My first training as a writer came by means of a correspondence course. I remember back then, almost thirty years ago, that I also read dozens of books covering a myriad of writing topics. Of the many concepts presented in these books was this: choose a genre and stick with it. And there were many good reasons to do so.
- Those readers who like your books will look forward to the next one, which should become available in about one year.
- It takes about a year to go from plot idea to finished product.
- Each book in a second series would also need to be published yearly. Thus, you would need to be completing a new book for one or the other series each six months.
- You can see the complications of starting a third series. You would work yourself half to death.
Things are quite different today. I know of at least one author who is putting out a completed book every six weeks. How does he do this? Well, I don’t know, but I can guess:
- He probably writes like crazy for a few weeks.
- Then he turns his current draft over to an editor who tweaks the plot, flushes out characters, checks for continuity, etc. and then returns his/her final draft to the author who does his final check.
- One more check by the editor and the book is turned over to someone who formats the book for paperback and ebooks.
- Submitting a manuscript and book cover is a piece of cake from here.
My first book was a fantasy written for young children. My next three books were mysteries for early readers. (By this time I realized the power of a series as far as maximizing sales.) My fifth book was science fiction and was written for young adults and adults. My sixth book (I will get back to it when I have piano performance and composing under control) is a non-fiction reference book. My seventh book is the first in a trilogy and is fantasy geared for early readers. My eighth book will be the fourth mystery in the early reader series I mentioned above. And my ninth book is one of two that deals with betting a book published.
And in the past year, I have co-composed three 100+ page books of piano music.
There seems to be a place for it all, especially with the power of publishing via print-on-demand and marketing by means of the internet.
What a great time to be a writer.
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