SquarePeg Books

Things are. . . . frustrating, right now. Part of it stems from my own lack of discipline to keep to a writing schedule. Part of that is I HAVE TO constantly use the “writing time” for things that absolutely cannot wait, like doctors appointments for the kids or job interviews or whatever. The majority of it is that I’m just having difficulties SITTING DOWN AND DOING IT.

Not that it bothers me.

Yes, you would think that I would be able to just make-up that time, but the ol’ noggin ain’t what it used to be. If I blow my energy on a job interview, or on driving lessons and trying to be upbeat and positive for my kid who is not, then it’s gone for the day. I can putter about, but the focus is shot.

I’m told this will improve with time, but how much time is not something that can be predicted.

Current life/family stress unrelated to the holidays is extremely high, so that probably isn’t helping.

But what have we achieved this month, in the indie biz?

It turns out the corrections I made for IngramSpark to deposit direct were insufficient, so we have submitted edited details (again) and we’ll have to wait for a another month (again) to find out if those changes take. If you hear an agonized scream in the distance while reading this, you will know that those changes didn’t work either, and I am now contemplating violence.

I have had to tear apart and put back together the fantasy manuscript so many times, I’m about to quit writing altogether. I am about ready to burn this book, it’s been that much of a pain in the ass for formatting. I should’ve known this one was going to be a turd when the first one went almost seamlessly.

I’ve discovered that when book Returns exceed book Sales, then you, the author, have to cut a check to the publishing company for the sales they lost, even if they haven’t paid you for that month yet. Someone in the UK bought 24 paperback copies in July, and returned 23 of them in October.

That is also irritating.

It is also brings up a point to consider in my publishing strategy– should I just continue on pushing out one book a year, or would it behoove  me to shove out everything I have in the queue at one time? My pondering on that has led me to believe that continuing on the slow and steady path is probably the best, although the job situation in our household isn’t making things easier–our bad habits for eating regularly and sleeping indoors are catching up to us.

But we have made progress. We are hoping the fantasy book will be out by spring break, and maybe that will change things up in my head, a bit.