Ever have a feeling that something’s wrong, and you just can’t put your finger on it? And then something happens to make everything clear? I had one of those moments this week. In a good way — in the long term, that is. That wasn’t the only catalyst this week: I also received my first rating for Dreams of Deucalion Book 1: Special Recon. The rating, plus the dearth of ratings in general, also triggered a revelation. Which might also be good. In the long term. And of course, I’m still working on the plot for Wayland’s Hammer Book 3: Lines of Operation. Did the advanced level of introspection this week have any impact on that effort? Let’s look at the key performance indicators before looking at those questions.
Last Week’s Progress By the Numbers
Still no words — but there’s still a good reason.
I’m still working on the plot for Lines of Operation. Actually, on Saturday, I stopped working on it. I’ll go more into why in my section talking about the first alpha read for Wayland’s Hammer Book 1: Point of Extraction. The good news is that I have all three arcs sketched out. There’s not really any bad news. The plot will be better when I deal with the issues I’ll talk about below. So even though it’s going to take another week or two, the result is going to be significantly better.
First Alpha Feedback for Point of Extraction
Remember how I shared that as I wrote Point of Extraction and even Wayland’s Hammer Book 2: Resistance Movement, I never felt comfortable? There was something bothering me about the books. I couldn’t put my finger on it. I wondered if it was the subject matter, and to some extent, it was. But I just wasn’t happy about either, especially the first book.
I received the first alpha reader feedback for Point of Extraction. Jonah H was the Fiverr freelancer who provided the feedback, and if you need alpha feedback, I highly recommend him. I’ve worked with him before, and he only seems to be getting better.
The short version is that I botched the ending of Point of Extraction. There’s no sugar-coating it. I blew it. The sad part? I planned to not blow it. I had planned to end Point of Extraction a certain way, and I didn’t end it that way.
Do you know what’s funny? I started Resistance Movement, the second book, almost as if I had finished Point of Extraction the right way. It’s like my brain bet I’d catch on before publishing. And it did — but only after Jonah H pointed it out.
I’ve already sketched the changes I need to make, but I’m waiting for the second alpha feedback from Stephanie F. She and Jonah’s areas of expertise compliment each other, and I want to consider feedback from both before making the changes. I should get Stephanie F’s feedback this coming Friday. I hope to have Summer Foovay’s feedback in the same timeframe. This is the first time I’ve contracted with her for an alpha read, and I’m looking forward to reading her perspective.
For alpha and beta feedback, I want a diverse group of editors who all share a love of science fiction. I also want them to rip the book apart if it deserves it. Which is why I appreciated Jonah H’s feedback on Point of Extraction.
Once I finish rework on Point of Extraction, I’ll ripple any needed changes through Resistance Movement. I think there will be a few minor changes; nothing substantial. Only then will I feel like I’m in the right frame of mind to finish plotting Lines of Operation.
I think I need to think of this stage less as something that I need to finish. Instead, I need to look at it as a chance to discover the plot and character motivations — basically, an exercise in fun and, dare I say it, joy. Only then can I write quickly and with the nuance needed to bring those things to life.
First Rating for Special Recon
I had hoped to have more ratings by now. I’m selling about the same number of copies of Special Recon after its release as compared to release of The Sword of Sirius Book 1: Red Flag Warning. But the latter had more reviews in the first month. This launch, despite it being the best planned to date, felt harder.
Oh, the rating? It was a three.
Is Special Recon a 3? Well, by the scale of that reader, yes. Being the first rating, it had a disproportionate impact on me. I launched a review of possible reasons for Special Recon earning a 3. The possibilities I examined included:
- It did, in fact, deserve a 3
- I marketed to the wrong audience, and the story did not meet their expectations, so from that perspective, it’s a 3
- I did not write to market, and a 3 is the market’s comment
- There’s something I don’t know going on
When I think about #1, there’s not much I can do about it now. Special Recon is the best story I could write at the time. I’m not going to rewrite it (though I do plan to issue another edition with the typographical corrections I discovered while working on the Amazon Virtual Voice audiobook). So if it’s a 3 star story, it’s going to remain a 3 star story.
I ran into a bit of good luck that’ll help me quantify options 2 and 3. Chris Fox just published a video called Covers Sell Books. Toward the end of the video, he offered to review a writer’s published covers and blurbs on Amazon in the context of their genres. I reached out to him and got a quote. To put this into context: Chris Fox wrote Write to Market. He is one of the leading experts in the indie publishing space. He became an expert by working up through the ranks. And he enjoys helping others learn, too.
He’s going to look at Evolution’s Hand, The Sword of Sirius, and Dreams of Deucalion. I’m looking forward to getting Mr. Fox’s feedback.
Progress against Last Week’s Goals
Here’s how I did against this week’s goals:
- Finish plotting Wayland’s Hammer Book 3: Lines of Operation. Finish casting new characters and building new sets. Paused. I want to rework the first two books first. I want book 3 to perfectly cap the story. I did get most of the new characters cast.
- Receive at least one of the three alpha reads for Wayland’s Hammer Book 1: Point of Departure. Done.
- Finish preparing two more chapters for Red Flag Warning’s audiobook. Done! I need to rework my Adobe Audition workflow. I’ll talk more about that next week.
- Finish preparing two more chapters for Special Recon’s audiobook. Done! I actually finished 4 chapters this week.
- Evaluate tweaks to my Amazon ads with an emphasis on finally figuring out how to get keyword ads to work for my stories. Ongoing. I’m generating more sales now through Amazon, and I’m trying to develop the procedure to monitor and optimize performance.
Goals for the Week in Progress Report 2025 Week 34
Here’s what I hope to accomplish this week:
- My workflow for Adobe Audition means I have to split out the chapters first, then edit them. I want to mark ten chapters this week in preparation for splitting.
- Review/edit four more audio chapters for Special Recon.
- Analyze feedback from Chris Fox’s review of my covers and blurbs.
- Analyze alpha feedback from one (possibly two) other alpha readers.
- Continue to monitor my Amazon keyword ad.
What Do You Think?
How do you evaluate how well your covers and blurbs match your genre? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments!
