Hello Everyone!
A bit late for 2024, but I aim to have a more structured and planned out year than 2023. Last year felt like a lot of meandering where I wasn’t very focused on my writing and my book writing stagnated because of it. But I want to make 2024 different. I want to try and make this year a better year for me as an author. For that to happen, however, I need a plan of action to follow. I need to set deadlines for myself to follow but also a general timeline in case life happens and the dates need to change. But I think I have the major goals for the year figured out.
1. Publishing book 3, The Legend of Nariko: Hellfire Rising
The original goal was to publish my third book by December 2023 but that unfortunately didn’t happen. I did manage to finish writing the first draft around September which I was pretty happy about however I realized I was unhappy with how a third of the book turned out. As a result, through two edited versions, I was able to create a better story overall. Now I’m currently working on the final revision before I send it to my editor which will hopefully be by the end of the month. I still have to work on the cover art but at this point I’m aiming for a tentative publication date around the second half of March or in April.
2. Finishing the first draft of book 4 of The Legend of Nariko series
I recognize that 2023 was a year that I focused more on improving myself as an artist and, for the most part, I think I managed to achieve that. The problem though was that, while I improved as an artist, my writing suffered as a consequence. I want to make sure that 2024 is a balance tilted more towards writing as that is the most important thing to me. Admittedly it can be rather difficult I find and I strangely have to rebuild that habit of writing every day. But I’m hoping that I can finish the first draft of book 4 this year.
3. Reformatting the blog and sticking to schedule
This blog has become a weekly part of my life for a few years now and, while I do like the look of it, I do feel that it is a bit outdated. It also doesn’t help that it’s not exactly easy to see any of my past content, especially the previous book reviews I’ve done (I’ve been really bad at updating that page). I want to make sure that this blog is a good representation of myself as an author and reviewer considering it’s one of the first impressions I have on people who look me up. I want to make sure that I give both an informative and professional impression of myself as an author.
4. Actually do proper marketing for my books
A big thing I realized last year is that, while I’ve managed to sell a lot of copies of my books, it’s been rather inconsistent. I noticed that was the case as 2023’s numbers was only just over half of 2022’s numbers. My goal isn’t necessarily to make a lot of money (as nice as that would be) but moreso to get my books out there to people. Most importantly, however, is making sure my books also go out to people who would enjoy them. Part of my experience as a book reviewer has taught me that stories are a very subjective thing and knowing your target audience is crucial to one’s success as an author. It’s also something I realized is a sign that I’m not giving enough care and attention to my books if I’m not bothering to do any proper marketing effort for them, something that I want to correct in 2024.
5. Publish new and more professional editions of books 1 and 2 of The Legend of Nariko series
There’s an old saying of “don’t judge a book by it’s cover” and while the metaphorical meaning can hold true, often the literal meaning of it doesn’t. Most of us, myself included, judge a book by it’s cover as the first indicator that it’s something we’d enjoy reading. Learning and growing in any field has a level of recognition that there will be stumbles and mistakes made along the way. I still remember to this day the best improvement I made for my books and for me as an author came from a reviewer who privately emailed me and explained why she wouldn’t review my book. It had nothing to do with the content itself but rather the presentation. The formatting was awful and unprofessional, not following industry standards and in that sense not following the expectations people would have book of any kind. With that in mind, I want to publish new editions of my first two books that have a more professional feel to them but also give a proper impression of what the story is about. We only get to make a first impression once and I want to make sure my work is represented in the best way possible.
My improvement as an artist has really helped me to finally create a book cover that feels like a proper representation of the story I wrote. Nariko’s story is very dark, mysterious and foreboding and the previous cover never felt like it truly represented that. The art for this cover is done but I’m still reviewing the typography for the book title to see if there might be something more appropriate I can have so it’s still subject to minor changes.
As always, anyone whose purchased one of the previous editions of my books before the new editions go live can reach me at RaphaelTheAuthor@gmail.com for a free copy to be shipped to them. It’s my way of saying thanks for giving my books a shot. 😊
Thank you all for your patience with what was a rather inconsistent 2023. Here’s hoping that we make 2024 a far better year!
– Raphael
Raph's Cozy Musings 