After I reach “the end” of a project, it’s time to work on the next.
I just finished writing the first novel in my new Savagespace sci-fi saga. There are 6 total novels plotted for this series. With Alliances done, there are 5 more to go.
Not counting my non-fiction – this is my 16th finished novel. While 12 have been published – 2 are now waiting to be sent to an editor, Alliances needs an edit by me, and the second Vapor Rogues novel has been done for a while – I just haven’t edited it myself (and, frankly, Clouds of Authority needs a new cover and some other restructuring).
There are multiple choices for what I could do next. I need to edit Alliances. But I also need to work out how to get the last Void Incursion novel, Check and Mate, and the third Source Chronicles novel, Harbinger, to an editor. Both need cover art, too.
By no means am I done writing. I have 5 more Savagespace novels to go, and I planned a new 4-book arc for Forgotten Fodder (and have ideas for another arc or two after that). Of course, I have 2 more Source Chronicles novels to write and might want to continue the Vapor Rogues, too.
Since “the end” is not the end – there are choices and decisions to make for what comes next.
This raises the question – what do I do now?
11+ choices and decisions for after “the end”
A year and a half ago, I wrote an article called I Finished my Project! What’s Next?
In this article, I offer 11+ steps after reaching “the end” of a project. I’m going to share them once again here.
They are:
Step 1: You finished your work – celebrate!
Congratulate yourself. You did it! Lots of other people have tried and failed – but you succeeded. Celebrate “the end” in a joyful way.
Step 2: Decide if you will share your work
Is this a finished writing project you want to share with the world – or keep to yourself? If you want to keep it to yourself, skip ahead to Step 11. If you intend to self-publish – or go the traditional route – read on.
Step 3: Edit and format your work
I read through my finished novels aloud. I do this with EVERYTHING I write, both fiction and nonfiction. Hence, every blog article gets read aloud for editing before I post it.
Then, you may want to do some formatting. I, for example, knowing that my books will be 6 x 9, put them into their final format and break down chapters as such.
The following is an optional step:
Step 3a: Send your work to beta readers
Beta readers are not editors, but may provide some basic proofreading. They can also help you realize plot holes, inconsistencies, and provide feedback to strengthen your work.
Step 4: Submit your work to an editor
Having a polished work is important. This applies to both self-publishing and traditional publishing.
In my experience, how much you pay for an editor is not a reflection of their skill. Ergo, an editor that charges $250 per 50,000 words may be just as good or better than an editor charging $1000 per 50,000 words. And yes, the range is THAT broad.
Step 5: Go over your editor’s edits of your finished work
Editors are not infallible. They miss stuff. Also, sometimes, they edit things in a way that doesn’t work for you (dialogue, prophecies, technobabble, invented words, etc).
If you are self-publishing, skip ahead to Step 7.
Step 6: Submit your finished work to an agent or publisher
You WILL most likely be rejected. More than once. I tried to go this route myself for over 10 years unsuccessfully before I decided to self-publish.
The upside is you can skip most (but not all) of the following steps when you go the traditional route of publishing.
Step 7: Get a cover made
Despite not judging a book by its cover – people totally judge books by their covers. Thus, make sure your cover is great.
Step 8: Format your finished work for Kindle/eReaders and paperback
For both eReaders and paperbacks, this is where you add forward material, dedications, tables of contents, acknowledgments, about the author, glossaries, and so on.
Step 8a: Pre-publish your finished work
Rather than just putting your work out there – there is something to be said for giving yourself time to do promotional work and advertising before the book publishes.
The choice to pre-publish is a matter of how you do your marketing. This brings us to the next (and often scariest) step:
Step 9: Publish!
I have used Amazon’s KDP for all my self-publishing. But I have also used Apple books and Smashwords for a couple of works.
There are other formats and options available for self-publishing. A Google search for self-publishing options will help you with this.
Step 10: Market your finished work
Marketing is a complex, complicated process. But there are lots and lots of tools available for it.
Marketing doesn’t start AFTER publishing – it tends to start before. Talk about your upcoming work on social media, share it with friends, and then ask them to share, too.
Okay, done, right? Not quite. One last step. And probably the most important step:
Step 11: Write the next work
To be fair, for some people it’s a matter of one and done. You wrote the book, that’s all you had in you, done.
But for me, “the end” is not the end. There are more books to write, blogs to compose, and other writing to share with the world.
“The end” is only the end if I choose it to be
This is a choice. As a creator, are you done after the first? Or will there be more?
To be fair – this can be super challenging. I’ve now written and published 12 sci-fi and fantasy novels. I have more plotted and others in the can, but unfinished. And I am not yet making a sufficient income via my writing (and that’s part of the publishing delay this year. Despite 2 books ready to be edited – setting aside money for an editor and a cover artist is proving a bit challenging).
But I write because I love to write. What’s more, I have so many more ideas to share with the world. The end is not “the end” – it’s just one more finished work.
I plan to keep writing as long as I draw breath – because this is my passion and my love.
What do I do now?
I have writing, editing, and marketing to do. It never ends – because I never desire for it to end.
I hope that you enjoy reading my work as much as I enjoy writing it.
Thank you for being part of my audience – and my inspiration. Hopefully, this inspires you to actively choose how to proceed when you reach “the end” of some project or other.
What do you do when a project you work on has reached “the end”?
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