So last week, I completed the final draft of my first novel, Illusions. I had spent the previous 2 and half weeks in a heightened state of stress. I barely slept, was dealing with the busiest 2 weeks of the year in my corporate role in the lead-up to the end of the financial year (I work in insurance), and I chose that time to set myself a ridiculous deadline of getting the final edit done. I'm clearly all about driving myself into the ground, lol.
I ended up running a couple of days over my self-imposed deadline, as this all coincided with my husband heading to the US for work for 11 nights, so I was also solo parenting a six-year-old. It was a lot.
But I did it! And that feeling was amazing when I hit send on the emails to my editor and beta readers to look over and give me the final feedback.
But what that meant was, it was time to switch from writer mode to publishing mode... The part that has been terrifying me the most. There is so much to learn, so I have been educating myself by listening to podcasts, following other Indie Authors on Instagram and watching Youtube videos. But the one thing I invested in was signing up for a course that is set up to teach people the best way to get out there, the platforms to use, and programs designed to format your books. It has been a godsend finding the course and the Facebook group attached to it, as it has helped to be able to throw questions out there to those who have been doing this for years.
I have always been one to learn by doing, but that is usually when I've got someone sitting beside me, giving me directions. At the moment, I'm still fighting through the terror that has been bubbling around inside of me, but I'm determined to do this right, so I've been keeping lists, writing goals, and setting up a business plan for myself. Everything I've read has taught me that I won't make it big off of the first book, or even the second or third that are planned for this series. But I have several series planned in my head, and I'm in this for the long game. I might not have someone sitting beside me, but I have plenty of avenues to turn down when I have questions, and that's pretty damn awesome.
The podcasts I've been turning to:
Course that I've signed up for
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