Process - February 28th 2023
Good morning, everyone!
I wanted to touch base again about the book updates, but also give a general update on why book 2 has taken so long. To understand this - we’ll need a bit of background on how book 1 came to be and my process (or lack there of).
Book 1 took me about a year and a half of active writing to finish, and it was about ten years of mulling the concept over in my head. I didn’t make any outline or structure, I just wrote. After the editors (about $10k worth) took a look at that first draft, they had some helpful (and very critical) feedback for me to rewrite. I was so excited to get this book out, and I wanted to hit that arbitrary deadline of my birthday, that I only edited one time. The first book, both artwork and writing, was lacking significant substance. After a year of post-release edits, it started to look like something I could really love. And after two years of picking away at it, it’s finally something I can be proud of. However, that took me a combined three years of active writing and editing to push out a completed work. Not only did it take three years, it cost quite a lot. I naively thought that if I threw money at this project, it would end up being better. So I did. I spent money on website designers, marketing teams, editors and artists. I spent loads of money on direct marketing and all these different platforms that promise to get your book the attention ‘it deserves’. At the end of the day, none of it worked. And of course it didn’t. Why would it? Or, why should it? Today is so wildly different than twenty years ago, that unless I was willing to spend 10x more than I did, the money was never going to have an impact. I just wanted to find an easy way, and spending money seemed like it would be that easy way. Two million books are released every year in the USA. The Last of Ryn Dvarek, statistically, is just a drop in the bucket.
So, that brings us to book 2. As you can see by now, I’ve failed miserably at just about every aspect of being an author. I released a book before polishing it up, I tried to spend money instead of time and ended up wasting both, and book 1 didn’t get anything close to the attention it deserves. I spent all this time building something that I truly believe is beautiful, and instead of walking through that final trial, I tried to take a shortcut. Because of this experience, rather than write for the love of writing, I feel that my main motivation has turned financial in essence. When we view this project, instead of a fun hobby, as a financial driven one, it’s impossible not to compare it to other financially driven projects. Unfortunately, writing itself cannot compare to a career or ‘side hustles’. Today’s authors cannot simply write and release. We need to spend the time to write, editing, marketing and stay connected in the social media spaces. Stay relevant and active to bring in new readers. It’s all a process.
Book 2 is chugging along - slowly. I still have hopes to get it out soon to beta readers while I edit, but we may have to wait a bit.
Book 1 audiobook is now being voiced by yours truly.
Social media is now a focus of mine that I intend to spend at least a few hours a week maintaining. Hopefully with this new layer of content, we’ll be able to encourage new readers to pick up TLRD. If I see that… boy howdy will I feel that motivation to start writing like a madman again!
All the love,
Dan