Well, I finished the first draft… My next non-fiction book (the one I pitched at the conference 3 weeks ago) is a completed manuscript. Now comes the rest period where I set it aside and shift from writer mode to editor mode.

In the meantime, I’m doing some developmental editing on my other big project (well, one of my other big projects…)

What the story was

Back in the day, when the world was young, and I hadn’t published a book yet, I started a NANOWRIMO project, Johnson Farm. It was the story of a young man discovering family secrets and making hard life choices. I promised myself it was a one off. There wouldn’t be any sequels. I also sort of punted by deciding to self-publish instead of getting a publisher.

I worked hard. I got the book to the best point I could. And then, in short order, I published the “one off” book; realized I had a sequel; discovered some problems in the self-published first edition; realized a side story was needed to make the whole thing complete; and then started a plan to create the necessary related stories and publish them.

What the story (s) is (are)

Johnson Farm, the first edition, was published six years ago. The follow-on books (numbers two, three, and four of what I thought would be a six-book collection) have been written. But I can see a lot of work needs to be done.

I’ve learned a lot in the last six years. I’ve built my skills. Built my contacts. I found a better way of doing things. At last month’s conference, I concentrated a lot on developmental editing and had some bolt-from-the-blue realizations on what I needed to do to fix Johnson Farm. I also figured out some solutions for the parallel books. And all of that suggested how I should rework the last of the four existing books (after four, I realized I really need to get the written books right before starting the last two…)

So, I’m applying my realizations and my 1 ½ pass technique (developmental self-editing). To make some serious changes.

What the story will become

As a side effect of the conference, I discovered a publishing company that specializes in the kind of book I want to put out. It’s a much better option than self-publishing the next edition or some of the other publishers I’ve considered (I’m still self-publishing some stuff, but there are good reasons for that, and being afraid rejection isn’t a good reason…). So, I’m building a “standalone story with series potential” (that wording is important) and then the rest of a series that will be pitched to (and hopefully published with) a house specializing in my market.

Instead of one book with no sequels or six books, I’m looking at two stand-alone books and potential sequels. I’m taking an over grown and hurting project and turning it into a professional and perfected series of books.

What we do takes work and learning, dear reader. I don’t pretend to be perfect. I learn more with every project work on. Success is coming. And if you haven’t found it yet, keep working and looking. You can find it too.

Build your story. Build your dream. And, I’ll see you next post.