Days 28, 29, 30 - The Gauntlet
It’s the final grind uphill to the finish line. I’ve actually written the last three days of blog posts, but they’re sloppy 1st drafts and I don’t have time to edit and upload. I’ve been basically non-stop for a month, but somehow these last few days feel the hardest. As you know, I’m currently in school part time, but I have a long commute. I don’t get home until after 1pm and then it’s lunch time and I’m tired. Even so, I’ve been working like a dog. This hasn’t been exactly a thirty day journey. The 30th day (yesterday) landed on my fifteen year anniversary with my husband and I didn’t want to launch middle of the week. So I pushed the date out to the 21st and that extra week is a godsend.
Quick sum up of what I’ve been doing:
The cover is done! I spent all day Monday working on it and I think it’s awesome. I’m so proud of it.
Social media takes up a lot of time. I still don’t know where I should be focusing my efforts. Twitter is a black hole that sucks you in and absorbs you. It’s almost too fun.
I’m still working on that final read through. I started a line by line edit yesterday and I’m about a quarter of the way through. It has to be done today. I wish I could skip school.
My Facebook boosted post is still running. Thirty dollars, fourteen days. So far not much traction. I’ve run four boosted posts and have received approx. eight new page likes and only a handful of people actually entered the giveaway. Facebook appears to be a wasted effort.
The big launch giveaway is slugging along. Only nine entries so far. It’s definitely not performing the way I’d hoped, but I’m grateful for those nine entries. Thank you all and good luck! It ends on Sunday and I’ll be announcing the winner then.
I’ve started an adorable second Twitter account for The Apple Creek Gazette. My story takes place in the fictional town of Apple Creek and I thought it would be fun to post news from the town. Follow the AC Gazette here.
I wrote and sent out the newsletter to the Readers Collective. I included the first chapter and a music playlist for the novella. I’ve had two downloads on the chapter (one of them was my husband). To that other person, I hope you love it; and I do apologize for the typos I found after I sent it out. Those will be gone by the time the novella is published.
It’s starting to feel like I can’t get arrested in this town. I’ve had very little traction on all my efforts, it’s a bit depressing. I’ve learned so much during this thirty day gauntlet. And it’s been a gauntlet. I’m ready for it to be over. I’m excited about the journey and getting my book out there, but it’s been difficult - not skill-wise, time-wise. At least, I’m ready for a break. Now that the machine is running, the second novel should be much easier. The third will be a piece of cake. The trick here is figuring out the schedule. What to do and when. I have a better sense of all that now, but make no mistake: I’m tired. I must take my own advice: Just keep going.