The difference between my first book and my latest

 

Now you could think I maybe referring to the differences between wrongful love and an authors guide to writing but that just isn’t what I am going to be doing; it’s hard to compare the two when they are completely different genres with completely different goals in mind. Or you might even think I would be comparing the first book I ever published which is no longer available but I won’t be doing that either. 

No I will be comparing my first wattpad book secrets to the hybrid mate which I know isn’t even in the top four of my newest books but I do think it will be a good comparison. 

Secrets is still available on my wattpad and while it is not the same as it was when I first published it; it is still really bad. 

Now I think the most outstanding difference is the writing while I know I am still not prefect but who really is? I know I have come a long way with my writing and that is something I am proud of. 

The other key difference is I didn’t know a thing about editing when I wrote secrets where now I have learned a lot about editing. 

How I begin writing a new book

 

Starting to write a new book can be a difficult process but I like to think I have it pretty down packed now. 

Once I have an idea I like to start by writing a rough plan; now this isn’t by what I want to happen in a chapter nor is it an actual book plan but more an outline of the key points of the story. 

For example I’ll share with you the plan I had for one of my finished projects. 

The hybrid mate is about a young girl named () whose family was killed by vampires at her birthday party when she was () she spent many years training to kill vampires but sadly she was mated to a half vampire half werewolf called (). 

Throughout the book you watch as () grows to love her mate, and even falls pregnant although cursed by a witch in her pregnancy. 

As you can see it’s more a rough blurb and then I will come up with my characters and start writing; my first draft is never perfect but it is just getting my book idea good enough on paper that I can rewrite it and edit it to perfection.

How do you start writing your books? Are you a pantser? Plotter or something in between like me.

Writing Q&A

 

In todays blog post I thought I would answer nine questions related to writing and my career as a writer

1. What inspired you to pursue a career in writing?

My mother started writing her own book series when I was a little girl and I wanted to just be like her; and while my life hasn’t turned out how I pictured it would I am very happy that it has turned out that I can write for a living and share my stories with the world. 

2. How do you stay motivated when facing writer's block?

I work on multiple stories at a time so when I face writers block I just put a pin in that book and work on another. At a later date I will reread my story and if I am still stuck I will move on from that scene and come back to it after. 

3. What's your writing process like from idea generation to publication?

I address this in my book on writing An authors guide to writing by Phoebe M.C. But once I have come up with an idea I write a rough plan on what I want to happen; start writing. Put the book on stand down for three months then edit and self publish it. 

4. How do you balance creativity with the demands of running a writing business?

I will manage all my social media and the demands of advertising etc. through the day and work on my books with the creative side at night. 

5. Could you share a memorable writing success story or milestone in your career?

I think it’s he biggest milestone in my career was seeing the first book in The hybrid series get over 60 buys in the first six months of the book release. The most buys I had ever had in any of my books; and while it only had one five star review I knew that with more improvement I would make my dream come true. 

6. What are the most significant challenges you've faced in treating your writing as a business, and how did you overcome them?

Self doubt for sure; thinking my work isn’t good enough or that no one will like it. I overcome this by looking at my previous book sales; learning what I did wrong in previous books and work out a plan to get better with each book I write. 

7. What advice would you give to writers looking to self-publish their work and market it effectively?

My main advice would be to make sure your book is as good as you can possibly get it and don’t be scared when you don’t see people buying it immediately. On the front of how to market effectively; share the hell out of it. Talk about it whenever you can, make a tiktok and market it that way as well can lead to a lot of sales. 

8. How do you manage your time effectively to balance writing, marketing, and other aspects of your writing business?

I write 2-4 nights a week for around two hours a night and in that time I only focus on my book. Once a week I will bulk film/ write up promotional tweets and posts and then upload them throughout the week in the mornings. 

9. How do you measure success in your writing career, beyond just financial aspects?

While I haven’t actually seen a lot of money from my Amazon books (unlike my HiNovel books) I measure my success by any reviews I get, comments on my social media and just knowing that even if it flops that in writing and editing that book that I learned what to do better for my next book

What other questions do you have for me? If you want to start writing but don’t know where to start consider checking out my book on writing. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CHM7NBL6?ref_=pe_3052080_276849420

How I did with my 2023 writing goals

 My goals for 2023 were 

• write 100,000 words
• Publish all of my hybrid series
• Finish writing all unfinished books
• Edit 2 books 

How I did?

I managed to publish all of my hybrid series within the first month of 2023, I managed to write the only unfinished book I had sitting there waiting to be written and managed to edit it all by June 2023. I then started writing and editing another book which I just finished in November 2023. 

I didn’t manage to write 100k words I only hit 78k but that’s still good enough to me. 

tips, tricks and tools that help keep your writing career organised

 

Whether you write for pleasure, part time or full time it can be hard to keep all your work organised. 

- Having a place dedicated to your writing is beneficial because you can keep all your supplies in one place. 

- having your documents in files will be really helpful because then you can just click into the file you want and have all the information you need. Each writing project has a file with everything you need as well as files for ideas, writing, stand down, editing and published etc.

- have a writing routine that works for you

My best writing routine yet

 

Writing with a child is very difficult I find it hard to concentrate as well as find the time to be able to write. 

But with this routine I’ve managed to juggle being a mum and writing. 

i write when I can, Which means when my daughter is playing or watching TV I write on my phone.

which means when my daughter is playing or watching TV I write on my phone.

When my daughter is asleep I write on my laptop; and when she’s feeding I plan out books. 

It’s not great because I don’t get to concentrate for long periods of time only 10-15 minutes here and there throughout the day but it works for us and that’s all that matters. 

When it comes to editing I will edit a chapter a day while she’s playing, watching TV, eating or sleeping whatever she’s doing that doesn’t require me I will be editing that one chapter a day. 

An authors guide to writing

 Pre-order now

An authors guide to writing By Phoebe M.C.

An author's guide to writing is my book on all the things I wish I knew before starting to write my first book from how to world build, the pros and cons of self-publishing and so much more.

I started to write this book back in 2020 when I published my first four books and have been slowly writing it ever since. This book is literally everything I have learned about writing, self publishing, editing  and marketing over the past three years