Progress Report 2023 Week 45

I learned it a hard lesson this week, and it was all in support of the idea that measuring the right things is important. Though I have to say it’s a rather hard lesson to learn. Before we talk about that, let’s look at the week’s infographic!

Progress Report 2023 Week 45 By the Numbers

Yes, my word count was below 10,000. But there’s a good reason for that!

I had hoped to simultaneously work on the second draft of Evolution’s Hand Book 5: Split Infinities and The Sword of Sirius Book 1: Firebreak. In this case, “simultaneously” meant I’d work a couple of hours writing new content, then, inbetween everything else, try to work on the second draft. I made a brutal discovery.

I don’t have time to do that.

I can read a chapter out loud in anywhere from fifteen to twenty minutes. My goal had been to revise twenty chapters this week. By late last week, I’d only finished three or four. On the plus side, I’d moved Firebreak forward. On the negative side, it would take months to finish Split Infinities’ second draft at that rate.

Fortunately, one of the goals I had set last week was to complete the second draft of twenty chapters. Picking that as a metric, it helped me know I was behind, so I decided to not write new content over the weekend. That means I wrote no new material on Saturday or Sunday. But I managed to revise twenty one chapters.

There are sixty-four chapters in Split Infinities. I have finished thirty nine of them. If I push hard, I can finish this week. Sounds like that should be one of my goals!

Blurbs and More

I finally decided to rewrite the blurb for Evolution’s Hand Book 1: Executive Action. I recently incorporated my proofreader’s recommendations into a new revision and uploaded it to Amazon and Draft2Digital. With the new blurb, it’s as good as I can get it. To celebrate, I launched a new Facebook ad campaign yesterday. In about three weeks, I’ll have an idea of the new blurb is working. My hope is that I’ll double or triple the click-to-purchase rate.

I know how to tell if it works after the fact — if I get more sales, it’s a success! I just wish I could get a better feel for these danged things ahead of time.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I have a profound respect for anyone who can write blurbs that entice people to buy. I think karma is extracting a payment from me me for those decades I spent not respecting the marketing skillset. I hope I pay my debt soon! I’d like to sell more books, and ad copy will help with that!

Progress against Last Week’s Goals

Here’s how I did against last week’s goals:

1. Read at least 20 more chapters aloud for Executive Action Book 5: Split Infinities: Done!
2. Write Ira Malhotra’s Hook: Done!
3. Write Luisa Brunner’s Hook: Done!
4. Write Owen Payne’s Hook: Done!
5. Stretch Objective: Write Ira Malhotra’s Plot Turn 1: Not done! I had to let this one slide so I could hit goal #1, which is, at this stage, more important.

Goals for the Week in Progress Report 2023 Week 45

Here’s what I hope to accomplish this week:

1. Finish the second draft of Evolution’s Hand Book 5: Split Infinities (which is the say, the read aloud draft).
2. Put 20 chapters of Split Infinities through ProWritingAid.
3. Write Ira Malhotra’s Plot Turn 1.
4. Stretch Objective: Write Luisa Brunner’s Plot turn 1.

I don’t want to stop writing new material completely. The new book’s flowing well — better than I expected. I don’t want to lose momentum. But I do want to get Split Infinities ready for the beta reader soon.

What Do You Think?

How long did it take you to get the balance between writing/rewriting/plotting/business down? Or is balancing those things just something you always have to do? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments!