New Goals

Just a short blog post for today. It's a long day here, and I'm in the classroom for the duration. As much as I enjoy writing, my classes need to come before it.

That being said, I'm pushing my rough draft target forward to the middle of February. This will be about 1500 words a day, which seems manageable. I will also be restarting my YouTube project, except it won't be on a daily basis. It will probably once a week, but no more than twice a week.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I am starting a job on campus. I plan on putting money down from the first check for a new printer/scanner so I can make stickers (the blanks have shipped, should be getting those soon). I am still dedicated to giving my readers a quality book and it's my hope that this will be of value.

Anyways, I have to get lunch now. My next class is coming up fast!

Happy Reading!

Working Capital

The Book of Earth is still quite some time away from finished. The pace has been a bit slow, since with the start of the semester comes a decent amount of homework. I've been trying to weave some writing time between homework (for example, I owe myself 1000 words in Earth for doing two dynamics problems).

I got some good news recently. I'll be starting a part-time job next weekend, so I'll start getting paychecks. This is great for me because the work fits into my school schedule, and I can start generating some working capital for my novels. The first thing I plan on getting is a new printer/scanner, seeing as the last one died on me. Once I get this, I can print up my "Signed Copy" stickers (just got blanks from Amazon), and start adhering them to books I already signed (ones that my family members have).

I feel great that things are slowly yet surely coming together. Within the next few weeks, The Book of Earth should be in its editing phase, and my marketing plan will be underway.

Readers: How are things going for you? Leave your comments below.

Happy Reading!

In the Classroom

Right now, I am sitting in a classroom. There are a few other people besides me, waiting for the next class to start in about twenty minutes.

While I'm not crunching numbers pertaining to Earth's atmosphere, I am crunching numbers as it comes to my book sales. During a one-day promotion I did over break, 85 people downloaded The Book of Fire for free. Before the promotion, no copies of my book sold at $1.99. So by my math... number crunching ... my new lower price of $1.29 will at best (and a very optimistic best) will get 30 sales a day.

I've also lowered the price on paperback editions. Amazon recently did away with their Pro Plan, allowing every publisher to enjoy lower publishing costs. This is good news since I can now sell on Amazon without having to drive up prices. Now instead of selling for $11, The Book of Fire is now available for $7.99.

As always, links to both editions of The Book of Fire are available on the books page. I may add a listing for volume 2, The Book of Earth, even though the rough draft isn't finished yet.

Time to go! Class is starting!

Happy Reading!

Packing Up

It's almost that time of the year again to head back to school for the Spring semester. What makes this time special is that it's my last semester. This May, I will be graduating with a BS in Atmospheric Sciences.

Right now, I'm sitting in my room/office, gathering things to take back with me to my dorm. I've got clothes, notebooks, and snack foods. I'm even bringing my leather "business" pad with me (which holds my story on a flash drive).

This semester has some wide open spaces, so there's plenty of time to work on The Book of Earth and go to the gym. It is still my goal to have book #2 out by August of this year, granted I get my word count up to 50K by graduation. I stopped work on ABNA because I know I won't reach the threshold before January 23rd.

Readers: Are there any deadlines you're facing? Leave your responses in the comments below.

Happy Reading!

Snow!

Last night, as I crossed 28,000 words in The Book of Earth, I looked out my window to see snow!

It's been a relaxed winter here in Massachusetts. We had the big winter storm in October, but it has been quiet otherwise. I was expecting more snow while on break from school, but we don't always get what we're asking for!

Speaking of going back to school, I go back to Lowell in five days. Between now and then, I need to reach 50,000 words in order to have a qualifying novel for ABNA. I said I could be able to do it, but with each passing day, it feels like I'm trying to pull a rabbit out of my hat. I don't have rabbits...

Either way, I just need to write. Don't worry about pace, don't check the word count every five minutes. Just Write.

I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Happy Reading!

Seed to Read

Yesterday, I held a free e-book promotion for "The Book of Fire." To my surprise, Amazon delivered 82 free copies of my book during a 24-hour period. I'd like to thank everybody who dropped by and got their copy.

If you did download a copy of the book, I would appreciate a rating and/or review. This will help me to understand where I need to improve in my writing, and where I can provide a better reading experience for you.

Depending on how things pan out over the next week, I may plan more promotions or make some changes. Your ratings and reviews will help in planning these.

So once again, thanks for downloading my book, and I hope you enjoy it!

Happy Reading!

Ariston's Shield

Excerpt below from Realms Quintessential: The Book of Earth (C)2012 K. Louis Johnson. All rights reserved.

In the ancient Earth Realm, Ariston was one of the elite warriors, if not the best of the best. He slayed many demons, and through that he commanded much respect. Ariston also had the longest beard among the men which only seemed to grow with each victory.

One fateful day, on the occasion of the Earthen Festival, Ariston's status would be challenged. In the court of the lioness of the soil, fighters took turns fighting in the tournament. Many of Ariston's fans had grown beards of their own for a full year before the festival. As hundreds of warriors become tens, the audience became divided in applause. One side cheering for Ariston, the other cheering for newcomer Salu Tatorian. Cheers became louder for both sides as tens fell to single digits. On the festival's final day it was announced that Salu and Ariston would fight for the championship. Trumpets played as the warriors were ushered in. They stood at attention as the Lioness entered the stadium, the sole referee of the contest. “Begin!” declares the Elemental.

For the next hour the two fighters challenged each other, matching blow for blow. Cheering became gasping, which then became louder gasping, which then became louder cheering. Time on the field was moving excruciatingly slow for both fighters. Both warriors were out of breath. Salu rushed toward Ariston, who threw his shielded arm out to strike Salu with his sword. Seizing the opportunity, Salu's sword sliced away, chopping off his beard.

The lioness rose to an upright sitting position. “THE BATTLE IS OVER!” yelled the Elemental. The crowd was mixed in cheer and shock. Salu Tatorian was brought forward as the new champion while Ariston was escorted out of the stadium in shame. He would live out the rest of his years beardless and in hiding. The shield of his former glory is rumored to sit at the end of a cave on the Island of Brush.

Over 10,000!

That's the number of words I have done for The Book of Earth so far.

I'm behind pace right now if I want to catch the train for ABNA. My deadline for that would be the 19th, which will give me some time to fine tune the book before submission. I had a spreadsheet with daily goal word counts, but I deleted it. The important thing now is to just write.

Meanwhile, my chapter list is being condensed. The original 30 I had written down is now 25. This is still less than the 37 I have in The Book of Fire. The chapters in book two will be more substantial than the ones in book one.

My goal for the next week is to have 30K done. The current 10K is mostly content that's already been handwritten (I was inspired and wrote a chapter I hadn't started yet). The written copy has 16K words, so that leaves me 14K new words to write between now and next Saturday. This seems doable to me.

Readers: What are your goals for next week? How does it break down?

Happy Reading!

New Year, New Book!

Happy New Year, everybody!

I know it's a few days late, but better late than never! My main resolution this year is to be more organized. That includes making office space to work on my novels. Right now, my office is the lower drawer of my desk and I'm hoping to expand, royalties depending.

Epic Sofa D is officially on the back burner for the time being. I have checkpoints set for The Book of Earth, the first of which comes up on the 7th. I'll be treating this as a part-time job for the time being, and I'll see where I can work in writing time in during the semester.

Readers: What are your resolutions for 2012? Leave your response in the comments below.

Happy Reading!