You’ve finished your book. Congratulations! That’s amazing! CELEBRATE!

But as you’ve probably discovered, you’re not done. There are a few steps between finishing the first draft and publishing a book, especially if you’re self-publishing. So what should you do? How do you know what to do next? What step should come first, second, even fifth?

It’s natural to have a ton of questions. Let’s go down the list.

Happy Tuesday!

We’re only THREE WEEKS AWAY (😱) from the release of The Prophecy of the Codex (10/27/20), so to celebrate, I thought I’d do two things.

First, I put the preorder for the ebook up for sale! (If you want the paperback, I’ll have news on that when it’s live! Paperbacks don’t have the preorder option 😭) You can grab your copy below — I’ve already seen the interior of the book, and it’s so beautiful, y’all.

It’s time for a TON of book release goodies! Ready??

Book Cover

A few days ago, I sent out an email with my cover reveal, book blurb, and release date announcement for my upcoming book, The Prophecy of the Codex. But I realized I hadn’t put it here, so here goes!

Let me just say it: There are some scary things going on in the world right now. The Coronavirus is threatening our health, our economy is crashing, and our jobs are, at best, uncertain.

The responsible thing is to stay home. The safe thing. Because this keeps everyone safe, not just you.

If you’re home, you’re not out catching the disease. If you don’t catch the disease, you can’t spread it to others. And if you’ve minimized your exposure to COVID-19, you’re less likely to contribute to it spreading when you do have to go out.

Because there are vulnerable people in this world, some more vulnerable than you. Even if you’re relatively young and reasonably healthy, what could present as a cold to you could send a compromised individual to the hospital, or worse, to their death.

So please, STAY HOME.

Okay, I’m glad we covered that. Now let’s talk about what’s next.

Ever struggle with staying consistent on Instagram?

Maybe you don’t know what to post.

Maybe you have some ideas, but you’re not sure how to put it into a plan.

Or maybe you’re stuck in the planning phase and you struggle with actually creating the content and getting it posted.

I was the same way. Until January of this year (yes, just two months ago), I didn’t plan ANYTHING. Everything you saw on my IG was basically last-minute. Which meant that it was sporadic at best.

I knew if I wanted to level up and really start taking my social media author presence seriously, I needed to start planning.

And, at first, it was PAINFUL.

But I’ve learned so much, tried so much more, and I’m starting to find out what works for me.

And what works is having a simple plan to GET THINGS DONE.

Enter the Instagram Planning Calendar.

If you’ve read my first book, The Secret of the Codex, you know that I love romance. Kayla and Grady are #couplegoals, and I just loved writing their story.

But except for some fairly steamy-but-still-clean kissing scenes, I didn’t get too much into the romance part. It didn’t feel true to the characters or the story.

In the second book, The Prophecy of the Codex, I explore this a little further. Don’t worry — I don’t get into a lot of details, but you definitely get the point.

I suspect the subsequent books will stay in that same vein.

You have to write what works for the story.

But on February 9th, I started a new book. And this one’s a romance. Like a full-on steamy romance. For mature audiences.

Why the switch?

Who else makes monthly goals?

Setting goals is such a good idea and so helpful! If you don’t set goals, how will you know if you’re achieving your dreams?

So I thought it might be a good idea to keep you guys posted about what I’m working on this month. You know, just for fun. 😊