Small Things Add Up to Big Things. The Ten Phase Publishing Process at Hawk’s Grove Press!
One of the many reference rooms at Hawk’s Grove Press. Photo by Anna Hunko.
I read science fiction to escape.
I enjoy creative writing for the same reason and for self-discovery. Each story’s daily research often takes me down interesting avenues, and I love to learn. And, yes, it took a while, but I’ve learned to watch out for the “rabbit holes” that can steal entire hours of relative productivity from a writer.
I could say I’m interested in predicting future technologies and cultural adaptations, but that’s not the entire story. I enjoy piecing together new worlds from clues and character subtext. And I like experiencing a wide range of character points of view. Along the way, I’ve come to respect intuition, consciousness, serendipity, and the power of summative epiphany. (More about that in another article!)
And that’s where you come in. Seriously. I can sense it. You’ve already read several paragraphs, and you’re ready for details. You’re looking to improve your life and hoping I can deliver a quick fix. So, what can I say that’s likely to convey health, wealth, and love?
Don’t worry about taking notes! (You’re not going to forget any of this.) Photo by Aaron Burden.
That’s easy!
The fun thing is, I’ve traveled all over the planet, and I have rarely met anyone who reads for pleasure and who isn’t also interested in writing stories of their own.
Wouldn’t you like to make up a series of your own characters? What kinds of situations would you put them in? And wouldn’t it be fun to design their entire world and society from scratch? Or maybe you’ve already written something you’re ready to share with the world? Literary fiction? Poetry? An entire fantasy or science fiction manuscript? A cozy mystery? Is it time for a traditional publisher and a big publishing house? Or are you into hybrid publishing? How about an independent press?
I guess that depends how you feel about today’s publishing industry. For me — after some experience with literary agents and New York City editors — I chose the small press publication process and helped build my own indie press.
Seriously, I know you have an awesome story all your own! Photo by Etienne Girardet.
And you can do the same thing! I mean, why the hell not?
So, here’s a brief guide to the publishing process at Hawk’s Grove Press. Feel free to assume a shockingly minimal operating budget, with only modest amounts of cash heading out the door for outside editing services, software purchases, a way-cool website, and most book covers.
To maintain productivity and publish with confidence, we use a marvelous team tracking program called Asana. The interface is easy to learn and tracks daily, weekly, monthly, and annual tasks. Dedicated book idea and university press templates have guided each of my books through a sequence of milestones and on toward victory!
And that’s what I want to share with you. The production practices that have guided me through selling ten science fiction novels.
A few paperbacks, with more on the way. Photo by Damsley Burgenswat.
Phase 1: Ideation
Do I already have specific characters in mind for a new book? Probably. I’m not sure I’ve ever had a story come together if I didn’t start with character. This is easy for a series of books, as the point of view character probably has room for further growth and maturity. And I surely mean to test them with a series of harsh ordeals. For stand-alone books, the main characters often come into tighter focus as I complete a first draft. My secondary characters could probably have a book of their own and often represent aspects of the story’s theme.
Do I already have a book title? Almost certainly. Over the years, I’ve been blessed to have an excellent social media audience. A huge percentage of them are outstanding teachers and/or former advanced placement physics students. Together with a tight cluster of dedicated project editors, we have no problem maintaining a list of excellent suggestions.
Thus, with so many projects in pre-production, we needed a place to collect ideas, character notes and profiles, audio and video clips, and even planned scene and dialog snippets. Scrivener won the contest! [According to their website, Scrivener is “Tailor-made for long writing projects, Scrivener banishes page fright by allowing you to compose your text in any order, in sections as large or small as you like. Got a great idea but don’t know where it fits? Write when inspiration strikes and find its place later. Grow your manuscript organically, idea by idea.”]
As I get closer to running with a particular project, I assign each note to an approximate plot point in my usual outline format. To build your own most-favored plot sequence, all you have to do is look up Joseph Campbell and hero’s journey, information about character arcs, and maybe Save the Cat!
We develop ideas for the book cover and let our art department go crazy. I already have covers for my next two books, and I can often describe character or spacecraft details straight from the book cover. For example: the young woman on the cover of Cross the Sky exactly matches the real-life person we modeled the book’s central character on. Hint: look at the epigraph at the end of each of my books. These awesome people help me focus on my daily writing, and many have seen “new life” as character models. But keep all that hush-hush. It’s supposed to be a secret.
Jonathan Blocher’s favorite drawer! Photo by Bruno Martin.
Phase 2: The First Draft
Scrivener lets me maintain separate files for chapter drafts and completed chapters. We use Scrivener for every project. I have a running reminder list open at all times with the main character’s goals, flaws, and story needs. There is an area for each character and alien species. I have detailed files for every setting, planet, and star system. Research notes, while helpful, can slow the process and it is nice to have separate areas for them to prevent distraction.
Each new book has its own character list with helpful images, descriptions, and voice notes.
We usually plan about 25, 3000-word chapters and an epilog. This is fun, because one story’s epilog often delivers insight into the next book’s opening sequence.
I write a minimum of 1,000 words, six days a week. This can take anywhere from twenty minutes to six hours. And I never know which way it’s going to go. Fortunately, small things add up to big things, and the chapter count always grows.
But here’s my HUGE problem: I can’t help editing along the way and sometimes can’t hold a state of “FLOW” — separate article! — together without the help of great music and sometimes the aid of theta-wave binaural beats.
I check each completed chapter with the online Hemingway editor. I also use this for every short story, as it automatically shows errors and areas ripe for pruning. I also like that it reports a “grade level” for each chapter, and that helps with consistency and word flow.
I check each completed chapter with ProWritingAid. Here, it is important to adjust the settings for U.S. English and my specific genre. You can also choose general, British, Canadian, or Australian English. What fun!
I check each chapter with Grammarly. At the end of each week, Grammarly delivers a summary of observed issues. My longest streak was 84 weeks and I have checked more than three million words.
Okay, okay, inquiring minds want to know! As of this precise moment, my average word count for a completed book is 94,226 words. So that’s only 95 writing days. [Which is stupid on my part, by the way. A “novel”-length book only needs to be about 60,000 words! My ten books could be fifteen! Silly me! What have I been thinking?]
After the chapter count tops out, I add an epilog and compile the Scrivener file for Word.
One of the rooms where I might write. Photo by Laurentin Morarin.
Phase 3: Revision in Microsoft Word
Why use Word? This is the first time I see a total word count and start seeing if the scenes will hold together the way I’d hoped. And I really like the way Word tracks every change and waits for me to evaluate and save updates. Global searches are super easy, and I love seeing search output in a sidebar for rapid evaluation.
I update the novel’s cast list.
I make a revision matrix that forces me to focus on each chapter’s likely changes.
I usually have notes or a list of known issues I need to address.
As I work, I make voice notes to guide future narration.
I search through the entire manuscript with a look toward using stronger verbs and deleting every use of certain words such as that, very, just, some, actually, (and more).
Do I still like the POV character?
Are everyone’s goals clear?
Does the story read well?
Do I need to add more dialog tags for clarity?
Can I cut any unnecessary scenes?
Do the stakes keep escalating?
When I think I’m about done here, I read each chapter silently and then aloud. Yes, mistakes and typos still show up here.
Hawk’s Grove Press? This place is huge! Photo by V.N. Wayne.
Phase 4: Editing
I format the book in Vellum, and the complete package goes to the editing team at Hawk’s Grove Press. If you don’t want to purchase Vellum (or don’t use Mac computers), Scrivener can also format. And there are a lot of other free programs, as well. I just like how Vellum lets us put our own production stamp on each new work. The chapter openings all look the same, as do each book’s front and back materials.
I finish the book’s synopsis and pitch page, and shoot them off for peer review.
Now here’s the scary part! In EXCHANGE for this new manuscript, I now get an edited/annotated copy of whatever previous book I had submitted (months ago) to our editors. So, while the editing crew does their thing with the new project, I get ready to publish another book.
One of several critique groups. Photo by Christina.
Phase 5: Second Revision
I write the first draft of the book’s Amazon description (around 250 to 300 words).
I finalize the new book’s eBook and print covers. (Some of which we purchase here at Book Cover Zone.)
Here’s where I interpret each editor’s notes and suggestions, and take action on … most. I use Word once again here, as this makes it easy to compare versions.
I’ve now deleted the old Vellum copy that the editing team saw, and read the entire book out loud once again. Still more changes here, and this is where I have to be careful to limit my tinkering. No one else is going to see this text before it heads out for publication.
I write emails for the new book’s cover reveal and launch.
I update my author’s biography.
I verify the book’s social media links and format the text in Vellum for the second time.
Here’s where everyone downloads each new book! Photo by Shawn Angg.
Phase 6: Publication
We complete the book’s Amazon description and convert it to HTML using this Description Generator.
We use BookBrush and Canva to make banners for Facebook and Twitter.
We finalize the book’s categories and keywords.
We use Vellum to generate eBook and Print versions to upload to Amazon.
Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing system is easy to follow and usually takes less than a couple of hours. It generates our ASIN and ISBNs, and helps calculate cover prices all around the world. Some of my biggest book sale figures come from all my dedicated fans in Australia. (Which is cool!)
We add the new book to my Amazon Author’s page and BookBub.
We send out launch notices.
Natalie Mensinger and Murdoch McRae narrate our books!
Phase 7: Remastering
Hawk’s Grove Press has two fantastic voiceover artists. Already under contract, Natalie Mensinger is narrating all the books in Lissaya Anning’s Sapphire Sky series. And Murdoch McRae is reading the Time Wing Six books and everything in my River of Light series.
And here’s where I would pull my hair out — if I had any hair. Preparing for narration requires yet another full reading of each book, this time with expected voice profiles and (especially for the many aliens my characters interact with) consistency checks between each book series.
Our masterful art department renders each audiobook cover.
Audiobooks are awesome! Photo by FindAwayVoices.
Phase 8: Audiobook preparation
Our production teams use a fancy Digital Audio Workstation called “Reaper,” but you could use Audacity (free) or GarageBand (free). During each morning’s production run, the team produces at least two narrated chapters.
Our narrators record the entire book and deliver it to me so I can line-by-line verify an exact match with the book’s final product in Word or Vellum. Once in a while, they may have made changes because I gave them a tongue twister they didn’t want to tackle, or they’ve found a better way to say something. In Double Take, I once used the word cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (an explosive compound) and made them keep it in. For fun, I sometimes make them speak Russian or Chinese. Oh, and they sometimes have to sing or growl alien voices. I wonder if they hate me for it?
Once I approve each chapter’s Reaper files, the team makes their last changes before rendering WAV files and MP3s using Auphonic Leveler and XLD.
We check these one last time and then shoot the final MP3s off to ACX and Audible.
If we changed the book along the way, I upload the changes and re-publish eBook and Print editions.
When the time comes, we hope to add audio files to our website so you can get an idea what to expect on Audible.
Marketing! I just love those world-wide sales! Photo by John McArthur.
Phase 9: Marketing
I usually put the first chapter of each book on my small press website at www.inheritthenight.com.
We now shoot emails to our street team and other lists, and hope for reviews.
We post notes on Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook.
I send gift copies to genre “influencers.”
We launch an Amazon ad campaign for the book or the first book in that audiobook’s series.
As an aid to planning email campaigns, you will want to find an email marketing system you can live with. None of them are perfect, and I can only recommend MailerLite and ConvertKit. Warning: unless you want daily aggravation and zero help, stay away from MailChimp.
Zeke and Zooey love an afternoon treat!
Phase 10: It’s time to relax and enjoy the life of an independent publisher!
I usually take a break and read a book or two. (The next one on the stack is … The Bees, by Laline Paull.)
I might watch a great movie.
I’ll take the dogs on an adventure.
Our entire production team might go out to dinner.
But then it’s time to continue with the next new work in progress!
Anyway, being a “creator” is empowering, so good luck finding your own writing and publication process! If you have any questions, I’d be happy to lend a hand. For now, why not take a look at some of our finished products and give them a try? The eBooks are free with Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited plan, and we’ve yet to raise prices for the new year.
And please don’t hesitate to leave those all-important reviews. (Bless your heart, if you already have!)
I bet you can’t wait for our next book! Photo by Annie Spratt.
[Disclaimer: I have no affiliate links with any of the products or services listed in this brief article.]
“Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.”
