Progress Report 2024 Week 49

My word count was way down this week, but it wasn’t because of any Real Life Family Event (RLFE). It wasn’t because of the holiday, either — though it did play a role. What caused my drop in output? Also, my December ad campaigns are underway. Mostly, anyway. What’d I change? Before we get into the nitty-gritty details (does anyway still say “nitty-gritty?”), let’s look at the key performance indicators.

Last Week’s Progress By the Numbers

Word count was way below my the floor I set of 10,000 words. Yet, I’m not angry about it. What gives?

I finished the first (well, technically second) draft of Dreams of Deucalion Book 2: Flanking Maneuver. It ended up being 94,050 words long. That’s why I didn’t write more words this week — I finished the book! Of course, I’m getting ready to start the next, which will be Dreams of Deucalion Book 3: Bait and Bleed, which I’ve started plotting.

Upgrading My Pre-Production Phase

Usually, after finishing a draft, I dive into the third/fourth (read-aloud and ProWritingAid passes) drafts for the previous manuscript. I realized that represented a missed opportunity. The seeds I had planted, the hints and foreshadowing for the next book in the just-finished manuscript, are never more clean in my mind than immediately after finishing it. So, I changed things up a bit.

I’m going to send Dreams of Deucalion Book 1: Special Recon to an alpha reader or two. While those two readers are doing their thing, I’ve started plotting Dreams of Deucalion Book 3: Bait and Bleed. I’m using the methodology I did with the previous two books, which is:

1. State each character’s starting mental state. Include drafts of scenes that will appear later. This helps me firmly immesh myself into the character’s perspective. I’ve got the first drafts done.
2. Establish key plot points that I have to hit.
3. Weave them together into Plottr. I’ve started that process for the character Trent Raven.
4. Go through the plot a few times to make sure everything flows.
5. Start writing.

It looks so bare, but I have to start somewhere!

I have the Scrivener project set up. I have the character notes, descriptions of equipment, and corporation backgrounds copied from the previous book. From a technology perspective, I’m ready to go.

Once I get the plot where I want it, and once I get any new sets I need designed, it should be time to begin incorporating alpha feedback into Special Recon. Then I’ll at least put it through the ProWritingAid pass. I might hold off on the read-aloud, because when I wrote The Sword of Sirius, reading all three at once helped me catch continuity issues. It was a pain in the butt, but it might be a worthwhile pain in the butt.

This change has another benefit. It introduces a delay or a week or two until I read my outline. I’ve noticed there’s a lot in my head that doesn’t make it into Plottr, so this’ll help me be more clear.

December Ad Campaigns

I’ve revamped my Facebook ad. I took two ads I’d been running side-by-side and combined them. The two ads had been an attempt at A-B testing (without using the actual A-B tools in Facebook ads), but the numbers were virtually identical. So I combined them.

For the new ad, I produced two more graphics to take advantage of some of Facebook’s other form factors. That’ll make the ad look overall more professional. Also, I changed the language on the primary graphic from “New sci-fi trilogy” to “In Kindle Unlimited.” We’ll see how well it performs through December.

My Amazon ad is underperforming, and I think my blurb might be to blame. I have a new draft that’s almost ready to go, but it’s the kind of thing that I really need to let sit for a few days. Perspective is everything, at least for me and blurbs. If I don’t let a couple days pass between major revisions, I miss stupid things.

Progress against Last Week’s Goals

Here’s how I did compared to last week’s goals:

1. Finish Jadwiga Janczak’s Resolution: Done!
2. Complete the second draft of Janczak’s Resolution: Done!
3. Begin to incorporate feedback from an alpha reader into Dreams of Deucalion Book 1: Special Recon; I asked an ex-Army officer to read the manuscript to let me know how badly I mangled things. Turns out, pretty badly! Fortunately, I was able to leverage the mistake thematically in the version that’s going to alpha readers. Done!
4. Solicit bids on another alpha read of Special Recon: Done!
5. Solicit bids for the cover of Special Recon: Not started! I’m not sure if this’ll be a December thing or not. I’ll probably state it as a goal, just to keep it in front of me.

Goals for the Week in Progress Report 2024 Week 49

Here’s what I hope to accomplish this week:

1. Sketch the plot’s through line.
2. Finish plotting Trent Raven’s arc.
3. Begin Jadwiga Janczak’s arc.
4. Begin building any new sets needed for Bait and Bleed.
5. Adjust the blurb for The Sword of Sirius Book 1: Red Flag Warning on Amazon.
6. Consider bidding the cover of Special Recon.

What Do You Think?

How often do you change your blurb on Amazon? How long do you give it to prove its performance before making another change? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments!