Upon publishing my first novella, JUST A DUMB SURFER DUDE (which would turn into a trilogy), I came out of the writing gate wild. The novella was published right before Pride 2018, but I had written it 9 years earlier. In the nine years between writing that novel and publishing it, I had written a few other novellas and novels. So, in the first few years of my self-publishing journey, I released quite a few novels. Without fact checking myself, I know I’ve released roughly 30 unique works at this point.
That’s totally possible when you take 9 years to prepare for your publishing journey.
However, my publishing schedule quickly caught up with what I had loaded in the barrel and how quickly I am able to actually write new material. If you haven’t noticed, I’ve slowed down considerably compared to the first 3-4 years of my publishing life. I think it has concerned some readers in that they believe I’m thinking of giving up writing. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Commitments aside from writing–family, pets, life, etc.–just slow things down. I don’t have the time I once did to write constantly.
To calm any fears, I have plenty of books planned for the future. How quickly I can get them fully written, edited, and prepared for publishing is the only factor keeping them out of your hands right this second.
This would be a good time to discuss the journey from concept, plotting/pantsing, writing, editing, and publishing as it pertains to book writing.
Publishing my first book took 9 years because upon writing the last word, I had no knowledge of the publishing industry. I wanted to be A Writer, but I had no idea how to accomplish the goal. Additionally, I had no clue what I wanted my writing and publishing journey to look like, nor did I have the time, resources, or confidence to do much with my first manuscript for years. So, it sat in purgatory while I did what a lot of new writers do…I wrote more books. So that they could also sit in purgatory.
Now that I’ve figured a few things out, gotten some confidence, and my life circumstances are much better than they were 15 years ago, I feel I fully have a grasp on the journey of writing a book, from concept to publishing.
And it’s a lot longer than anyone new to the game would realize.
Now, I’ve taken the NaNoWriMo challenge and wrote a book in 30 days. THE GRAVITY OF NOTHING was the product of that one attempt–and I’m incredibly proud of the book. But it’s unrealistic to expect to be able to write a book each month. From what I’ve discovered over the last 15 years, from beginning to end, the bare minimum needed to write and publish a book is one year–and that’s if you can keep yourself on a strict writing schedule. Only the luckiest of us are able to have that kind of schedule.
However, let’s say that most novels (by publishing standards) are between 50k and 100k words. If you are able to commit to writing 500 words a day (not totally unreasonable), you can finish a longer novel in 200 days. That leaves 165 days to have your story go through developmental edits, line edits, spelling and grammar edits, doing your editing homework, covers designed, interior and exterior formatting, promotion, and then publish. It’s not undoable, but for me, 1 year is really pushing it.
As an example, I teased the cover for TALK TO ME in April of 2023–and it won’t be released until later this year!
The reason it takes so long to write a book is that it starts as a little niggling idea in the back of your brain. A writer gets a taste of a story in their mind, and then they have to sit down and figure it out. Lots of staring into space, making notes, figuring out characters, plot, world-building…it can be a Herculean task, creating a concept. Sometimes, a writer spends months trying to figure out how to begin writing an idea, only to be left with mounds of notes and an abandoned (or set aside) project.
If you get through the initial concept stage, there’s the writing–and we’ve covered how long that can take, even on a strict writing schedule. Then, once you’re done writing, you may find that the book actually–for lack of a better word–sucks. Getting through the writing process doesn’t mean a writer will have a book that they feel is worth publishing.
Aaaaaaaaaaaand…you’re back to square one.
Fortunately, that doesn’t happen often. It’s also important to point out that while one book/manuscript is off with editors–or other stages after the writing process–a writer can be working on another manuscript. You can always keep the wheels turning, so that even if you end up disappointed in one project, another one is in the works. It softens the blow of defeat at times. Personally, I usually have 2 or 3 projects going at one time.
For me, I like to give myself 2 years to complete novels. Some novels “write easier” and the writing flow speeds things up. Other novels feel like they’ll never be completed. It really depends on the particular novel.
Now, to be clear, these timeframes are completely different if a writer decides to try out traditional publishing. The journey to find an agent to represent a book can take longer than actually writing a book. In fact, it often does. So, you’re looking at years and years of waiting to see your baby in print. Of course, there are always exceptions, but most new writers get into the game with certain timeframe expectations, only to find out that the game is a lot of “hurry up and wait.”
I hope this has clarified why my writing/publishing schedule is slower than before and gives readers perspective on why it can take so long to get a book they’re dying to read in their hands. Additionally, I hope it confirms for all of you that I haven’t given up…I’ve just gotten slower.
Tremendous Love & Thanks,
Chase
Chase Connor Books 