Let’s Get Ready To NANO by Tracy Reed
November 5, 2022 by Tracy Reed in category Pink Pad by Tracy Reed tagged as NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, Tracy Reed, writing
Welcome to November. Or more commonly known to writers as NANO month. I’m doing NANO for the fourth year in a row. Actually, I think it might be the fifth, because I didn’t keep track via the website one year. Doing NANO probably wasn’t a wise move for me this year, considering everything I have going on. In my defense, my schedule wasn’t supposed to be so packed at this time of the year, but a couple of family medical issues popped up and pushed me a little behind.
So what’s on my plate for this month? Two anthology contributions…my first holiday novella (18k+ words), a short story (10k+ words), my first attempt at a romantic comedy and a very large book (100k+ words). Out of all the projects, I think the book was the easiest project. The romantic comedy was the most difficult and also the first project due…November 6th.
I felt doing NANO this year was the best way to assure I’d write the next book in the Alex series. I had another project in mind, but this book kept calling out to me.
I am a proud panther, but for this book I made some notes, because there were a few points and new characters I wanted to include.
When I decided to use the fifth book in the Alex series for NANO I was banking on using some of the unused chapters from the other books in the series. As of this writing, it’s NANO Day three and so far, I’ve only used a couple hundred orphaned words.
Another first for me is a writing schedule. I sort of just wing it. However, I didn’t realize the books in this series were so big. Books two and three are 90k+ words each and book four is over 100k+ words. In order to keep in line with the series, part of my NANO plan is to write six days a week at 3500 words. I set such a high word count schedule because I really want to complete the book by the end of the month. The last time I set a similar plan, I ended up completing the book a month later.
I like writing during NANO and I’m sure I’ll do better this year. However, I won’t be surprised if I finish the month with an incomplete book. I won’t be discouraged, but getting half way on a 100k word book isn’t too bad.
Last month, an amazing thing happened. I got my fourth BookBub Featured Ad. It happened so quickly, my head started spinning. I applied for a featured deal at nine-thirty in the morning and three hours later, I got an approval email. I was so shocked. After I stopped doing a happy dance and praising God, I went to work on a plan.
The other times I had BookBubs, I ran additional newsletter ads. I didn’t have that opportunity this time. However, I did run a regular BookBub ad for book two in the Alex series. I figured it would be a good lead in for the upcoming Alex Four release. I’d had a featured deal for book two in the series with very good downloads. This time, I didn’t get the downloads I got the first time I had a featured deal. However, I hit the top 100 Free Books in the Amazon store and Apple. Plus, the book stayed in the number one spot in one of its categories while it was free. I was shouting louder this time than when I got the featured deal.
Besides the high ranking, I also earned some preorders on book four, additional BookBub followers and sell-through on my backlist. Overall, it was a surprise with significant benefits.
Happy NANO month.
Tracy’s Books
(Hover over the cover for buy links. Click the cover for more information.)
To NANO Or Not
October 5, 2020 by Tracy Reed in category Pink Pad by Tracy Reed tagged as NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, writing
Happy fourth quarter. We are a few weeks away from NANO season. I have received emails, seen blog posts and You Tube videos reminding me about NANO month.
A few years ago, I signed up for a NANO account and never participated. Last year, I reactivated my account and signed up to participate in NANO for the first time. I posted questions in some groups for advice and to make sure I was signed up correctly. I was all set.
I had a book I was working on and figured this would force me to complete it. I thought I was doing well. Unfortunately the words just weren’t coming so I switched books.
I figured the book I switched would be easier to complete. I based that assumption on the other two books in the series which were novellas. As I continued to write, the book grew. Every time I thought I had an ending, the characters kept talking.
When November ended, I hadn’t completed my book. I took a break and continued writing. I completed my book…a few months later. I also have the first couple of chapters for the fourth book. By the way, I never intended to write a fourth book in this series, but when your characters talk, you kind of have to listen. So, not completing NANO it worked out for me.
As I stand on the precipice of another NANO season, I’m faced with a very important decision…do I NANO or not?
I don’t want to make a promise and not follow through. Grant it, the only person I would be disappointing is me. Considering how things worked out for me last year, it might be to my advantage to sign up for NANO.
So what are the pros and cons to doing NANO this year.
PRO:
- We’re on lock down with little time to do anything else, so why not write a book
- This would challenge me to complete the fourth book in my series
- It would get me back on a steady writing schedule
CON:
- Blocking out time to write
I can’t figure out a valid reason not to do NANO this year. Writing a book in a month isn’t new for me. After all, that’s what I did every month in 2016. I think right now my focus is a little off and participating in NANO this year could possibly help me.
If I do this, does anyone have any tips on how to survive and win at NANO? Clearly my previous plan of sitting down and writing on a whim didn’t work, otherwise I would have finished my original NANO book.
Happy NANO Prep.
See you next month.
~Tracy
National Writing Month
November 5, 2013 by A Slice of Orange in category Writing tagged as Beth Yarnall, Book in a Year, Debra Mullins, Kara Lennox, Louisa Bacio, NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, Rob Preece, Tari Lynn Jewett
- The Vampire, The Witch & The Werewolf: A Wolfe in the City – The manuscript is about 47K right now, and it needs to be completed.
- Second For Men for Ellora’s Cave: The Quickie is more than halfway done, and could be finished up within a week.
- R&R for Decadent Publishing: Need to polish a few areas, and get it back in. It’s been on the burner for when the other two items were finished.
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