I got the Down Island manuscript back from my editor yesterday, so I'm about toe deep in the first rewrite this afternoon. This means I'll finish a day or two early, and then on to my final proofreader, another rewrite, and on to Nick Sullivan for recording.
Everything's ...progressing very smoothly.
Getting toward the end of Down Island, the 30th book in the Jesse series. My usual word count is around 60,000, but with two weeks of writing to go, this one will easily be over 70,000 words.
Note the current word count at the bottom left.
Nearing the end of Down Island, my 30th in the Jesse McDermitt Caribbean Adventure Series.
Coincidentlally, a couple of anniversaries are in the coming month.
On May 15, 2013, I began writing my first full-length novel.
On May 14, 2014, a year and three novels later, I quit my last ...job.
Down Island is on preorder now, and will be released in my Ship's Store on July 25, and on Amazon in Kindle Unlimited, on August 1.
I think y'all are gonna like this one a lot.
Can you guess the setting?
Supersets today, mixing bench press and deadlift.
I don’t think my trainer meant supersets, but both were on my sheet, so I’m just adding a twist.
Who’s up to join me?
Today’s a special day for me and my people. Marines have fought America’s battles for nearly 250 years and it’s time we were recognized as the finest fighting force on the planet.
Happy National Crayon Day, Jarheads!
Is any explanation needed?
Down Island
Volume 30 in the Jesse McDermitt saga.
Several writers have asked recently how I'm able to schedule my editor and narrator so far in advance, and hit those dates book after book, year after year. I currently have them scheduled for three books in June, August, December, and April.
Not estimated or penciled in, but ...scheduled for specific days. In six years of working with my editor, and ten with my narrator, we haven't missed a single deadline.
How is simple. The same way you'd eat a 72-ounce rib eye. One bite at a time. All you need to know is what you're capable of.
I'm attaching a screenshot of a pretend writing schedule for a book that, if I started writing on Monday, would be finished and with my editor for two weeks, starting on July 28, and with my narrator for one week, starting on August 25 with me doing QC on chunks he sends me daily. You'll notice different word count goals for the weeks they'd be working on a previous book.
My schedules always start off with a goal of 5,000 words per week for 13 weeks, totalling 65,000 words, my standard length. But I know certain things will be happening during that 13 weeks, so I adjust the word count goal accordingly. Sometimes, I'll have to add weeks at the end, especially around the holidays. You can tell yourself, with all good intent, that you'll sneak some writing in during times like that, but don't plan on it. Be realistic and intentional.
I put notes in the first column about the other jobs I'll be doing during that time, or days off needed. These are things that can slow down or speed up my writing process. For instance, I know I won't write 5K words the first week. Maybe a partial chapter and a lot of notes, for a total of 3K words. I also won't write 5K while I'm working with my beta readers on the previous book or with Nick during audiobook recording.
But the two weeks the previous book would be with my editor, I know without a doubt that I'll have nothing else to do, and I'm capable of 6-7K words in five workdays.
So, I go through the schedule, changing the weekly goals to what is appropriate for what other things I have going on with other projects or in my personal life.
I don't schedule any writing for the weeks of Thanksgiving, Christmas, the NINC conference, or our spring vacation. If I do sneak in some writing time, that's just bonus words, and time off later on in the process. I adjust further, tweaking the smaller goals, until I have a realistic expectation of what I'll be able to write every week during the time period.
Knowing when I'll finish writing, the longest part of the process by far, is the oly way of knowing when i can schedule other work, or a release date.
The bottom half is just the publishing schedule, where a lot of other people are working on the manuscript while I'm starting another book. I allow 1-2 weeks for beta readers, 2 weeks for my editor, a week for me to rewrite, a week for Nick to record while I do QC on what he sends me each day, a week for formatting and final covers, and a week for uploading. Then, and only then, will I have a release date to set up the preorder.
Me and my editor are the only ones who take the full allotted time, and by the time the finished files are ready to upload, we're usually a full week ahead of schedule. Mostly because Nick and I don't have any problem working weekends, and things like formatting and the final paperback cover art usually only take a few days instead of whole weeks.
I don't move releases up. If we're ahead, we're ahead, that's all. I always release to my core fans a week before Amazon, so that's scheduled also. Normally, I'd adjust the whole thing once more, so that the Amazon release is on the first of the month.
Preorders are credited to the day before the release, so that provides a bit of a boost in revenue for what is typically the worst month of a publishing cycle, the month before a new release.
In this example, I'd start writing on Monday, 3/31. release in my online store on Monday, 9/22, at Amazon on Monday, 9/29, and then release wide, three months later, on Monday, 12/29. In this case, I'd only have to delay the Amazon release by three days to hit the first of the month.
Only by knowing what I'm capable of day to day, and week to week, knowing when I won't be writing as much, and when I can write more, would I be able to come up with the dates to reserve for my editor and narrator, both of whom are booked months in advance.
My real writing schedule has my current WIP, plus three more books, and runs through April 2026, with dates reserved for my editor and narrator in June, August, and December.
Those reserved slots are unmovable but my demand on myself is very conservative, I often reach my weekly word count by mid-week, and I get a jump on the next week's quota and always try to stay at least one day ahead because life is GOING to happen.
This week, I took an unplanned day off to be at home while we were having work done on the house. I'd figured on them taking two days so for the two weeks prior, I simply revised my goals higher to make room for me to take time off, but the workers finished in one, leaving me two days ahead of schedule instead of one, at the halfway point in writing my current WIP.
It's okay to get more done than planned, but I never, under any circumstances, fall short on my weekly word count, not even the week I had surgery a couple years ago. The whole thing's based on a very attainable 1,000 words a day, five days a week, so when life happens in the middle of the week, I work the weekend to catch up.
You can create your own schedule with a simple XL spreadsheet. It doesn't have to do any calculations, like mine does in the last two columns. It can just be a simple plan, with easily achievable weekly goals, based on low daily goals, spanning a long period.
Otherwise, those who work for you might be booked up when you need them, causing a long, and very avoidable delay.
If you've been thinking of trying audiobooks but balked at the prices, have I got a deal for you.
The first five audiobooks in my bestselling Jesse McDermitt Caribbean Adventure Series are only $.99 each at Chirp Books and nowhere else.
That's 90% off, and $4.95 gets you about 45 ...hours of adventure, narrated by Nick Sullivan, at roughly ten cents per hour.
This deal won't last long, and is only at Chirp Books.
Link in the comments.
The End
Today was my scheduled day to finish Cocaine Cowboys, and I just added those two words at the bottom of the 57,195-word manuscript, which I started on October 14.
I took one full week off when we went to Florida a couple of weeks ago, so that's a total of 13 weeks or 65 ...writing days, meaning an average of 880 words per day.
Next week, I'll read the whole manuscript start to finish, cleaning things up, and it should end up around the usual length of my novels, 60,000 words.
The following week, I'll be working with technical advisors to polish it up a little more, before the manuscript goes to my editor on February 3 for two weeks of editing. And during that time, I'll begin the process all over again with the next book.3
When I get the manuscript back from my editor, I'll have another week of rewriting, then another week with my final proofreader.
Cocaine Cowboys is available for preorder on Amazon and my online store, where it's discounted, and preorders will be delivered a week early.
The Ship's Store release is scheduled for Monday, March 24.
And the Amazon release is scheduled for Tuesday, April 1. No joke.
Six weeks after its release, Dominica Blue is still in the Top 5 Sea Adventures on Amazon.
Thanks to all who have read my books and continue to buy the new ones. DB is #29 in my main series.
