Back From Novel Interrupts

WILD DAWN (New cover):

Kidnapped and freezing in a mountain cabin, high-born Lady Regina is terrified when the mountain man arrives with his baby son. MacGregor needs a woman to care for his son and he's offering marriage, or she can be left to die.

A man scarred by his own past and devoted to his baby, MacGregor isn't willing to be tamed to her hand; she isn't the docile wife he'd planned. But this mountain man is in hot pursuit, determined to keep his wife and baby safe, and is surprisingly tender, more appealing by the minute.

With another powerful man hunting her, wanting to possess her and the legendary power that is hers, Indian wars circling them, MacGregor and Regina struggle against terrifying dangers, passion, and love in a wild new dawn...

~**~ 

It's foggy outside my office this morning, a perfect time for reflection on the new year and goals. After a few months of having Novel and Book Biz Interruptus, I'm back at my desk. (The holidays were a very busy time.) During this time, there has been very little actual writing.

FWIW, I'm enjoying the indie side of publishing after years of being legacy published. I didn't realize, at the beginning of this indie publishing gig, how much work it would be to get my new and reverted novels into epub. Some writers choose not to do it: either they will go with a publisher or they will hire someone to do the work. It's all a matter of personal choices. But I've always been a hands-on person. (Translate that as one who admittedly likes control.)

One of the important criteria for developing a writer's career is not often mentioned. And that is stamina/endurance. We only have so much creative and physical energy. Past those limitations, we stand to lose creative (and promotional) ground/quality.

Still. The holidays. Sigh. Enjoyed them with family, but had to step back. Thus, Novel Interruptus.

Business and contact with writer friends/groups serve to stimulate the Taking Care of Business mode.

In case you've gone through this, the first thing you have to do is to make a priority list. That will depend on where you left off and what is most necessary. Here's my current list:

1. Add links to my e-books.When you first start indie publishing, you don't have links to add other than your website, blog, newsletter etc. As each new book comes along, you add the previous book's links.This is highly recommended by all promoters. If publishers put links to the author's social media, website, etc., it would help promote the books. Instead, most want the reader to come to their website.
2. Update covers. I can do basic graphic work, but also use designers. Wild Dawn, a western romance is a redo. (BTW, Wild Dawn is unusual for that subgenre.)
3. I'm adding more indy books to iBooks and Kobo. Kindle and Nook have most of them.
4. Update my Facebook pages.

The above is all busy work, having little to do with writing. But it does start the wheels turning.

After that comes Goals:

1. Somewhere at the bottom of the list, I'm going to learn CreateSpace formatting.
2. Updating the links on my blog/website, i.e. iBooks.

3. Use all my how-to write articles in a book.

If I can catch up minimally on my links, covers etc., hopefully I can get back to writing because one book is not far from completion, the second in a series. It has waited all this time....