Progress Report 2024 Week 32

I’ve finished analyzing how July 2024 sales went. Knowing that I ran zero promotions to preserve them for the upcoming The Sword of Sirius launch, how did the numbers look? That question especially applies to the new Amazon ad I tried to run. Also, did the characters continue to help move the plot forward — or did any launch an active rebellion? Also, I experienced a revelation about pantsers. Let’s take a look at the infographic before getting into any of that!

Last Week’s Progress By the Numbers

A Real Life Family Event (RLFE) struck on Thursday — and I was still able to top 13,000 words. Not a bad week at all.

As you can see, Dreams of Deucalion Book 1: Stellar Entanglements has hit 72,823 words. That is a lot less than The Sword of Sirius Book 1: Red flag Warning, which ended up being 99,411 words. But I think it’ll be a lot closer when I finish. Stellar Entanglements right now is almost as long as The Sword of Sirius Book 2: Collapse Zone, which weighed in at 78,517.

Speaking of Collapse Zone, I finished incorporating the proofreader’s feedback last week. The draft should be done. Now, I’m just waiting for my proofreader to wrap up The Sword of Sirius Book 3: Firebreak.

I Understand Pantsers a Little Better

To Plot or Not to Plot —

I’ve been using the Seven Point Plot Structure (the link is to the start of John Wells’ YouTube video series about that topic) since Evolution’s Hand Book 1: Executive Action. It’s helped me write nine books and start on a tenth.

I don’t see myself discarding that method. It’s been too useful. But Dean Wesley Smith’s video Writing into the Dark got me thinking. It made some points that I didn’t want to agree with. But the man has sold over twenty million books, so deciding not to at least consider his perspective seemed stupid on my part. One of the points in particular is that he never outlines anything. He just starts writing. He doesn’t even know which of his series he’s writing in when he begins. He just starts.

I honestly don’t think that’s ever going to work with me. But this week, something happened that helped me realize I don’t live in an either/or world.

— That’s a False Dilemma!

Stellar Entanglement’s helper plot takes place in the ruined subway tunnels under a Pyongyang. The capital came under a nuclear attack a hundred years ago. I’m having a lot of fun with this subplot. In my mind, I visualize the scenes of abandoned underground laboratories that look a lot like they came from S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. I had intended this subplot to be a one-off; I had no intention of Pyongyang showing up again.

But the two characters I introduced, Kim JiHo and Choi SeoHyeon, had different ideas. The world beneath Pyongyang has started to take on a life of its own. These people really, really hate Corporations. Their culture is starting to come into focus, and I think they’re going to have a big role to play in this world. As in, a big role in the next few books.

I need to get a little better at making these maps — the labels are surprisingly hard for me in Adobe Illustrator!

In fact, I now have at least four such No Go Zones:

1. Crimean Peninsula Exclusion Zone (CPEZ)
2. North Korean Exclusion Zone (NKEZ) — this is the one in Stellar Entanglements
3. Northern Ohio Exclusion Zone (NOEZ) — this was the one in Evolution’s Hand Book 4: Blind Exodus
4. Saudi Arabia Exclusion Zone (SAEZ)

There will probably be a couple more.

This idea came from the intermingling of the characters and situations in Stellar Entanglements. It didn’t come from plotting sessions. I’m seeing that all the time as I write — I have a general plot laid out, which helps me focus. But as I write, all these ideas roll out, which lead to the next book, books, or sometimes, a whole new series. I think that for me, it represents my path forward. At least for now!

Promotions and Amazon Ads

Over the last year or so, I ran Facebook ads at the same time I was running promotions through Book Barbarian, Fussy Librarian, and others. I tried to separate the Facebook ad-generated sales from the others based on date. Last month, I tested those numbers.

Starting last month, I put all promotions on hold pending the release of The Sword of Sirius. Some of the promotion sites limit you to one promotion per ninety days, and I wanted to make sure I’d saved everything for launch week. I was pleased to find that, at least for July, my estimate held. My sales numbers dropped by the count I had attributed to promotions. I’ll keep doing running Facebook ads alone for another month or two to verify, but it looks like Facebook ads continue to perform at about the same level they always have.

Amazon ads, though, turn a mystifying turn in July. Before, I’d get hundreds or thousands of impressions, depending on budget, bid, and duration. In July, I started with a low bid and increased it incrementally. By the third week, I was bidding $3.33 per impression — which should be about 300% of a normal winning bid for the keywords I was using. However, I didn’t get a single impression.

I’m guessing that I did something stupid when I set up the ad. I’ll look into it. I guess the good news is that I didn’t lose any money on Amazon ads in July!

Progress against Last Week’s Goals

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

1. Finish Atticus Porter’s Pinch 2: Done! It ended up taking up two chapters.
2. Write Jadwiga Janczak’s Pinch 2 (will probably stretch into at least two parts): Done! It, too, took up two chapters.
3. Write the helper subplot chapter called False Start: Done!
4. Write Trent Raven’s Pinch 2 (which will likely be two or three parts): Started! I finished part 1 of 2.
5. Bid the cover for The Sword of Sirius Book 3: Firebreak: Done! I’ve contracted with miblart again.
6. Incorporate proofread feedback into The Sword of Sirius Book 2: Collapse Zone: Done!

Goals for the Week in Progress Report 2024 Week 32

Here’s what I plan to attack this week:

1. Finish Trent Raven’s Pinch 2 Part II
2. Finish the Helper Plot chapter that’s incorrectly called In the Air (I’ll fix that — when you read the book, you’ll see why the title makes no sense)
3. Write Atticus Porter’s Plot Turn 2
4. Write Jadwiga Janczak’s Plot Turn 2
5. Take delivery of the cover for The Sword of Sirius Part 3: Firebreak
6. Investigate why Amazon ads generated zero impressions in July (stretch objective)

What Do You Think?

Do you plot your novels before you start writing? Do you go in blind? Or do you combine the techniques? I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments!