SWC Update - Formatting for Print & Tours

Well, with the help of Christian and my schedule-making, I formatted both LOVERS & RIVALS as well as JAMES for print. Now I just have to make some final adjustments to sticking points (like headers - I hate headers) and then I'll be ready to order the proofs. I'm pretty excited to finally get these things out there.

The question is, can this development count towards my goal this summer? :-)

In the mean time, I've been focusing on marketing A LOT. I've researched different places to upload information about books (particularly Indie author sites that exist for the sole purpose of promoting books - and often making their owners stupid amounts of money). I've also checked out bloggers that I'd like to approach about joining blog tours for several of the books I'm going to be putting out.

Now there are a few things I need to do, and one of them is a timeline with the marketing pieces in place that somehow hooks up with the publications of JEREMIAH, BELOW THE BELT, and LOVERS & RIVALS. This timeline is going to need to include the following:

• Blog posts written for each tour
• Media kit finishing touches for each book
• Developing a portfolio (or at least a couple of pieces) of artwork associated with each book
• Developing a database of blogs and contacts for sci-fi and fantasy books (and hopefully these will be usable for reviews/tours)
• Putting book info on Goodreads
• Researching info about Goodreads giveaways (in anticipation to do a giveaway for each book - and possibly giveaways for earlier books as well).
• Putting book info on other Indie sites

Keep in mind all of this is *just* for the fiction books, and I haven't included ANDREW on this list because not only am I not finished writing ANDREW, but I also want a little space between JEREMIAH's publication and ANDREW's. In fact, I may push ANDREW's back into the fall (yes, I'm considering having this out after the baby is born). If that is the case, I'll need to have everything planned out in advance (the blog tour, the info ready to go and easy to upload etc).

The non-fiction marketing plan will involve a very different process even if it includes similar pieces. Admittedly I feel a little wary of the non-fiction marketing perhaps because it will be my first attempt into the genre. I still have a lot of additions I need to make to two of the non-fiction pieces and I'll need to verify the formatting is acceptable to the third.

Honestly the marketing parts are so different from anything I've done, it's more than a bit overwhelming and stress-inducing. I realized some time in the past week that writing has been little more than a hobby up until this point. It's only this year that I'm seriously turning to writing - both books and blogs - as a job. The transition is more than a little uncomfortable, though I'm excited about my future and the lessons I know I'll learn along the way.