Twice the Chickens, Twice the Fun

[Super Chickens]

My teenage boy, who will be going by Ax the narrator, is the other half of my writing partnership. He's the wildly creative half of our team who is unrestricted by adult fears and limitations like I have been. All you have to do is have a slip of the tongue, throw out a crazy wordplay, or watch a movie and play with him, and he spins off into a new character, subplot, or a new book, which he can churn out in a few days. It was his slip-of-the-tongue when he said Alpacalips that my brain started churning, and Doomimals was born. I, meanwhile, have the master's in English and the practical sense of grammar, structure, writing, and literary depth. I run into writer's block frequently, and he bails me out with his wild ideas. He'll spin out a crazy scene for me, and I'll weave it into something ready to be read. 

[School of Rock-source]

Recently, we watched the Broadway musical "School of Rock," based on the early 2000s movie with Jack Black. Even though it's about a slacker scamming his way into a substitute teaching, he must have done something right because during my Master's program, my whole group of budding college English instructors was taken on a field trip to see the movie in order to learn to teach in a creative way. But in the eyes of my boy, this became the inspiration for a crazy plotline about super chickens substituting at a high-brow school, where they end up having major super battles with possessed teachers. 

[The Bad Guys, a silly book series recently adapted for movie theaters. Source]

While I'm finishing up the editing process and doing the last items to prep my first book for publication, my boy is churning out zany Captain Underpantsesque/The Bad Guys-like insane books. I was going to release one of my books then one of his books, but it's pretty clear his go a lot faster than mine. How does this translate to your experience? The new plan is to put out one of my books then, the next month, release one of his then, a month later, another of his. Doomimals will come out every third month or so while his are going to come out a lot faster. As soon as my first is done, we'll immediately focus on pumping out his, one after another. It's something to look forward to in the near future. 

Revising for a Contest

[Romance novels-source]

Last blog, I mentioned that I was working on a couple of Christian romance novels. I started my serious revision on the first one, including filling out the story, adding to the first section that will be going up on Kindle Vela soon. I then submitted that first segment for a contest. I've also been reading a lot of romance novels, so I would better know how to revise and structure these novels. As any writer knows, a good writer also reads their genre. 

[McGuffin Puffin-source]

Meanwhile, my boy, Ax the Narrator, worked on revising short stories for the same contest.  He has a character who is a silly parody of Indiana Jones, McGuffin Puffin, who is always on the quest for a new McGuffin and drags the chickens along. We worked on fleshing that story out as well as revising another. He now has 15+ books and several shorter pieces that just need a final revision and a cover.  

[Main Character of book 1, by Ghostelle.]

Meanwhile, I'm finishing the major revision for book one of Doomimals, Cockadoodle-DOOM, today, and then I will be proofreading as well as choosing and prepping a cover and formatting, hopefully this week. We're close to getting ready to launch on KDP. I'll soon be announcing a release date as well as the launch of a new webpage since we took the old one down.  We're really close. 

Another Series

[Source]

I'm looking at KDP Select for Doomimals and Just Us Chickens, our chapter books, at least to start out with as we build a readership. I understand it may not be a long-term solution, but we'll see.  It doesn't pay lavishly, but those who sign up for this service through Amazon have ready access, which gives me a ready and eager audience, especially as we approach the summer when kids have lots of time to read. 

[Source]

In the meantime, I just learned about a new self-publication platform, Kindle Vela. It wouldn't work for children's books because it allows for words, not images of any sort. And you publish through it 500-5000 words at a time. This got my brain churning about a couple of longer books for an adult audience I wrote and had a freelance editor look at. These books have been waiting since for me to have time to work on them, while I polish my kids' books. 

[Looking to Shakespeare; source.]

Several years ago, I wrote my first romance novel. It's called After the Dream and is about a woman whose first marriage goes wrong. When she becomes a young widow, she has to take her broken soul and face the dating world again. It's about finding love and hope in the face of imperfection and damage. It was specific to my religious group. I've been thinking since that I wanted to widen the audience of this and its spinoff, Pigs Fly, to a broader Christian romance audience. Pigs fly is about the first book's brother, a man pushing 40 who says he'll only marry when pigs fly. Things get complicated when he meets a female pilot with a copilot who is a pig. It took inspiration from Shakespeare's "Much Ado about Nothing," while the first one tips its hat to "Romeo and Juliet."  

[Source]

When I heard about Kindle Vela and its approach to storytelling in bite-sized chunks, I started to hope I can also bring these novels out soon to you as well, juggling both kids' books and romantic novels. Step one will still be to finish polishing book one of Doomimals and then Book one of Just Us Chickens. Then, maybe the first romance novel will be next.  

Art and Character Revision

[Redrawing Just Us Chickens.] 

 As part of my preparation to launch my boy's first book, Misadventures of the Just Us Chickens, I've decided to redo the line art.  When I first started digital art about a year or two ago, I didn't know how to do line art, so I simply scanned in my sketches and used the scanned ink. Now that I re-examine that art with a year or two of experience, I can see the line art needs help. Also, as I've been revising and rewriting later books, I've realized some of the art no longer fits. I'll need to revise and update the illustrations for at least book four but probably later ones as well.  

[Key Lime] 

Also, my boy has been working on a swashbucking, world-traveling superhero snake named Key Lime Python.  Originally, he was a jaded, frustrated, and incredibly experienced.  He even wrote a novel based on this character, and I had him introduced in book four of my stories.  He's since decided to turn this series into a bildungsroman, a coming of age of a kid snake who accidentally ends up with the most powerful sword in the universe and has to figure out how to use it without destroying the universe in the process.  

[Editing: source]

In the meantime, I watched a video about paring down references to the main characters, focusing on their senses and their experience to more fully immerse the reader into the story.  Instead of writing "I looked around and saw a mountain coming up from the ground," one would write, "A mountain arose from the ice, jutting up to the sky." Instead of focusing on my character's experience, the text will take the reader there.  I thought I was all but ready, just doing a final polish, when I realized this one little tweak will take a while but improve the reading experience.  So there is a delay, but I fully plan to get the first book out for you by early summer.  

Working Toward a Launch

 

[Working on paperback and digital books; source]

We've been working through the final edits on Doomimals Book 1: Cockadoodle-DOOM for kids 8-12. Meanwhile, I'm working with a writer's group on getting feedback for book 4.  Book 2 just needs a polish, while I'm still working through the feedback on book 3. I'm also working on polishing illustrations and text for Ax the Narrator's first and award-winning chapter book, The Misadventures of the Just Us Chickens. 

[Amazon-source]

We're also studying up on how to market, from creating a brand and logo to preparing to launch and advertise series on KDP (Amazon) publishing.  Once we get the first book ready to launch the first month, we'll be working toward launching a second book the very next month.  We have enough material we're working on that we could have one book for you every month for the near future. We'll also be working on future books as well.  

[An Illustration from Cockadoodle-DOOM]

We have my books divided into essentially "seasons," like in a television show, where there are individual stories but also an overarching plotline for each set of nine books, building toward a climactic battle at the end.  Think of something between Percy Jackson and Animorphs. Why is it set up in sets of nine?  It's because I have three protagonists, each taking turns narrating books.  Book one is from the point of view of Davis, a 12-year-old slacker nerd, and turns "Chicken Little" into a madcap adventure.  Book 2, Cat-a-clysm, is "Three Little Kittens" in adventure form from the point of view of Davis's twin sister, Kitt, a popular girl who finds Davis embarrassing.  The third, Goatastrophe, is from their shy, animal-loving cousin's perspective and is based on "The Three Billy Goats Gruff."  

[An illustration from Just Us Chickens.]

Meanwhile, Ax the Narrator's main set of books is a spinoff of my books and is about a team of super chickens who would save the world, if only they can stop tripping all over their own feathers.  It's a set of crazy, silly adventures in the vein of Captain Underpants and is primarily for those 7-12 but can also be enjoyed by an older audience. 

[Writing launch soon--source]

We're very close to getting ready to launch.  Once I'm done with the final editing, cover design, and formatting, I'll start releasing the date on which you can get your copy of the first book.  

Pieces Coming Together

[Navigating toward success: source]

We were able to get into Mark Dawson's class, the one that trains you to become successfully self-published.  We're clearing our slate of other critical items, so we can start it soon.  The one piece I could never figure out for myself, even after several other classes, was how to market on the road to self-publication.  Apparently, this plus some books on the topic will start opening doors and making things clear. This is something anyone can do, even you.  It's not a cheap class, but it will be worth it in the end. 

[Cover Design-source]

Another step we'll be pursuing, likely this week, is finding a cover designer on Fiverr.  Yesterday, I picked up an audiobook on the strength of its cover and because it was for the same target audience.  Two things (other than boredom) came out of it: 1. an exciting, professional cover can bring the audience, especially on a website like Amazon; 2. doing my own audiobooks won't be outside the realm of possibility because I can read in a much more expressive way that that actor.  I don't know that I'll have time for all of them, but I can get it started and then maybe pay someone to do the rest. Getting someone to do it won't be cheap, but if the book starts making sales, it may pay for itself.  And my boy has crazy, fun voices already practiced for his audiobooks.  

[The journey begins-source]

I'm sure setting up toward successful self-publication will be time-consuming, but in the end, knowing how to do it will be one of the most important skills we can acquire.  And as we figure this out as a family, I'll share my path to success, so you can both try it yourself and learn when and how to acquire our books. It will be an adventure for all of us.  

A New Strategy

[Typewriter/publisher-source]

Up until the end of 2021, I was sure our path to publication would be a hybrid publisher I picked out a couple of years.  I can write.  I can edit.  I have illustrated our books.  I can do all but a cover that will really sell our books and, of course, effectively market.  That is where this hybrid publisher was to come in.  All I had to do was submit a chunk of money upfront and send in about 150,000 words of semi-finalized print, and that hybrid publisher would prep everything for publication.  That sounded like a great plan because I didn't know how to market.  I've taken classes, and I've tried to execute the strategies those classes taught.  And the few things I've thrown into Amazonland hit like a drop in the bucket and disappeared in the crowd, including a preliminary Doomimals short story. 

[A new path-source]

Then, my genius son and co-creator of our multiple series got the chance to do a job shadow with an established self-published author, A.M. Luzzader, author of the Middle-Grade Mermaid series, who showed me a path, the path she took to success with self-publication.  She showed me it could be done, that she and several people she knows found a pathway to success with self-publication.  When I understand more about it, I will publish what I learn.  For now, it's simply a list of names, titles, and suggestions.  

[Investing in the future-source]

Luzzader suggested I take that same chunk of money I was going to throw at a hybrid publisher for one book and turn it into a wealth of knowledge that could lead my whole family down a path to successful self-publication.  This could lead to at least moderate success for Doomimals, Just Us Chickens, Key Lime Python, The Radiant Army vs Us (the working title for a series for older youth that we haven't started yet), and a whole pile of other projects including some about which my husband and other child have been dreaming.  

[Just Us Chickens]

In other words, within (hopefully) a month or two, I will have a strategy finalized for bringing you Cockadoodle-DOOM, the first book of Doomimals, followed by The Misadventures of the Just Us Chickens and so on, one after another.  You'll hear about it as soon as we have a formulated plan, but it should be coming soon.  Then, I can guide you along the same path.