I made a discovery about my audiobook sales, and at the very least, it means I’m not completely crazy. Taken by itself, anyway. I conducted a test of which approach caught the most errors between my own read-aloud, the MacOS read-aloud, and a ProWritingAid pass. What I found was disappointing and predictable. Progress continues on remaking the covers for Evolution’s Hand, and I’m trying to re-create the manuscripts (paperback and ebook) with a minor update. I have some new plans for that series once all that’s done! But before we talk about any of that, let’s look at the key performance indicators.
Last Week’s Progress By the Numbers
I’m making progress on all fronts except the new book!
I wrapped up the MacOS read-aloud pass of Wayland’s Hammer Book 2: Resistance Movement. I felt hopeful after that. I caught a lot of errors — and I mean a lot — during that pass. I had really hoped that I had caught enough that my ProWritingAid pass would come back clean.
Spoiler: it did not come back clean.
ProWritingAid found actual errors in grammar. Having MacOS read it back to me found different kinds of errors. I should have realized this. There’s a difference between copy editing, line editing, and proofreading. The MacOS read-aloud covered the first two. ProWritingAid helped with the last. I’ll still need a human proofreader, of course, because ProWritingAid isn’t perfect. For example, it wanted me to “correct” the word “couldn’t’ve” to “thave.” But I can’t skip that phase.
So, it looks like I’ll have to continue the read-aloud the day after I write a chapter (both to find stuff and to get my head back into the flow). Then I’ll let the manuscript sit for a month to six weeks before I push it through MacOS and ProWritingAid. The good news is that my alpha and beta readers should get cleaner manuscripts. My proofreader will, too, which means I won’t overwhelm her by sheer number of errors! The bottom line is that my readers should get the best books I’m capable of writing with a minimum number of errors.
Amazon Audiobook Sales
Remember last week when I discussed how my audiobook sales ranking was higher than a comparable book, even though I didn’t have any reported sales? Well, Author’s Republic updated last week. It shows I did, in fact, sell audiobook copies through Amazon in January. In fact, my audiobook sales were 25% of my ebook and paperback sales.
At least it proves I’m not crazy. I really did see something unusual in the data.
I’m still going to wait until the end of April before I make a decision on moving forward with the last two audiobooks for The Sword of Sirius. I’m also considering how to move forward with an audio version of Dreams of Deucalion, Wayland’s Hammer, and, potentially, Evolution’s Hand. I really don’t want to pursue AI narration, but I don’t want to invest my own time in either recording or managing a bidding process. Also, it’s not like I’m made of cash. I can’t pay to have the whole thing done, and even with revenue sharing, I’d still have to pay up-front to any interest, especially with my Amazon rankings.
The only thing keeping me from pursing an agent or trad publishing is the thought that I’d have to take orders from someone. I’m way past the point in my life where I want to deal with that kind of grief. So, I’ll have to figure this out.
Re-Covering and Re-Generating
I have the new covers for Evolution’s Hand books one through six, as well as the cover for the first collection, Earthbound. I just approved the design for the second collection, Sirius Rising. So, by the end of this week, I should have all the new covers.
I took the advice of ProWritingAid’s AI-drive marketing analysis and added the character names to the chapter titles. That wasn’t the only reason. I also thought it was a good idea. I saw how effective that technique was in James S. A. Corey’s The Expanse novels.
For Unnatural Crypsis, I asked Miblart to make the spaceships a little more alien-y than what I’ve used before. I like the tentacles and alternate propulsion system they added.
I’m reading the fourth Expanse novel, Cibola Burn, now. The three previous books kept me mesmerized. This one’s doing the same thing. Rich worlds, interesting characters, and new takes on tropes — all good stuff. I figure if character names in the chapter titles works for them, it might work for me. At the very least, in a book like Evolution’s Hand Book 1: Executive Action, where there are six POV characters, it might help the readers know what they’re getting into.
After I re-generate all six novels and two collections, I’ll upload them to Amazon. I’ll probably do one per day (ebook and paperback). I’ll also upload them to Draft2Digital. Finally, I’ll follow the path I blazed with The Sword of Sirius and upload them on Google Play. Might was well make them available everywhere! That’s a new step. For some reason, I had in my mind that Draft2Digital uploaded to Google. Turns out at one point, they did. But they stopped for “customer experience” issues.
Progress Against Last Week’s Goals
Here’s how I did against last week’s goals:
- Finish the MacOS read-aloud pass for Wayland’s Hammer Book 2: Resistance Movement: Done!
- Complete 70% of the ProWritingAid pass for Wayland’s Hammer Book 2: Resistance Movement: Done! I actually completed it. It’s in the hands of alpha testers now.
- Craft and deploy the March ad campaign for The Sword of Sirius: Done! Sales are already ahead of the last revision; we’ll if that holds true.
- Continue kicking around ideas for the next books: Ongoing
- Prepare at least one ebook and print edition of Evolution’s Hand for re-launch: Done! I still have a few more to go.
Goals for the Week in Progress Report 2026 Week 09
Here’s what I hope to accomplish this week:
- Finish 75% of the MacOS read-aloud phase of Wayland’s Hammer Book 3: Lines of Operation
- Complete updating the manuscripts for Evolutions Hand, including the collections, for re-upload
- Upload at least Evolution’s Hand Book 1: Executive Action with the new cover to Amazon and Draft2Digital; set up the series Evolution’s Hand in the Google Play store (it takes some time for the series to become active; then I can add the novels)
- Continue kicking around ideas for the next books
- Wait for the alpha feedback to come back (should take about two weeks)
What Do You Think?
Have you determined the minimum number of drafts you need before your manuscript is ready? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments.
