The beta reader list is growing! Up to 8 with a lead on 2 more brings me up to 10, and since I was shooting for 7-12, that even leaves room for the inevitable dropout or two! (But don’t drop out. Luv you guys… Please don’t drop out!) 75% female, although mostly a little over the target age (although, who do we think we’re kidding? YA/Teen fiction readership is mostly adult anyways…) so in sum, yup, I’m fairly pleased that, at least in one area, things are moving right along on schedule. The social media stuff is depressingly slow to build (ugh; shoulda started sooner after all!), but I’ve got a whole 2 more followers on Tumblr since I started, and more to the point, I think I’m starting to get a feel for what might connect and work for the different channels and audiences. Or perhaps not…
Probably one more day of rewrites, and then I can start looking at edits based on beta reader feedback (although I’ve only 2 back, so we’ll see…) - I’m thinking it could make sense to start distributing that version (beta v2) as a ‘serial’ story to any and all likely sites; my brother suggested Reddit, which I’ve only dabbled in before, probably Tumblr with some syndication to IG/FB/T etc., Wattpad and similar channels could make sense… that’s assuming that things pull together well based on feedback. If it’s too messy, I may do another round of rewrites and reviews first to tighten things up. On the one hand, to warp the quote, any buzz is good buzz; on the other, I’d hate to start getting (bad) reviews if the story’s not quite up to snuff (and assuming it’ll ever get to the point of having good reviews! Yikes!)
Sent in those applications to jobs on Skye, in Inverness and near Thurso yesterday (finally) - no word yet, but that could be killer awesome! Then again, I’ve had ‘great’ ideas before that haven’t panned out, so I’ll adjust. A freelance piece of mine did well (a little over CAD$100 for a ~400 word marketing letter, so not terrible rates) and the client wants some other services for a business launch (or relaunch? refresh? tbc) so I’m making some headway on the freelance front. I still really can’t decide whether it would be more awesome to go full freelance and be completely un-tied-down, or whether a part-time day job in a cool location where I could get to know a community and an area for a while would be better. I feel like I need the ‘real job’ to anchor me, or rather, to force me to make a decision and settle down in one place as a base for further exploration… but there’s definitely a fear that having even just 20 or so hours of work would be too draining and I wouldn’t get around to al the writing and freelancing that I want (and need…) to do. And with the pay for lower level PT jobs like that, it could be a dangerous move…. but then again, how awesome would it be to work at a library on the Isle of Skye? Like, who else dreamed of that life for themselves at, oh, 14-15 or so? Dream come true, even if it’s not all girl-power kicking through the corporate glass ceiling…
So yeah, it’ll be interesting to see where these next few weeks-months take me. All that said, if I can make it writing books alone, I’ll definitely just do that and, like, volunteer a bit or something to get enough exposure to the real world to have good material and inspiration…
Thursday
Start time: 2:45 pm
Location: bed/bedroom
Drinking: Sontinh Táo Mèo cocktail with Elder Growth Bitters, Scrappy’s Bitters: Lime & Martini Rosso