Posted on by hrchow12

2024 Author Year in Review (that might be a touch too honest)



It’s time again for the end-of-the-year writing review. This is where I try to zoom out and look at the year from a thousand feet up, see the forest instead of the trees etc etc. Mainly, I’m trying to assess if I hit my goals, areas I could improve, and get a feel for what to aim for in 2025.

To be perfectly honest, in many ways, 2024 was not the writing year I hoped it would be. There were a quite a few disappointments and realizations behind the scenes that I’m still grappling with. But this year also held some fun surprises I wasn’t expecting too, so overall, it was definitely a mixed bag.

So what does that mean for 2025? Well, let’s dig into 2024 and see if we can take a guess.

first, the numbers

  • Words written: 67,000 (Exit Seats) + 31,000 (A Churn in the Dark novella) + 83,000 (Into the Abyss) + 35,000 (my half of Borrowed Magic & Other Catastrophes, coauthored with E.P. Stavs) + 40,000 (Surprise Novella, Title TBA) + 20,000 (House of the Chosen, still drafting) + 9,500 (still drafting Odds & Ends with E.P. Stavs = 285,500 words (+89% from last year)
  • Words revised: 67,000 (Exit Seats) + 31,000 (A Churn in the Dark) + 83,000 (Into the Abyss) + 70,000 (Borrowed Magic & Other Catastrophes) + 40,000 (Surprise Novella) = 291,000 (-10% from last year)
  • Words published: 94,000 (Into the Fire) + 32,000 (A Churn in the Dark) = 126,000 (-30% from last year)
  • Words on sub: 83,000 (Ninth Circle) + 76,000 (Midnight Falls) = 159,000 words (+55% from last year)
  • 2024 Total Words Worked: 861,500 (+8% from last year)

Sales Numbers: ~589 self-published books sold (-28% from last year, includes audiobooks but not my titles with Whimsical Publishing). Another 9,523 downloaded for free. (-58% last year’s count)

And the Goodreads numbers.

  • Odriel’s Heirs: 259 ratings (+19%) / 4.24 stars
  • Burning Shadows: 40 ratings (+25%) / 4.65 stars
  • Idriel’s Children: 82 ratings (+17%) / 4.44 stars
  • Night of Ash: 28 ratings (+17%) / 4.64 stars
  • Time’s Orphan: 91 ratings (+23%) / 4.62 stars
  • The Gatekeeper of Pericael: 103 ratings (+5%) / 4.10 stars
  • Into the Churn: 338 ratings (+139%) / 4.25 stars
  • Into the Fire: 72 ratings / 4.60 stars
  • A Churn in the Dark: 15 ratings / 4.80 stars
  • Into the Abyss: 4 ratings / 5 stars

    My Goodreads total: 1036 ratings (+57%) / 4.34 stars

If you want to compare the totals to last year more directly, my 2023 summary is here.

As far as words go, I think my efficiency is higher than ever, and it certainly shows. I drafted a ton this year… to the point I was actually asking myself why I was pushing myself to move so fast.

Sales-wise, I worked my arse off promoting my Into the Churn series which had two releases this year, and so my self-published backlist naturally took a backseat in the promotion realm. The consistent downloads all year have been cool, but I think in 2025, I’ll try to snag another BookBub deal to really capitalize on the king of all promos.

the highlights

  • Into the Churn books #2.5, #3, and [redacted] were all greenlit! When I was writing Into the Fire (Into the Churn #2) I thought I’d have to settle for a duology, so this was huge news. Sales and interest really jumped with the cover rebrand, and I’m so thrilled we got to give this series the ending it deserves.
  • The Into the Churn series got an *amazing* audiobook adaption
  • The Ninth Circle & Midnight Falls went on sub! Being on submission is a journey, but I’m so lucky to have my amazing agent, Kristen Terrette from Martin Literary, to champion my books, and I’m excited to see where the journey takes these stories.
  • Several of my books won awards! Odriel’s Heirs won the 2024 YA IndieReader Discovery Awards, and each book in the trilogy one an Indie BRAG medallion. Idriel’s Children was A Wishing Shelf Book Award Silver Medal Winner, and The Gatekeeper of Pericael was a Literary Titan Gold Winner and a finalist in the 2024 International Readers’ Favorite Awards. Meanwhile Time’s Orphan was a bronze medalist in the 2024 International Readers’ Favorite Awards, a semifinalist in the 2024 book blogger novel of the year awards, and a semifinalist in the 2024 kindle book awards.
  • This year I joined the WriteHive team as a mentor in their mentorship program, and I’m so excited to pay forward everything I’ve picked up from the writing community.

What I learned

  • At this stage of the game in promoting my backlist, if it’s not a BookBub Promo, it’s probably not worth it. I’ve tried so many other newsletters and promotions, but they really just don’t measure up. However, I think I’m reaching the point in my backlist lifespan where I just kind of let them coast along and focus on promoting my current releases.
  • This year I entered quite a few book awards as I try to figure out which ones are worth entering. These remain my favorites:
  • So, last year, I listed social media, my newsletter, and this blog as all areas I maybe needed to grow in. I gotta tell ya though. Right now, I’m kind of at peace with the fact that I’ve consistently posted this year. I’m still on the look out for any epiphanies that may happen upon me, but I can exist in marathon (not sprint) mode, and I think that’s okay. Also, my newsletter subscribers increased by 60% and my website views increased 31% so that was pretty solid.
  • While I love working on sequels/series, and I 100% see the value in them, I’ll be real, releasing them isn’t as exciting. They’re harder to individually market, because you’re not courting new readers with a brand new book ripe with possibility, rather, you’re courting the readers who loved book one. (A much smaller population.) Which is all to say, I’ll be so stoked when the entire Into the Churn series is out there in September and I can market it as a completed unit. (Squee!!)

The bumps

  • Being on submission is mentally tougher than I thought it would be. There, I said it. I’m writing a separate post on why I think this is the case, but kin, I was not prepared. I think next year I need to slow down and take more time for my mental health to be able to shoulder this better.
  • So… I had a “stepping backward” moment with one of my manuscripts which was super disappointing. In the end, I had to make a decision in line with my values that unfortunately, also meant losing out an opportunity I was really looking forward to. I don’t regret the decision, but I think I’m still mourning the loss. I really can’t give the details, but just… blah.

Goals

All right, 2025, what are we going to do with you? As always, I try to keep my goals measurable and attainable. (Goal small. Dream big.) Last year I’m proud to say I hit all of my goals (Though I did not write the specific two next books itching at my brain… because sequel and co-WIPs jumped in front of them) So for 2025 I’m aiming to…

  • Get Into the Abyss out into the world in March and [redacted] out into the world in September to put a bow on the Into the Churn series.
  • Finish my two current drafts (House of the Chosen & the Odds & Ends co-WIP) and send to my agent.
  • Write the next book for Whimsical and send it their way!

With those details now, let’s zoom out. 2024 was an… unexpected year for me. I walked into 2024 thinking I would write the two books I had outlined, and instead I wrote *four* completely different ones. (Three sequels & a co-WIP) And while I’m happy with that, I think there’s still a part of me that’s desperate to write those other two books I’ve been daydreaming about.

Being on submission was harder than expected, and in a way, I’m half-expecting 2025 to be a make or break year for me. Also, the manuscript “step back” situation behind the scenes also hit me harder than expected. But no one said the journey would be a straight line or without bumps along the way.

With that in mind, I may try to purposely slow down, and make sure I’m taking more breaks for my mental health.

The sum up

So after last year’s effervescent wrap-up, I’m worried I’ve been too real with this one. But if I just want to give an accurate look at the ups and downs at the writing journey, this is all part of it.

It’s kind of funny because both my kids had a tough soccer season this year in the bottom of their age groups, and we discussed that sometimes we have learning years and sometimes we have performing years. Similarly, writing-wise, last year felt like a performing year for me, while this year felt more like a working year. It takes the working years to make the performing years happen, but that does not mean they are all equally exciting.

That said, I’m also very prepared for 2025 to be a working year too. Still, I’m here for it with tenacity to spare, and I’m excited to see what stories spill onto the page this year. Thanks for reading and cheers to another year of adventures!

Posted on by hrchow12

2023 Author Year in Review



Every year around this time, I try to take a step back and see how my writing year went. Did I accomplish my goals from last year? Was I productive? Did I grow? How can I do better next year?

Just at a glance, I can say without question that 2023 has been the biggest year for my small-potatoes writing career to date. Honestly, I’m still blown away, but I’m so excited to break it down and see if I can take a guess at what 2024 might hold.

So let’s get into it!

first, the numbers

  • Words written: 97,500 (Into the Fire+bonus chapters) + 17,000 (Exit Seats Zero Draft) + 36,250 (My half of the co-authored Midnight Falls) = 150,750 words (-30% from last year)
  • Words revised: 97,500 (Into the Fire) + 72,500 (Midnight Falls) + 71,500 (Inky & Heater IRL) + 83,000 (The Ninth Circle) = 324,500 words (+20% from last year)
  • Words published: 77,500 (Time’s Orphan) + 101,000 (Into the Churn+bonus chapters) = 178,500 (8x last year)
  • Words queried: 71,500 (Inky & Heater IRL) = 71,500 words (-60% from last year, but I signed with an AGENT!😱)
  • So moving forward, instead of words queried, I’ll tally words on sub (😱!): 71,500 (Inky & Heater IRL)
  • 2023 Total Words Worked: 796,750 words (+5% from last year)

Sales Numbers: ~816 self-published books sold (+16% from last year, includes audiobooks but not my title with Whimsical Publishing). Another ~22,457 downloaded for free. (112x last year’s count)

And the Goodreads numbers.

  • Odriel’s Heirs: 217 ratings (+30%) / 4.17 stars
  • Burning Shadows: 32 ratings (+88%) / 4.72 stars
  • Idriel’s Children: 70 ratings (+40%) / 4.43 stars
  • Night of Ash: 24 ratings (2.7x) / 4.75 stars
  • Time’s Orphan: 74 ratings (9.3x) / 4.57 stars
  • The Gatekeeper of Pericael: 98 ratings (+17%) / 4.12 stars
  • Into the Churn: 141 ratings (35.25x) / 4.38 stars
  • My Goodreads total: 659 ratings (+93%) / 4.36 stars

If you want to compare the totals to last year more directly, my 2022 summary is here. For many, these are still very small numbers, but this was a HUGE growth for me as far as exposure. And words-wise, it looks like I just about matched 2022, which is a consistency I’m super happy with, especially considering all the other exciting developments that happened this year!

the highlights

  • I SIGNED WITH AN AGENT!!! This was seriously a dream come true for me. After querying my YA Romance, Inky & Heater IRL, I got *3* agent offers and signed with the brilliant Kristen Terrette from Martin Literary. I am STILL processing.
  • And then Inky & Heater IRL went on sub! This was a huge step in my writing journey, and I’m so excited to see where this YA Romance goes next!
  • Several of my books won awards! Odriel’s Heirs was a silver medalist in 2022 International Readers’ Favorite Awards, A Wishing Shelf Book Award Bronze Medal Winner, and a Literary Titan Gold Winner. Idriel’s Children was a semi-finalist in both the 2023 Book Blogger Novel of the Year Award and the 2023 Kindle Book Awards. And The Gatekeeper of Pericael got an Indie BRAG Medallion.
  • I made the game-changing realization that I could price-match my books on Amazon for the sake of Bookbub promotions of free books (thank you to the amazing Carol Beth Anderson for showing me how this is done.) I cannot under-emphasize what a huge difference this made for me. For reference, I had 20,301 units ordered from Amazon alone this year, bringing me to a lifetime total of 30,874 since I published my first book in March 2020. So basically, I *tripled* the combined exposure I accumulated from 2020-2022 in a single year. After my free BookBub promotion, I kept the first book of my Odriel’s Heirs series free, which then triggered enough sales of the later books to generate more profit this year than in any other year since I’ve started publishing. And I will *definitely* be continuing to use BookBub free promotions in 2024.
  • I had my first ever in-person author events, readers actually came, and someone made me an Into the Churn bracelet. 😭 Into the Churn actually got onto the shelf of The Hidden Lantern and a Barnes and Noble. 🤩 Bucket-list item. CHECK.
  • And while I’m gushing about amazing Into the Churn things that happened. A special edition was featured in the Unplugged bookbox and had dyed edges and just a completely stunning design. I saw fanart from multiple readers, an amazing reader-made moodboard, there was an incredibly cinematic book trailer, @glamorouslyguilty cosplayed as Ezren, multiple readers messaged me how much my books meant to them, and in general, I just about died from happiness.
  • Into the Churn sold well enough that Whimsical Publishing greenlighted the sequel, Into the Fire, which is scheduled to launch in May 2024! I’ve been told ad nauseum that YA sci-fi doesn’t sell, but I can’t help but dream in trilogies, so this was SUCH an amazing surprise.
  • I co-authored a book with the incredible E.P. Stavs! Erin and I have been writing friends for awhile, and I’m a huge fan of her work, so it was so fun to create a story together! I really enjoyed our collaborative process and overall, we just had a blast with it. I can’t wait to see what 2024 has in store for our quirky paranormal, Midnight Falls!
  • My microfiction, When They’re Ready, got an honorable mention in the NYC Midnight 250-word challenge! So completely honored and blown away!

What I learned

  • Zero drafts (a dialogue-only draft written before the first draft that reads much like a screenplay) are my jam. I think I started this in 2022, but I totally honed this part of my process in 2023. In general, this is the year I really felt like I had my writing process down pat and really maximized efficiency with juggling WIPs.
  • BookBub Promos for free books are where it is AT, pricing the first book in a series at free is a fantastic marketing strategy for me, and I will be utilizing both of these epiphanies in 2024.
  • Entering book awards is very fulfilling for me and can result in some excellent feedback and I will continue to enter in the future. On the flip-side, I also invested in some recommended trade reviews, but I didn’t really find that to be worthwhile or satisfying in any way.
  • A street team is an effective and fun way to build hype for a book release. In 2023, I did this for the first time with Into the Churn, and we totally had a blast. I can’t wait to jump into it again with my Into the Fire team.
  • I was so much more consistent with my engagement on Instagram and Twitter this year. Although I didn’t get a big follower increase, overall, I was much more confident in just being myself, and on Instagram, I finally felt like I was striking a decent balance between getting the word out about my books and just being my bookish, weirdo self while not over-extending myself.
  • In-person events, while so fun and fulfilling, didn’t generate many sales for me. I think I still have a lot to learn about when and where to hold these to maximize efficacy.
  • YA sci-fi… is a hard sell. Boo. I hate that I have that I even have to put this on here, but I’m trying to be honest. When I first published YA sci-fi, I knew if it took off that I had enough sci-fi stories I was itching to write that I could happily specialize and build a brand as a YA sci-fi author. Unfortunately, despite the amazing feedback on the book itself, getting it out into the world and finding its reader niche has been difficult. Hopefully, I’ll update this with better news in 2024, but as of right now, (unless something miraculous happens with Into the Fire) I fully expect to be moving away from YA sci-fi for the forseeable future. However, while I do love sci-fi, since I’m a huge genre-hopper as a reader and a writer, this is just another bittersweet step in the journey. This past year, I’ve loved shaping up both my first YA romance and my first YA horror, and I’m excited to jump back into dark fantasy this spring. I’m still trying to find my brand, but this year I learned that I really do need to pay attention to the market as well if I want to my writing career to progress. Kind of a hard lesson to swallow but also an important one, and a learning opportunity I’m so grateful for.

What I still need to work on

  • BookTok. I should still probably try harder to get into this sphere, but I still feel like I haven’t the faintest idea how to attack that goliath. I am HERE for your suggestions.
  • Newsletter. Despite all the stuff that happened this year, I don’t know if I sent out a single newsletter update. Although I try only to send them out when I have book news, I definitely need to send them out more often then the ‘never’ frequency I’m approaching right now. I have a hard time with the fact that the number one thing I can do to decrease my subscribers is send out a newsletter. 😂
  • Odriel’s Heirs covers. This year I attempted (twice) to get a character art cover of Time’s Orphan to match the other two hardcovers of Odriel’s Heirs, but it didn’t work out. So I ended up taking all the hardcover versions down since I didn’t want to create incomplete sets. 😭 One day, I’d still like to get these as well as an amazing omnibus cover, and maybe even makeover Gatekeeper’s cover? But it’s probably more of a dream than a goal. If you have any amazing cover artists you’d like to shout out, I’d love to see their links!
  • This blog. I really don’t try to market this blog, write a lot of posts, or increase traffic and… maybe I should? I don’t know. Still waffling on this one.

Goals

So what next? As always, I try to keep my goals measurable and attainable. (Goal small. Dream big.) Last year I’m proud to say I hit 5/6 of my goals (but since Storybound Fest was cancelled, I didn’t get to check that one off.) And for this year I’m aiming to:

  • Get Into the Fire out into the world in May!
  • Finish my revision of Midnight Falls with E.P. Stavs and send it to my agent, Kristen, to see what she thinks!
  • Write the two next books itching at my brain!

Okay, I’m wrapping it up, I swear! Looking at the big picture, 2023 was a huge revision year for me, so I think that means 2024 will be a drafting year. Overall though, this has, by far, been my best writing year to date, and I’m so grateful for everyone who’ve believed in my books and made this possible: Whimsical Publishing, Kristen Terrette, E.P. Stavs, and everyone else who’ve taken the time to leave a book review or a kind word. Thank you so much. Your support truly means the world to me, and I wouldn’t be able to do this without you. Cheers to continuing this crazy journey in 2024. I can’t wait to see what happens next. As always, thanks so much for reading!

Thanks for the memories, 2023! Bring on 2024!
Posted on by hrchow12

My Writing Process from Idea to Final Draft

I received a request on Instagram to post about my writing process, so here we go! If you’re struggling to get started on a book or find your own rhythm, I hope you might find this useful, but please remember that everyone’s process is unique, and I encourage you to use whatever process feels right to you!

I also put how long I spend on each step so you can compare the level of effort between phases, but please keep in mind, that everyone’s pace is different. Also, that time estimate doesn’t include “thought time.” Believe me when I say I’m constantly thinking about these books, but as a full-time engineer and with two small kids, I try to be as efficent as possible. So when someone once told me that writing is “90% thought and 10% getting words down on paper,” it totally changed how I juggled works-in-progress (WIPs.)

I’m not the fastest writer and I’m not the slowest, but I’m a lot faster writer now than I was 12 books ago, some in part due to the streamlining of my process.

A plot seed


So, of course, it all starts with an idea. For me, they usually come at the most random times. When I’m about to fall asleep (looking at your Inky & Heater), in the middle of another book (Hi, Ninth Circle, thanks for being here), with a microfiction that just begs to be a novel. (Future Whimsical Title TBA, I’m talking about you here), or just an idea that’s been marinating for a long time. (Into the Churn series, this is you.)

No matter how it drops into my lap, I’m almost always in the middle of another writing project, and if I lose momentum, I suddenly turn into an upside-down turtle who has no idea how to get started again. So, I jot it into a doc and toss it into my folder called “Plot Seeds” along with any other specific notes.

The important note here is to WRITE THEM DOWN. Had a dream that could be a great book? Get out of bed and type them in the notes on your phone. They may not grow into anything, but if you forget them, they’ll never even have a chance. I have lots of plot seeds (at least 12+ sitting in the folder now), and many won’t grow beyond that, but at least they’re present and accessible. Some might even feed into elements of other books.

Ultimately though, if the plot seed is destined to become one of my book babies, then it’ll probably linger in my brain space—popping up during long drives and runs—and eventually, I’ll have too many details for a bullet. So, then we move to the next step.

Time: 2 minutes. You already have it in your head so just write it down!

Save the cat outline


At this point, I’m still probably juggling three other WIPs, so I don’t have time for this sucker, but I’ve GOT to get it on paper. So, I take out my Save the Cat beat sheet, write the one-page outline of whatever plot is keeping me from sleeping at night, and throw it in the plot seed folder.

*Cue sigh of relief.* Phew, that feels good.

Right now, I have five of these in my folder. I have doubts that I’ll write two of them for different reasons (I don’t feel super drawn to one and the other is a sci-fi, which I ADORE, but sci-fi is too hard of a sell right for me to justify it. And no, I’m still not over it.) But I’m desperate to write the other three, and two are on my schedule to be drafted in 2024.

The Save the Cat Outline lets them sit tight until it’s their turn to be drafted, and if any other details come to me at random times (character names, backstory, heck, I even have commissioned art in this folder, and character references for future art) I have somewhere to put them to keep safe until I’m ready.

Time: 1-2 hours. You’ve been thinking about it for a while, so it’s mostly fully fledged, just write it down so you don’t forget it.

percolate with playlists


So, now that I have a plot and probably have some idea of the characters, but its waiting its turn, now we help it percolate! Playlists are my favorite way to do this. They help to inspire me, switch gears between stories easily, and let me daydream the story in the little pauses of my life.

Right now, I have three full playlists built that correspond to those outlines. Of my five outlines, four that have been percolating since early 2022, and one relatively newer one since early 2023. There is no time requirement to percolate, however, because of how I schedule, this is just how it works out for me.

Time: As long or as little as you need.

Zero draft


This is the point where I’ve decided I’m going to write it. If I zero-draft it, I’m going to feel compelled to keep it. I try to prioritize the outlines I’m both epically drawn to and also ones that make sense from a strategic/marketing perspective.

For me, a zero draft is literally me telling myself the story in almost exclusively dialogue. Basically, it reads like a screenplay. But sometimes, because I have no self-control, it can get a little out of hand, and every time I do this step, the drafts seem to get longer. (Mostly because I’m just DYING to really write the story at this point.)

I currently have one zero draft in my folder and it’s at 17k words for what will eventually be probably a 70k book. This is also usually where my moodboard, mock cover, and character inspirations also come in—because I am EXCITED.

Time: 1-2 weeks

First draft


This one’s pretty self-explanatory. Now we get to write the book! With the zero draft in hand, this usually moves pretty quickly for me. I can put in as many as 50K words in a month depending on how much other stuff I’m juggling in my non-writer life, but I usually budget 3 months to be on the safe side.

What’s important (for me) here is to focus on completion and momentum, not perfection. No one will see this draft but me. Even if it’s terrible, remember that everything is fixable, but you can’t revise a blank page. If you need to disappear a character/element/change a setting, just move on as if you’d already written it like that. Don’t go back. Don’t edit. Get the story down, and we’ll fix it post!

For the record, I’m a consistent underwriter, so I don’t freak out about too much about wordcount at this point. (My first draft is usually like 10-15k work less than the final draft) I go through tons of revisions rounds, and with each one I’m adding a new layer to the story. Everyone is different, and it’s nice to be in the ballpark with word count, but remember *everything* is fixable.

Time: 2-3 months.

revisions


Rev A

So in general, for me, individual revision rounds are quick. In each revision, I basically make one quick pass of major changes and one slow pass to catch all the details. With this first revision, my primary goal here is to make it readable and consistent for another pair of eyes.

Then I send it to Alpha readers. (This is my parents and my husband. They will read anything I put in front of them but also be honest about what they do and don’t like.)

While I’m waiting for their feedback, this is also where I write the synopsis (this is my favorite formula) and the blurb. They help focus me on the themes and overarching plot so I can really hone the beats and character development.

Time: 1 week for the revision and then waiting for 2ish weeks for feedback. Whenever I’m ‘waiting,’ I’m always working on another WIP.

Rev B

After I get Alpha feedback, I take two more passes to make the necessary plot changes, refine the characters now that I know them well, and start layering and smoothing.

Then I send it to two critique partners (CPs) and 3-4 beta readers. I used to do this in separate steps but have combined for efficiency’s sake. My CPs are fellow writers looking for EVERYTHING big or small, from line level to large plot changes. Although working with them isn’t time intensive, the process usually stretches over several months. I rely on their unique perspective, objectivity, and different strengths to help me see things I wouldn’t be able to by myself.

In tandem, I send the book to 2-3 professional beta readers and 1 casual beta reader friend for their big-picture impressions.

Time: 1 week for the revision… and then 4-5 months working with CPs.

Rev C

This is where I gather all the beta reader feedback and do a large revision (usually while I’m still trading chapters back and forth with CPs in the background.)

Time: 1 week

Rev F

The critique partners are done! Hurray! Time to do one last read-through for line-level smoothing before I send it to my agent or Whimsical Publishing. In this step, I start using MS Word’s read-aloud function to listen for typos and flow issues, and will continue to do so for the remainder of my revisions. (And if you’re looking for Rev D, I don’t have one. I used to call this round F for final, and it’s stuck that way now for me.)

Time: 1 week

Rev G

Now, we get to start over! XD Okay, I’m kidding. (Sort of.) Now, I’ll go back and forth with my agent, Kristen, or Whimsical until it’s ready. How many revisions is this? Honestly, as many as it takes, but three’s usually the magic number. The first one is for big plot things, the second is for minor plot things, and the third is for line-level things.

Each revision takes me about a week, but then I have to wait for them to read it, so this phase will stretch out.

Time: 2-3 months

Rev Z

For Whimsical this is where the copyeditor comes in, and we go back and forth again! But these are once again, smaller line-level changes and proofing levels.

Hypothetically, when my agented books find a home, this is where I would work with the publisher to start all over again! (Joking… kind of.) But since I haven’t gotten that far yet, I’m not sure of the timeline

Time: (For the Whimsical copyediting portion) About 2-3 months.

Then ta-da, it’s done!


So, all the timelines ended up being kind of confusing with the waiting and the actual doing portions. But in reality, I’m never waiting. Because as soon as I put down one manuscript to wait, I’m picking up another. Hence why I always juggle more than 1 WIP, which also confuses the timeline! And it’s also why I’m constantly updating my schedule.

Behold. The schedule!

In any case, please keep in mind these timelines are just a rough guess anyway and will vary with each book.

For Inky & Heater: IRL (which is currently on sub with my agent) I started the first draft on Nov 1, 2022, and it went on sub (roughly) on Sep 2023. Which is about 10 months from the Draft 1 to the end of Rev G (and included querying time.)

For Into the Fire (which is scheduled to launch May 2024) I started the first draft in (roughly) May 2023, and I just completed Rev G. Which is about 8 months from Draft 1 to G (no querying time for this one.)

And for more reference, between 2020-2023, I wrote ten books. If you count my two novellas and one co-authored book as a single 80k-ish-word novel, it’s more like eight books. So, I’m averaging two books a year. Like I said at the beginning, I’m not the slowest or the fastest, and I’m sure my process will continue to evolve, but for now, this is what works for me! By hopping between works-in-progress while I ‘wait’ for feedback, I can look at each revision with fresh eyes while also maximizing my efficiency. And by the end of this process, I feel confident like my book is the best I can make it, and I’m proud to call it mine.

So, yeah. Hopefully, this was helpful, and I hope you also can find the writing process that works best for you and your book baby! As always, if you have more questions, just let me know!

Thanks for reading!
Posted on by hrchow12

What I Wish I Knew Before I Published My First Book

So right after I self-published my first book, I published my lessons learned here, but now that my eighth book (Into the Fire) is coming from Whimsical Publishing in April, I thought I’d reflect again on what advice I’d go back and give to myself if I could on a couple topics.

Self-Publishing Vs. Querying

Ah, yes the question I still get asked the most. I queried agents with Odriel’s Heirs for over a year, and while I was disappointed I wasn’t able to sign with an agent then, I’m still glad I self-published. Through self-publishing, I found the writing community, learned so much about the craft, and found writing friends who helped me grow. Also, I’m not sure I would’ve continued writing without the invaluable feedback and encouragement from readers. Lastly, I was able to get closure for this story and move on to the next one to keep growing as a writer.

A part of me does wish I had investigated small presses more, who perhaps could’ve guided me in terms of marketing, but at the time, I don’t think I even knew enough how to tell a good press from a poor one.

Overall, this choice worked out for the best. These days, I’m working with an amazing Small Press (Whimsical Publishing) and now have an agent (the incredible Kristen Terrette) but I don’t think I would’ve ever gotten this far without my experiences in self-publishing first. Of course, every publishing journey is different, so I hope you follow the one that feels right for your goals!

Editor, Proofreading, & Formatter

Editing and proofreading are expenses I agonized over as a new writer (my imposter-syndrome was through the roof), but if could go back, I would tell myself to invest in my book like any publisher would. (Within your budget, of course.)

The developmental editor I hired was invaluable, and due to their amazing feedback, I made extensive revisions. After that, I wished I’d invested in a copy-editor and a proofreader. While I love how Odriel’s Heirs turned out, I was weeding out typos for some time after release, and for my first book, I would’ve preferred to put my best foot forward from the outset.

I’d still skip hiring the formatter though. In formatting it myself, I like having the flexibility of going back and fixing typos in a matter of minutes. If I was deadset on complicated formatting though, I think I’d invest in formatting software instead of hiring out.

Cover Art

Oof. This is the one where I needed most guidance on. A good cover can make or break a book, and once again as I was unwilling to invest as I should have. Also, at the time, I didn’t think I would publish more than one book, but if I knew I was going to write the series, I should’ve bought all five covers together so I could have a matching set. (And get a discount!) I should’ve done WAY more research into current cover trends in my genre as well investigated a variety of cover artists. (I still find cover artist research difficult, but I recommend checking out cover contests, and looking into the artists of the winners.)

But maybe I’ll still get a chance to put this lesson learned to the test when I make an Odriel’s Heirs omnibus one day. (I just have to find the perfect cover artist first!)

Going Wide vs. Amazon Exclusive

There are some who’ve been wildly successful in KDP, but I’m not one of them. I did find the Amazon-exclusive benefit of doing regular free ebook promotions critical to increasing my exposure. However if I’d gotten a competitive cover from the start and gone wide, it would’ve allowed me to start doing BookBub promo deals sooner, which has almost doubled my downloads in the last year. (After I discovered that you can ask Amazon to price-match to free.) If you don’t think you’d be able to get the BookBub promo deals though (either due to a lack of a competetive cover or reviews), I’d definitely stay Amazon-exclusive.

Audiobooks

Past self, I know you want to do this, but don’t. While ACX (Amazon’s audiobook publishing process) makes it affordable do to royalty sharing, their inflexible and expensive prices make them incredibly hard to market. Unless your book is already a best-seller, you’re going to narrate it yourself, or you’re going to shell out big bucks for a narrator with their own following, I don’t think it’s worth it. Which is SO sad considering I’m almost exclusively an audiobook listener these days. 😭

Marketing

Ah yes, the bane of my existence. I wish I had known that this process starts AS SOON AS YOU START WRITING. If you can build an engaging, bookish following on any of the popular social media sites, then you already have a huge advantage. (Still working on this one, myself.) A website is also a must, even if it’s just a professional “about you” with your links. (For example, I don’t put a whole lot of time into promoting mine, but it’s had 3000+ visitors and 5000+ views this year, so it’s still worth it.)

I tried a few recommended trade reviews and a variety of ads on different sites, but didn’t find any of them to be worth the buck.

And although it took me some time, I definitely found commissioning bookish art (ideally in the months leading up to release to build hype – Whimsical has a great database of artists here), entering awards (see ALLI’s list here), sending out ARCs in advance through BookSirens and a NetGalley Co-op, and using book promotion services (see Reedsy’s list here) to be the most effective and fulfilling methods of marketing.

Also, putting together a street team has been a super fun way to get ready for release and build hype by recruiting your other bookish friends and followers to help post about your book leading up to release. I’m still learning the best ways to utilize a street team, but definitely recommend, especially if you have a great social media following.

Conclusion

Wellp, those are the big rocks that come to mind. Hopefully this is helpful for anyone making choices about their own book baby, but if you have any questions I missed, please feel free to ask away and good luck with your publishing journey!

Posted on by hrchow12

Book Blogger Novel of the Year Award Feedback – The Gatekeeper of Pericael

This is my second time entering the BBNYA and honestly first off, I’d just like to recommend it to all small press and indie authors. With an entrance fee of €20, it’s relatively affordable compared to most contests, and they do a wonderful job of getting their entrants exposure even if you’re not a finalist. Also, if you don’t make it to the finals, you can still get the judges’ feedback on your excerpt. (2k words for the first round and 10k words for the second)

Odriel’s Heirs was a fifth place finalist in the 2021 BBNYA, so it got in on blog tours and reviews, but since The Gatekeeper of Pericael was only a semifinalist in 2022 BBNYA, they sent me feedback on my first 10k words. And I really love it because I think it showcases how differently people can feel about the same book. So I wanted to share it because I think it really emphasizes the need for more than one beta reader or critique partner, and I also think it helps give perspective when you get rough reviews, because yeah, your books not for everyone. But some people will love it, and that’s still amazingly cool.

What our panelists thought

(To be clear, each judge wrote one bullet in each section):
Writing Style

  • Good, enjoyable. Gets stronger/better as it goes on.
  • Nice use of description. The language used for some of the descriptive passages is beautiful and really evokes the feelings of the magical jungle.
  • A little shaky at the start with a bit of extra ‘explaining’ thrown in, but settled down later in the extract
  • So good. I was sucked into this story right away, and even though a lot of information was introduced, it was done so well that I constantly understood everything that was happening without any confusion, brilliant!
  • Easy to read, very descriptive, easy to get drawn into.

Story

  • Definitely feels unique and intriguing
  • Feels a little old for mid-grade in some parts but too young for teens in others
  • I wasn’t sure at the start but was gripped by the end of the extract
  • Quite interesting
  • I really enjoyed this and felt so engrossed in the story throughout.  It’s very original and so interesting! I’m desperate to find out what happens next, especially as the excerpt finished in the middle of a dramatic scene
  • Loving the story so far. I’m curious about the worldbuilding and the magic system. The story feels original so far. Would read on

Characters

  • Porter as a MC is a bit flat right now, but I’m invested
  • Anyone knows when summoning ANYTHING, you don’t insult them. Porter should have known better. This annoyed me.  Ames is fun though
  • I really liked Porter
  • Excellent characters
  • Good characters and they are all different.  Especially enjoy the different characters reacting to each other

Emotional Response

  • I don’t really feel that invested in the story. Perhaps I’ve picked up Porter’s distaste for the magical land. If the MC doesn’t care, it’s hard for the reader.
  • I cared about what was happening with Porter and Ames
  • Characters made for you to easily emotionally respond too
  • I just loved this so much.  It felt exciting, compelling and interesting too.

Overall

  • Good balance of various elements, intriguing storyline, feels like a refreshing portal fantasy.
  • I’d like to give it a higher rating, but we have been given a whole lot of worldbuilding very quickly with not a lot of motivation or emotion.
  • An interesting book that has great characters
  • A good solid book.
  • So good!!  Would rate higher if I could. It’s so brilliant, I enjoyed it so much 🙂

Thanks so much to the BBNYA for this amazing feedback, and I can’t wait to hear what the judges think of Idriel’s Children this year!

Upper Middle Grade is so hard to market, so I’m so incredibly grateful for any feedback. Thanks again, BBNYA
Posted on by hrchow12

2022 Writing Sum-up!



So this is the time of the year where I try to reflect on how the last twelve months of my writing life went. Was it… productive? Fun? Fulfilling? Disappointing? What did I learn? What did I do well? What could I improve for next year?

And, you all… a LOT happened this year, and my small potatoes writing career took some big steps. So let’s take a look!

first, the numbers

  • Words written: 55,000 (The Ninth Circle) + 77,000 (Time’s Orphan) + 22,000 (Night of Ash) + 60,000 (Inky & Heater IRL) = 214,000 words (3 complete, 1 partial)
  • Words revised: 77,000 (TO) + 22,000 (NoA) + 99,000 (ItC) + 75,000 (TBA) = 273,000 words (4 books)
  • Words published: 22,000 words (1 book)
  • Words queried: 99,000 (ItC) + 75,000 (TBA) = 174,000 words (2 books)
  • 2022 Total Words Worked: 758,000 words

Sales Numbers: 650+ self-published books sold. Another 200ish downloaded for free. (Draft to Digital makes it little harder to distinguish between which books were bought and which were downloaded for free)

And the Goodreads numbers.

  • Odriel’s Heirs: 165 ratings / 4.33 stars
  • Burning Shadows: 17 ratings / 4.94 stars
  • Idriel’s Children: 50 ratings / 4.34 stars
  • Night of Ash: 9 ratings / 5 stars
  • Time’s Orphan: 8 ratings / 4.88 stars
  • The Gatekeeper of Pericael: 84 ratings / 4.08 stars
  • Into the Churn: 4 ratings / 5 stars
  • My Goodreads total: 341 ratings / 4.34 stars

For reference, the 2021 total was 214 copies sold, 136,000 written, and 554,000 words worked. So yeah. Obviously, still small potatoes. But numbers wise, this years kicked the pants off of last year in pretty much every single way, and that wasn’t even the best part!

The best parts

  • I got not one, but TWO publishing deals with Whimsical Publishing, and I absolutely ADORE working with them. It has been the best experience. And not only that, but I actually had another 2 publishing offers from small presses this year. 😱 This was new and exciting territory for me, and I was absolutely thrilled to make the leap from self-pub to small press with a publisher that loves me books as much as I do. 💛
  • Then, my YA paranormal, The Ninth Circle, got picked up for a WriteHive mentorship with EJ Dawson! 🎉 What?! Is this even real life? The first call was so awesome, and I can’t wait to whip the manuscript into shape with them!
  • The Gatekeeper of Pericael was a semi-finalist in the Book Blogger Novel of the Year Awards. I love my upper middle grade fantasy, but it can be so hard to market, so this was an exciting moment!
  • Odriel’s Heirs got over 100 Amazon ratings and finally got BookBub US and International marketing deals! 🎉 I was so stoked to get more exposure for my first book child, and I definitely had a positive experience with these. Fingers crossed I can get more books accepted in the future!
  • I got accepted to be a participating author at both OwlCon 2023 and StoryBound Fest 2023! StoryBound Fest will be my first in-person author convention, and I’m pretty nervous! So that’ll be an exciting new challenge for next year.

What I learned

  • This year, I really nailed down my outlining process with the Save the Cat formula, which really helped me churn out those first drafts. Thanks to Story Genius and an obsession with K-drama, I also had a crucial epiphany on how to develop likable, relatable characters.
  • I love dual-POV and the depth it brings to a story. I don’t know if I’ll ever go back.
  • I grew a lot more comfortable as a critique partner and have collected a few more writing friends who I can reliably swap feedback with.
  • I also was able to consistently read and review books on my book blog here! 62 and counting this year! This has been great way to give back to the writing community, bring more traffic to my little site here, and also sharpen my critiquing skills.
  • I learned how to create decent covers in Canva Pro! This was a super fun tool for my creative process and marketing purposes, but if I ever self-pub in the future, I’m glad I can use this as a viable option to cut costs. (However, if anyone has any recommendations on graphic design online resources, they would be so appreciated! I definitely still have room for improvement. 😅
  • Making playlists for my books and WIPs on Spotify is ridiculously transportive, and I can’t believe I didn’t discover this earlier. I now have a playlist for every single one, and it is an amazing way to get in the writing mindset and pivot quickly between WIPs.
  • Finally, I learned that small presses can be amazing, and honestly I wish I had investigated/considered them a more with first two books I queried.

What I still need to work on

  • Oh boy. So much. I’ve been making some strides in the last few months, but the balance of writing and social media engagement still eludes me, although I feel like I’ve grown more comfortable being my ridiculous, goofy self in reels and selfies. And I actually have a TikTok now – who would’ve thought that?!
  • Advertisements. I tried again this year, buutttt still failing big on this one. If anyone wants to point me toward some learning resources, I would LOVE that.
  • Querying agents. I had several full requests this year, but per percentage of queries I send out, my numbers are nothing to write home about. As I’ll probably end up querying two WIPs next year, I definitely want to focus on sharpening my query materials to boost my request stats next year.
  • Minimizing publishing expenses. Although writing is definitely more of a passion project for me than a business (thank goodness for the day job!), I definitely want to start streamlining my expenses so I can write long-term without permanently denting my wallet. Moving to small press helped immensely this year, and while I hope to publish more with small presses in the future, if I ever selfpub again, I’ll be streamlining my process to cut costs.
  • A brand? Right now I’ve been kind of all over the place: YA Epic Fantasy, MG Fantasy, YA Sci-fi, YA Paranormal, YA fairytale retelling, YA romance… I know one day, if I decide to really get serious, I’ll probably need to pick a lane of some nature, but right now I’m just having fun, so I’ll save that conundrum for future me.

Goals

So what can I go after? As always, I try to keep my goals measurable and attainable.

  • Get Time’s Orphan out into the world on February 8th, and officially complete my first series. 🎉
  • Launch Into the Churn on April 4th… and cross my fingers that it does well enough to write the sequel. 🤞 (p.s. If you read it and want more, don’t forget to rate, review, & spread the word on social media!)
  • Revise my YA Paranormal with my mentor and toss it into the query trenches
  • Revise my YA Romance and storm the query trenches with that one too!
  • Attend Storybound Fest and live to tell about it. (Did I mention I was nervous?!) 😅
  • And of course, write the next book. I have three outlines waiting for me, but I’m not sure which will win out here, so it’ll be exciting to see what I’m working on next.

So yeah, it’s been an incredibly fantastic writing year for me, and I’m so grateful for all the opportunities I’ve had and the people that have supported and encouraged me along the way. 💛 Here’s to more growth and adventures in 2023. As always, thanks so much for reading!

So thrilled with how much I’ve grown this year as a writer and so proud of these two books. I can’t wait to see them out into the world!
Posted on by hrchow12

Is a BookBub deal worth it for indie authors?

After non-figurative years of submitting to BookBub, my YA fantasy, Odriel’s Heirs got selected for a $0.99 US-only BookBub Deal in their YA category! Huzzah! 🥳 So for any other prospective BookBubbers out there, here’s the skinny on how it went.

First of All: What is a BookBuB Deal?

Basically you pay a fee (the amount differs depending on your genre), and BookBub will feature your book in their newsletter and on their website when it’s on sale. You can only apply once a month for the chance, and it’s not super easy to get accepted.

However, a cursory google search will tell you that BookBub is essentially the most successful/effective/biggest promotional newsletter used by both traditionally published and indie authors. So yeah, as an indie author floundering around on how to market my books, this was definitely something I wanted to check out. I’d gotten an international deal before and the results are here.

My strategy

Get the BookBub deal and run (i.e. I had no strategy.)

Some people try to buy a bunch of other newsletter promos at the same time to get their book higher in amazon’s rankings or on one of the bestseller lists. I did not do this. I’d done a lot of newsletter promos in the past, so I wasn’t sure it’d be worth the investment for me… also, I kind of wanted to see how BookBub did on its own.

The deal was run on 1 September, and since I did essentially no other promotions during September, the month’s results you see are basically due to BookBub. Yay for less variables!

I will add that I kept my books $0.99 all month on Amazon, and on the other retailers I track through Draft-to-Digital, all my books other than Odriel’s Heirs were free (and now they’re all free.) Likewise, my paperbacks are all $8.01 or less. I do this because my main goal in self-publishing is exposure, not profit, but your goals and strategy may be different!

Also, just as a head’s up. Odriel’s Heirs is the first of a series with three sequels available and one up for preorder. My other book, The Gatekeeper of Pericael, (a middle-grade fantasy) is not related.

GIVE me the numbers!

Cost: $202

Draft to Digital September Earnings: $31.28
54 x Odriel’s Heirs (0.99)
12 x Burning Shadows (free)
13 x Idriel’s Children (free)
3 x The Gatekeeper of Pericael (free)

Amazon September Earnings: $143.67
286 x Odriel’s Heirs (0.99)
2 x Burning Shadows (0.99)
84 x Idriel’s Children (0.99)
6 x Night of Ash (0.99)

Amazon Preorder Increase: $30.80
11 x Time’s Orphan (3.99)

Audible September Earnings: ~$10.00
2 x Odriel’s Heirs
2 x Idriel’s Children
1 x The Gatekeeper of Pericael

Units sold in September: 476
Total Earned in September: $215.75
Profit: $13.75

(For reference, I sold 12 books in August on Amazon, so yeah, this was a 40x increase for this small potatoes writer.)

Ratings Increase: 3-4ish on both Goodreads and Amazon. (Hoping these will trickle in longterm)

BookBub Followers: +30 (ish)

Highest Amazon Rank Hit: I actually don’t know because I was mostly out of cell service for this day, and I didn’t even screenshot what I saw. So on brand. 😅

Goodreads Difference:

So, was it worth it?

For me, it was obviously worth it. I only made a few bucks, but I gained hundreds of potential readers, and absolutely achieved my goal of increased exposure.

However, it was pretty close, so if I hadn’t had sequels and multiple books, I wouldn’t have broken even. Also, please keep in mind, BookBub results will definitely be different for every book in every genre, so this is just my experience.

But basically if you want to invest in exposure, I’d definitely give a shot! (And I will definitely be applying again for my future books.)

Bonus round: How to increase your chances of getting a bookbub deal

This is tough, because they don’t tell you why they select your book, but here is the list of criteria that they officially publish. Everything else is just my speculation.

  • Reviews: Both on Amazon & Goodreads that will reassure readers that people have enjoyed your book. I had over 100 on Amazon and 150+ on Goodreads. (How do you get reviews… well that’d need a different post, but I’d start with the ARC reading sites here.)
  • An Awesome Cover: My new covers are by Fay Lane, and they look sharp. But I also have another post here on some other cover artists I’ve been impressed with that might not break the bank completely.
  • Awards: Odriel’s Heir was the winner of the 2020 Florida Indie Author Project (which is free to enter and I highly recommend) and a finalist in the 2021 Book Blogger Novel of the Year Award (which is $20 to enter and I also highly recommend). That’s stated both on my the book page itself, and I put it in the comments of my BookBub application.
  • Heavy Discounts: For exposure purposes, I usually try to keep my books as cheap as possible… but for BookBub, I kept Odriel’s Heirs at 2.99 so I could discount it significantly for the deal. When I go for my next deal, I will probably make it 3.99 to increase my chances further.
  • Going Wide: I’ve heard this significantly increases your chances, so this is actually why I went wide with my books. Draft-to-Digital made the process seamless, but also has some drawbacks. That’ll need another post though.
  • Perseverance: I got rejected many, many, many times before finally getting accepted. It totally depends on who else is applying at the same time as well as the other factors. And it doesn’t cost anything to apply every month, so definitely give it a shot, and keep trying!

That’s all I can think of for now, but if you have more questions, definitely let me know!

Thanks for reading!