C. M. Harald

Writing about writing

Monthly Review

February Review 2020

by

The last month has been tough, hence the February Review is not as positive as usual. I have struggled to achieve the volume of writing I would like, mainly as I have been distracted from new work. The main distraction was my blog getting hacked in the middle of the month with even the online backups getting wiped. This problem has been fixed. While I have recovered all of my original content, I have not yet restored it all. I also lost the social media content. As a result, I’ve not been as focused on new words as intended, nor have I got enough editing done. 

On the positive side, the process of reviewing February reminds me I had an important success at the start of the month. I now have new artwork for the first Royal Zombie Corps book, Blood, Mud and Corpses. Stuart Bache and his excellent team made this cover. He is currently working on the paperback version so I can finally bring the book out in paperback. The e-book cover is now available on new purchases via Amazon and is much better looking. Stuart also delivered the e-book cover for the next Royal Zombie Corps book to be released, Dead Handler.

It was also interesting to visit the Vaudeville Theatre, a location I used in Outbreak London. Although I’ve visited quite a few London theatres, I do not recall having been in this one before, despite passing it many times in the street. The building received an extensive redesign in the 1920s, so much of my original setting was no longer present. However, the show, Magic Goes Wrong, was excellent.

February Review - A visit to the Vaudeville Theatre
The Vaudeville Theatre in London. Much changed since 1918, and without zombies in real life.
February Review - Adelphi Theatre in 2020
The Adelphi Theatre in London. A setting for zombie chaos in Outbreak London, set in 1918.

February Review – word counts

Averaging 309 words a day in February, I still exceeded my target levels for last year but fell short of my targets for this year. This month brought in a total of 8,952 words when I was targeting just short of 12,000. The main reason for the shortfall was the extra work on the blog. However, I also wrote less as I finished the first draft of book 7 of the Royal Zombie Corps series and then spent some time tinkering with new ideas. The primary focus of this tinkering has been a 5,000 word short story, which I’m currently finishing.

Unfortunately, there were nine days during which I wrote nothing new. This is more than the eight in January. I also did not make effective use of the one week holiday I had, mainly due to being exhausted from the day job and needing a good break.

I did manage to get some editing done, but this stalled under the increased needs to recover the material from the blog.

February Review – writing projects underway

· ‘Dead Handler’, Book 6 of the Royal Zombie Corps series still needs editing and proof-reading. I have the cover from the cover artist, and I’m very happy with it.

· The paperback cover for Blood, Mud and Corpses is being worked on.

· Book 2 of the Butcher’s Funeral is still awaiting editing

· Book 7 of the Royal Zombie Corps series, is now complete and I’m sitting on it for a while to get some distance between the first draft and the next trawl through it.

·      Tigers on the Western Front – work on the final proof-reading has crept on. I had intended to get this finished in February, but the blog got in the way.

· A new short story, along with another unpublished short story, is being written. There are already over 5,000 words in the first draft, which was the total I was aiming for. More on this at another time, but there are no zombies. Instead, there is a genie.

February Review – other projects

I sent a message to the Readers’ Club at the start of February announcing the new cover for Blood, Mud and Corpses. Again, I’ve not focused on adding to the Readers’ Club. Instead, my marketing efforts have been focused on AMS and the use of the new cover to the first Royal Zombie Corps book.

Sales were comparable to January, which are much better than has previously been the case.

I have also started research on a new series I’m planning to write. It’s been exciting, and I’m mainly engaged in background reading. There are no zombies, but there are plenty of corpses and some bleak industrial history. Fortunately, I’m well versed in industrial history. Still, I need to fine-tune my knowledge of the location the story will be set in along with improving my understanding of a few more specific details related to the main character.

Publishing schedule

· March/April 2020 – the new paperback for Blood, Mud and Corpses will be released. This hard copy uses the same original artwork as the online version.

· March/April 2020 – ‘Dead Handler’, book 6 of the Royal Zombie Corps series. The date is provisional as I may want to give the ARC team a little more time to get through this book

· Spring 2020 2nd edition of Tigers on the Western Front, with the old cover for now

· April/May/June 2020 – Butcher’s Funeral book two titled ‘Butcher’s Fire’. 

· May/June 2020 – Butcher’s Funeral new cover and 2nd edition

· May/June 2020 – book 7 of the Royal Zombie Corps series

Plans for March

· Return to the daily writing average of at least 410 words

· Release the paperback version of Blood, Mud and Corpses

· Continue to research the new series I’m working on

· Write another short story, probably in the same sequence as the one I’ve been working on in February

· Continue to refocus my efforts on the non-creative side of the business, especially editing and proof-reading. With minimal time available, this is one aspect that is holding me back

· Recruit more people to the ARC team

· Continue to learn about publishing and writing 

· Relaunch my AMS marketing campaign as a result of my new book cover

· Manage the major clash in the second half of the month when I will have just under 300 exam papers to mark

January Review 2020

by

The January review has shown me this month has been my most successful month ever for sales.   I have to credit Mark Dawson and his ideas for this improvement, which has meant I’ve been a lot more focused on marketing. This improved approach is quite exciting as more of my books are getting out in front of a greater number of people.

With the new higher targets or the New Year, I’ve been able to increase the amount I’m writing every day. I ambitiously increased my daily writing goal from 300 to 410 words per day. In total, I’m aiming for 150,000 words this year. In any one train journey, this daily total is all I can manage on the journey into work in the morning. Of course, some mornings, the average is a bit higher, especially when I get stuck into a scene. I only nearly missed my station once in January, looking up at the last minute, to see the sign on the platform outside the window. Most of my writing is done during this time as I rarely have the energy in the evening. This heavy workload is one of the side-effects of being a teacher at this time of year.  Yes, there’s the holidays, but the term time workload more than balances out that advantage. At this time of year, there’s a lot of focus on underperforming pupils, data and reporting.  So, unfortunately, the writing suffers.

So how did I get on with the word counts?

January Review – word counts

I averaged 411 words a day across January with a total of 12,742. There were eight days in the month I failed to write anything. I’m surprised I made the target. Over February I’ll try to write more consistently, as eight days off is quite a few more than I intended. However, to hit such a reasonable total, outside of my holidays, is satisfying.

Editing during January utterly stalled. It’s another thing I need to prioritise as I’ve got some releases queued up and I don’t want them delaying due to this.

January Review – writing projects underway

  • ‘Dead Handler’, Book 6 of the Royal Zombie Corps series still needs editing and proof-reading. I have the initial cover concepts from the cover artist, and they are good
  • The relaunch of the cover for Blood, Mud and Corpses is imminent. The initial concepts are in, and with a few minor changes, the new cover should be ready very soon. I have also been delighted with the progress of the book since it has taken off permafree. It appears it is being read much more often, even if fewer people are downloading it
  • Book 2 of the Butcher’s Funeral is still awaiting editing
  • Book 7 of the Royal Zombie Corps series, is almost complete. I had hoped to finish it early in January, but have about 1,000 words left to write. The first draft will be in the region of 43,000 words. I’m not quite sure what to call this story, but ‘War’s End’ is an idea I’m playing with
  • Tigers on the Western Front work on the final proof-reading has stalled this month, but it’s still the top one to get done. I’d love to get this finished by the end of February

January Review – other projects

I’ve not messaged the Readers’ Club in January. I’ve been holding off so I can announce the new cover to Blood, Mud and Corpses. I’ve also not engaged in any significant campaign to add to the Readers’ Club in January. I had initially intended to, but this got swept away with all the other non-creative work.

I’ve spent a little of my limited non-creative time on marketing via Amazon. This marketing has been quite effective and is something I want to move forward with over the next few weeks. The effort has had a noticeable impact on my sales figures, and I nearly achieved my aspirational monthly sales level, for 2020, in the first month.

Due to the success of the new covers, Stuart Bache has been making for me, I’ve booked another few slots. I will probably use one of them for a new cover for an older book and then two more for new books.

Publishing schedule

  • February 2020 – the new cover for Blood, Mud and Corpses will be released. I’ll also be releasing a paperback version of this book for the first time
  • March 2020 – ‘Dead Handler’, book 6 of the Royal Zombie Corps series. The date is provisional as I may want to give the ARC team a little more time to get through this book
  • Spring 2020 2nd edition of Tigers on the Western Front, with the old cover for now
  • March/April/May 2020 – Butcher’s Funeral book two titled ‘Butcher’s Fire’. Again, I may roll this date back as I start working with the ARC team
  • May/June 2020 – Butcher’s Funeral new cover and 2nd edition
  • May/June 2020 – book 7 of the Royal Zombie Corps series, also rolled back to ensure the ARC team get a good look

Plans for February

  • Continue to maintain the daily writing average of at least 410 words
  • Release the new cover for Blood, Mud and Corpses 
  • Develop research for the new series I’m hoping to write
  • Write a couple of short stories to refresh me before moving on to a third Butcher’s Funeral book
  • Try to spend more time on the non-creative side of the business, especially editing and proof-reading
  • Set up an ARC team
  • Continue to learn about publishing and writing, specifically working through one of the Mark Dawson SPF courses
  • Continue to develop the AMS marketing campaign

2019 Review

by

So the year has ended. What does the 2019 review look like? How did my writing progress over twelve months? It was great to get a new book out, the first for several years. I also stepped up a gear in terms of words written, and I’ve now got several other new books nearly ready to go.

2019 Review – word counts

December was slower than planned due to several hundred exam papers which needed marking for the day job. These demands, unfortunately, ate into the time I would usually spend writing.

Consequently, December only reached 5,731 new words, less than the 9,000 I was aiming for. However, across the course of the whole year, the picture is much better. I exceeded my annual goal of 110,000 words in September. The entire year total was 128,500 words, a daily average of 351. Compared to 2018, this was a vast improvement. During the whole of the preceding year, I only wrote 36,678 words. 2019 was also the first year I exceeded 100,000 annual words.

Possibly the most critical factor during the year has been my use of public transport to get to work. This quiet time allows me a good 30 minutes every day to focus on writing before other demands step in. While it is not ideal to be writing on a train early every morning, it is satisfying to start the working day knowing I’ve achieved my primary writing goal at the start. Unfortunately, the return trip after ten-twelve hours of work is less conducive to writing, especially when there are no seats.

Another critical factor in 2019 was the improved use of my holidays to get some writing done. These extra days have not been consistently used every holiday, and as a teacher, I earn a few additional weeks. Still, the summer made a noticeable difference to the totals achieved, and August saw an average daily word count of just under 900 words. The holiday factor goes some way towards not being able to get much new writing done at weekends as teaching requires me to spend several hours every weekend in preparation and marking.

2019 Review – releases

November 2019 saw the release of Outbreak London, book 5 of the  Royal Zombie Corps series. This was the first book I’ve released in several years. At 40,000 words, it was longer than the earlier books in the series and has also had a far better initial edit. It also boasted an excellent cover by Stuart Bache. With a significant marketing effort, it’s also been my most successful launch to date.

The short story ‘On discovering a zombie’ was also made available to the Readers’ Club and is downloadable only by signing up via the homepage of this blog. It’s a short story set around one of the side characters in the Royal Zombie Corps series.

2019 Review – writing projects underway

  • ‘Dead Handler’, Book 6 of the Royal Zombie Corps series, was on hold during December due to work commitments. It’s ready for editing and proof-reading but has been on hold while I’ve been prioritising workload
  • The new cover of Blood, Mud and Corpses is likely to be launched in January or February. I decided to get this done urgently as the old cover is poor. Advancing this cover up the schedule does mean a delay in publishing new work
  • Book 2 of the Butcher’s Funeral series is still on hold while I finish other things. It’s ready for the whole editing process
  • Book 7 of the Royal Zombie Corps series is on schedule for the completion of the first draft in January 2020. Thirty-one thousand words were written, and the aim is to have around 40,000 by the end of the first draft. This book is where the majority of my writing efforts have been during December, part of my habit of writing every day I possibly can
  • Tigers on the Western Front is currently being re-edited and is ready for a final proof-reading. The 2nd edition will then be launched, and the book will be recovered later

2019 Review – other projects

  • A significant effort was made to build up the Readers’ Club, primarily using Facebook during the last quarter of the year. This work was successful and helped launch Outbreak London
  • I’ve started to use Amazon Marketing Services for adverts on Amazon. It’s early days, and I still need to work quite a bit on getting this right
  • During 2019, I’ve spent quite a lot of time working through various Self Publishing Formula courses to help me market my books
  • Blood, Mud and Corpses has also been removed from permafree, resulting in a few more sales overall

2020 Publishing schedule

Entering 2020 with three books almost ready to go is a good feeling. I had wanted to get them out earlier, but have held back through a combination of taking more time over editing and spacing out cover work.

  • January 2020 – new cover for Blood, Mud and Corpses 
  • February/March 2020 – ‘Dead Handler’, book 6 of the Royal Zombie Corps series. Dropped back again as I get a better idea of the timescales involved in the final pieces of work
  • March/April 2020 – Butcher’s Funeral book two, probably going to be titled ‘Butcher’s Fire.’
  • March/April 2020 – book 7 of the Royal Zombie Corps series will be the final book of the Great War era
  • Releases later in the year to be confirmed, but hopefully, another two will happen, bringing the total books published in 2020 to five

Plans for 2020

  • I’m increasing my daily writing average target to at least 400 words a day. I’ve been pleased with the productivity over 2019, but it has been patchy with several excellent months making up for a handful of weaker months. The new target will be for 150,000 words over the year, requiring a daily quota of 410. If successful, this will exceed 2019 as my best year for writing new words
  • Complete first drafts of at least three books, to publish two during 2020. These are likely to include a third ‘Butchers’ book and a new crime series to be set in the 18th century
  • Release the three books which are almost ready to go
  • Continue the re-covering process for all my older books
  • Develop learning about publishing and writing, specifically working through one of the Mark Dawson SPF courses
  • Continue to develop the AMS marketing campaign
  • Extend the work on building the Readers’ Club via Facebook

November Review 2019

by

After a busy month, it’s time for the November Review.

November was dominated by the release of Outbreak London, with the book going live on Amazon one day earlier than expected, just scraping in at the end of the month.  I’m really excited about Outbreak London, as it’s the first new book for several years, it’s got a great new cover by an excellent artist, and it’s twice the length of the other Royal Zombie Corps books.

November Review – word counts

After the slow writing of October, I really needed to up the pace during November.  This was successfully achieved with 10,248 new words added to various projects, an average of 342 words a day.  This is slightly better than my plan of 300 words a day at the start of the year.  My total word count for this year now exceeds 120,000.

As October was heavily dominated by editing, I kept track of the numbers of words I edited over November.  Each piece of work gets multiple edits, some faster than others, but I was surprised the totals added up to just over 32,000 words.

November Review – works in progress

  • ‘On discovering a zombie’, a short story set in the Royal Zombie Corps series, was finally delivered to the mailing list and can be downloaded only by signing up on the homepage of this blog
  • ‘Outbreak London‘, book 5 of the  Royal Zombie Corps series, is now published on Amazon
  • ‘Dead Handler’, Book 6 of the Royal Zombie Corps series, is still awaiting my attention. It needs completion of the editing and proof-reading.  I am going to hold on this book a little as I want to relaunch the cover of Blood, Mud and Corpses
  • Book 2 of the Butcher’s Funeral series is on hold while I finish other things
  • Book 7 of the Royal Zombie Corps series, is still the current writing project.  I’m planning to finish the first draft in early January
  • Tigers on the Western Front is currently being re-edited and is now on the second sweep through.

November Review – other projects

I’m reaching the end of a major campaign to add to the Readers’ Club, which has been running on Facebook.  I’ll begin another campaign at the start of next year.

As part of the launch of Outbreak London, I’ve also begun my first Amazon marketing campaign.

The short story, On Discovering A Zombie, has been released to the Readers’ Club.  This free story cannot be purchased and is only downloadable to subscribers.

Publishing schedule

Outbreak London launched slightly early, at the very end of November.  This was due to Amazon checks taking less time than expected.

  • December 2019/January 2020 – I’m squeezing in a new cover for Blood, Mud and Corpses as the old cover needs replacing as I’m promoting the series.  This was the first book in the Royal Zombie Corps series and things have moved along greatly since then
  • January 2020 – ‘Dead Handler’, book 6 of the Royal Zombie Corps series.  I’ve dropped this title back as I’m wanting to relaunch Blood, Mud and Corpses first with a new cover
  • February 2020 – Butcher’s Funeral book two, probably going to be titled ‘Butcher’s Fire’.  This has been dropped back
  • March 2020 – book 7 of the Royal Zombie Corps series.  This has been dropped back

Plans for December

  • Continue to maintain the daily writing average of at least 300 words.
  • Begin the cover process for the replacement cover for Blood, Mud and Corpses
  • Continue to learn about publishing and writing, specifically working through one of the Mark Dawson SPF courses
  • Continue to develop the AMS marketing campaign

October Review 2019

by

Already it is time for the October Review.  The month was a much quieter month than usual. The day job continued to consume, but there was light at the end of the tunnel with a week off, much of it spent on Menorca. The Mediterranean heat was very welcome, just as the UK was getting colder. I’m certainly feeling the cold on the way into work at the moment. As usual, the morning commute has been the focus of my writing efforts, with the return journey in the afternoon also contributing, when I can get a seat.

October Review – word counts

It was not my intention to focus almost exclusively on editing at the start of October. Still, I needed to redistribute my time so that I could complete the edit of Outbreak London. This took much longer than anticipated, and as a result, my new writing dropped right off. There were quite a few days when I wrote no words, breaking what has become a daily habit for me. I, therefore, managed only 2,448 new words, my slowest month this year. However, this was still better than the 1,300 of the previous October. The good news is I’m already back on track and will comfortably beat this level of output in November.

October Review – works in progress

  • ‘On discovering a zombie’, a short story set in the Royal Zombie Corps series, is now being edited. I’m about halfway through this task and expect to have it finished in another week. The mailing list has been set up ready to deliver this short via BookFunnel. I still need to source an appropriate cover for this short
  • ‘Outbreak London’, book 5 of the  Royal Zombie Corps series, has now been wholly proof-read. This took a sizeable chunk of time in October. The initial concepts for the cover have been delivered, and I’m delighted with them. The new cover will be vastly better than the covers of the rest of the series, and I will have to get them recovered at some point. Only the covers and the Amazon page need to be finished. A short pre-release marketing effort also awaits, with the possibility of a discount for mailing list subscribers before the launch
  • ‘Dead Handler’, Book 6 of the Royal Zombie Corps series, is awaiting my attention. It needs editing and proof-reading. I expect to get to this during November
  • Book 2 of the Butcher’s Funeral series is also pending an edit and proof-read
  • Book 7 of the Royal Zombie Corps series, is the current writing project. Having completed next to nothing on this during October, I’m working on it again

October Review – other projects

The mailing list has been extensively updated, and I’m currently engaged in a campaign to add subscribers in advance of the release of ‘Outbreak London’.
I have also been working through one of the Mark Dawson courses, making sure I cover all the essential bases when publishing.

Publishing schedule

This remains unchanged, but I am concerned ‘Outbreak London’ may slip to early December.  Should this happen, there will be a knock-on effect with the other books.

Plans for November

  • I aim to get my new writing daily average back up to something reasonable. In October it was 79 words a day. I want at least 300 in November (as I complete this blog, the average is standing at 297 so far in November)
  • Finally, proof-read the short story which has been sitting waiting for a very long time. This will be going on my blog and is entirely different from anything I have previously written
  • Release the new Royal Zombie Corps short story to the mailing list
  • Finalise the cover of ‘Outbreak London’ and set up the release process
  • Begin the cover process for ‘Dead Handler’
  • Continue to learn about publishing and writing, specifically working through one of the Mark Dawson SPF courses

September Review 2019

by

The September review is already here. The month has passed quickly. To be honest, September is a month during which I am totally consumed with my day job. Being a new academic year and seeing how I have several responsibilities at work, I either find the time slipping away with workload or exhaust myself, so I am of little use in the evenings. The photo shows one of my more engaging lessons at this time of year, a modern adaptation of the classic Mark Pullen Schools History Project lesson.  Nevertheless, I still got a reasonable number of things done, mainly due to the space given by the morning commute.
September Review – word counts

Unlike July and August, I’ve not had a prolific month in terms of word counts. Instead, I’ve spent quite a bit of time on the editing process. For the first couple of weeks, I wrote at about half the daily pace of the previous months. For the second half of the month, I concentrated on editing. This means I fell short of my optimistic target of 1,000 words a day, and also my realistic target of 500 words a day. In total, I wrote 5,967 words, leaving me just 165 words short of my goal of 110,000 words for the year. However, it has been worth the distraction as my back catalogue needs tidying up.
September Review – works in progress

A short story set in the Royal Zombie Corps series. The title is provisionally ‘On discovering a zombie’. I’ve now finished a thorough edit of this, but have to proof-read it yet.  Once it is released, it will only be available for people signing up to my mailing list
Book 5 of the  Royal Zombie Corps series, titled ‘Outbreak London’ has had a thorough edit. I’m now halfway through proof-reading this. The cover brief was submitted on the last day of the month, and I’m looking forward to working to seeing the first drafts during October
Book 6 of the Royal Zombie Corps series, is awaiting my attention.  It needs editing and proof-reading
Book 2 of the Butcher’s Funeral series is also awaiting an edit and proof-read
Book 7 of the Royal Zombie Corps series, is the current writing project. This has been put on hold so I can meet my upcoming deadlines

September Review – other projects

My first zombie book, Blood, Mud and Corpses, has now been wholly reedited and proof-read. It was uploaded to most channels early in September.
Publishing schedule

This remains unchanged, due to a reallocation of my time.

November 2019 – Outbreak London, book 5 of the Royal Zombie Corps series
December 2019 – book 6 of the Royal Zombie Corps series
January 2020 – Butcher’s Funeral book two
February 2020 – book 7 of the Royal Zombie Corps series

Plans for October

I am going to aim for a low average of 2-300 words a day of new writing. I have limited time at the moment and need to focus on the editing process
Publish a short story on the blog. This has been on the list for a while. I wrote the story a couple of years ago. I really need to get it done.  An edit has been completed, but I still need to give it another proof-read. Realistically, this will not happen in October
Release the new Royal Zombie Corps short story to the mailing list and advertise it on Facebook. The editing was completed in September.
Finish the proof-reading of Outbreak London and work with the cover artist on the finalisation of the cover
Continue to learn about publishing and writing, specifically working through one of the Mark Dawson SPF courses