When I sat down to write this post, I was sure my word count would be way below my target of 10,000 words. But I got a bit of a surprise when I ran the numbers. Was it a good surprise, or a bad surprise? Plus, regardless of the word count, I did manage some progress this week. Is Wayland’s Hammer Book 1: Conventional Forces almost done? If it is, am I ready to start the next book, Wayland’s Hammer Book 2: Resistance Movement? And how’s the whole marketing thing going? Let’s take a look at the key performance indicators first.
Last Week’s Progress By the Numbers
This week felt like a 5,000 word week. But looking at my records, I find I almost hit 10,000! It was nice to experience a pleasant surprise for a change.
I had two generally rough days writing. By that, I mean the words did not flow. I had to fight to get each word onto the page. But when I read those chapters aloud, they flowed. I actually teared up when reading one of them — in a good way! That doesn’t happen very often when I read my stuff!
I also lost one day to a Real Life Family Event (RLFE). So, hitting almost 9,700 words seems astonishing. But on those two days when I didn’t have to fight? My fingers could barely keep up. The timing was great, too, because it was for part of Owen Payne’s and Gerhard Wimmer’s Resolutions. Despite all the hassles this book has thrown at me, it feels like it might be worth it. We’ll know soon enough!
What’s Next for Wayland’s Hammer?
I mentioned earlier that I’m writing the Resolutions for Payne and Wimmer. I have one chapter left for both. Most likely, I have two chapters left for Moritz Lehner. After that, I need to go back and add some scaffolding that’ll support the next two books. Then, I’ll be done with the first draft.
I’m still reading Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting (affiliate link) by Robert McKee. I’ve already made connections that I’ve been staring at (and not seeing) for decades. One of those connections fueld an insight about the trilogies I’ve been writing. Starting with The Sword of Sirius, going through Dreams of Deucalion, and now with Wayland’s Hammer, McKee helped me realize I’m writing three act plays. In terms of execution, my pacing in The Sword of Sirius needs a bit of work. I can see evidence of that in my read-through rates. From the first book to the second book, I’m seeing about a forty to fifty percent rate. From book two to three, though, the rate’s upward of 95%. That’s because I didn’t structure it correctly.
I’ve talked about how I’ve struggled with Wayland’s Hammer Book 1: Conventional Forces. It was only after I figured out key aspects of the next book that things started to make sense. My writing started to flow. And this week, I realized I’m writing a three-act plays. Suddenly, what I needed to foreshadow became more clear; as did the arc for books two and three. I need to drill down further, but I’m close. For the first time in a while, I feel good about this trilogy.
Marketing Update
I have high confidence in the marketing chain for The Sword of Sirius:
- Facebook ad graphics, which flow to the
- Facebook ad subject line, which flow to the
- Facebook ad text, focused on Owen Payne, which flow to the
- Amazon blurb, which starts with Owen Payne and introduces Ira Malhotra (to set expectations)
All of which should flow to a sale.
That new ad, with the new marketing chain, went live May 1st. I need more time to see if it’s successful.
For my Amazon ad, I’ve done a better job identifying my writer peers (per David Gaughran’s suggested, I looked at the also-boughts for the second and third books in my series, not the $0.99 first book). I’m trying to more actively manage the ad, which is to say, I’m pruning peers with lots of clicks and no purchases. The ad’s to the point where some of the peers yield a 33% purchase rate after a click. But only for some of the peers. This suggests if I invest time in more refinement, if I could find a set of peer writers whose readers also enjoy my work, I could field profitable ads.
But honestly, I’m to the point where I can confirm David Gaughran’s advice to not try to master more than one ad platform at a time. I’m generating a huge list of questions and possible improvement avenues for both platforms. Both are taking a lot of time, which takes away from time I could use to improve the other.
I’m relatively happy with the consistent page reads I’m getting from my Facebook ads. Amazon ads contribute, but not nearly the the same extent.
I think I might freeze my efforts to improve Amazon ads, and use May to focus on Facebook. During May, I’m going to try generating specific to-dos for my marketing efforts. I’ve been vague so far, and I think it’s time to start quantifying.
Progress against Last Week’s Goals
Here’s how I did against last week’s goals:
- Write Gerhard Wimmer’s Plot Turn 2: Done!
- Write Mortiz Lehner’s Plot Turn 2: Done!
- Write Owen Payne’s Plot Turn 2 Part III: Done!
- Receive the beta feedback for Dreams of Deucalion Book 1: Special Recon and incorporate the results: Done! I was hugely relieved to see that the beta reader enjoyed the work.
- Continue exploring audiobook options for The Sword of Sirius Prequel Short Story: Fallback Position: Ongoing! The search for human narrators continues.
Goals for the Week in Progress Report 2025 Week 19
Here’s what I hope to achieve this week:
- Finish Gerhard Wimmer’s Resolution
- Finish Moritz Lehner’s Resolution
- Finish Owen Payne’s Resolution
- Continue exploring audiobook options for The Sword of Sirius Prequel Short Story: Fallback Position
What Do You Think?
How many ad platforms are you using? Which platform gives you the best return on investment (ROI)? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments!
