Novel
Class #30… Sept 7th …Expectations (Writing on the Rails)
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Totals For Year 4, Month 1, Day 20

Writing in Public blog streak… Day 1,066

Over 10,000 steps streak… Day 51

— Daily Fiction: 5,100 original words. Fiction month-to-date: 35,300 words

— Nonfiction: 00 new words. Nonfiction month-to-date total:1,900 words

— Blog Posts: 300 new words. Blog month-to-date word count: 10,000 words

— E-mail: 11 e-mails. Approx. 700 original words. E-mails month-to date: 294 e-mails. Approx. 21,000 words

— Covers Designed and Finished: 0. Covers finished month-to-date: 0 Covers

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— Year of Short Fiction Goal: 120 stories (July 1st to June 30th). Stories finished to date: 8 stories.

— Yearly Novel Goal: 12 Novels. Novels finished to date: 1 novels.

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3 Comments

Harvey

August 21, 2016 at 6:21 am

When I sit down, for the first session or coming back, the thought in the back of my mind is always “Well, it’s only a thousand words.” (Yes, I got this from you.) Same thing when I’m approaching a particular number goal and still a little short. “I only need another 300 words (or whatever).” The numbers aren’t important. They just start me writing. Then I get lost in the WIP and always exceed whatever the number was. Wonderful fun.

In other news, I was comparing some of trad pub’s exorbitant pricing for ebooks this morning with their print prices. And I noticed something. Instead of using paper prices to drive ebook sales (like I do) they seem to be using daunting ebook prices to drive paper sales. I can easily see a reader thinking “Ah, it’s only a few more dollars for the print book.” So I’m gonna stick to my considerably lower prices for ebooks (similar to yours) to drive ebook sales when compared with much higher prices (extended distribution) on paper books. Do you ever get tired of being right? (grin)

Thanks Dean.

dwsmith

August 21, 2016 at 1:35 pm

Yeah, pricing is just one of those crazy areas that logic needs to apply and traditional publishing has twisted itself into a mess. Don’t go too low with e-books, but make the price the easy-to-afford area like $4.99 plus or minus. Too low, like down in the 99 cent discount bin and readers wonder about the quality.

Not sure why beginning writers can’t see that distinction. If they walked into a Dollar Store they would understand. Lots of merchandise, but you don’t expect high quality products in there. Same with the 99 cent pricing in ebooks. Lots of products, not much quality is how readers feel, right or wrong. It is the perception.
- Harvey
  
  August 22, 2016 at 6:12 am
  
  Absolutely. I’m expperimenting (again) with pricing right now. But everything at Amazon is at least $2.99. If they see something less elsewhere and decide to price match, that’s their prerogative.

Harvey

August 21, 2016 at 6:21 am

When I sit down, for the first session or coming back, the thought in the back of my mind is always “Well, it’s only a thousand words.” (Yes, I got this from you.) Same thing when I’m approaching a particular number goal and still a little short. “I only need another 300 words (or whatever).” The numbers aren’t important. They just start me writing. Then I get lost in the WIP and always exceed whatever the number was. Wonderful fun.

In other news, I was comparing some of trad pub’s exorbitant pricing for ebooks this morning with their print prices. And I noticed something. Instead of using paper prices to drive ebook sales (like I do) they seem to be using daunting ebook prices to drive paper sales. I can easily see a reader thinking “Ah, it’s only a few more dollars for the print book.” So I’m gonna stick to my considerably lower prices for ebooks (similar to yours) to drive ebook sales when compared with much higher prices (extended distribution) on paper books. Do you ever get tired of being right? (grin)

Thanks Dean.
- dwsmith
  
  August 21, 2016 at 1:35 pm
  
  Yeah, pricing is just one of those crazy areas that logic needs to apply and traditional publishing has twisted itself into a mess. Don’t go too low with e-books, but make the price the easy-to-afford area like $4.99 plus or minus. Too low, like down in the 99 cent discount bin and readers wonder about the quality.
  
  Not sure why beginning writers can’t see that distinction. If they walked into a Dollar Store they would understand. Lots of merchandise, but you don’t expect high quality products in there. Same with the 99 cent pricing in ebooks. Lots of products, not much quality is how readers feel, right or wrong. It is the perception.
  - Harvey
    
    August 22, 2016 at 6:12 am
    
    Absolutely. I’m expperimenting (again) with pricing right now. But everything at Amazon is at least $2.99. If they see something less elsewhere and decide to price match, that’s their prerogative.