Hey ya'll. I feel like it's been August for ages. Hmm, I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that I've waiting to publish my chapbook Sensuality. in September. And September's finally here! Granted, Sensuality. won't be released for another few weeks. I know I've been reticent about exactly which day in September it will be released, but that information (along with the cover!) is coming soon, I promise.
There's a lot to do when preparing a book for publication, so my August goals were all about Sensuality..
August Goals
1. Format the Interior of Sensuality.
Done except for one or two tweaks. The few things I still have to do I couldn't have done because they relate to the cover, which I'll get to talking about soon. I ended up using Microsoft Word for the formatting, and it wasn't as much of a headache as I feared it would be.
2. Make the Cover for Sensuality.
Almost. I ran into some setbacks. The idea I originally had flopped. I tried to DIY it--do not recommend. Then I reached out to some artists on this site called Fiverr. I found one--named natsuhisui--who could do it for cheap, and I'm very happy with the results. It turned out better than I thought. There's still a few finishing touches to be done before I can officially reveal the cover. Then, that's just the front cover. I still need to design the back myself.
3. Update my Author Photo
I didn't even get to renting a good camera for my DIY cover before I trashed that idea, so I didn't have a good camera for taking my new author photo. I just did it with my phone. It's not the most professional-looking photo, but I think it's an improvement upon my last one and better reflects who I am as an artist.
4. Begin Stage #2 for Poetry Book #1 (PB1)
Accomplished! PB1 is my new poetry project and will be my first full-length poetic work. In July, I focused on writing several poems for it (Stage #1), but for August, I slowed down to figure out the book's structure. I brainstormed all the ideas I wanted to explore in the book and then created a note-card for every idea for an individual poem I had. I divided the note-cards by theme and then ordered them the way I want them to be in the book (for now). I discovered two things:
I've grouped the book into 5 parts based on similar ideas and having to do with a particular period of my life.
I have at least 100 ideas for poems. And I might develop more as I write. Considering a lot of my poems tend to be over one book-size page long, that could mean the final book will be around 150 (or more) pages. This is going to be a looooong work.
It's an ambitious concept too, but I've become more confident that I'll be able to do it justice.
I'm calling all the brainstorming and organization I did Stage #2, and now I've progressed to Stage #3, which is writing the rest of the poems. So far, I've written 32. I'm between a third and a fourth done. Wow, this book is crazy.
5. Write 10 Poems
Failed. I only wrote 6. This goal was my lowest priority, so I'm not too bothered by not reaching it.
6. Gain More YouTube Subscribers
I gained one. I know the goals says subscribers, but every subscriber counts and should be considered an accomplishment. In that case, I'm counting this as accomplished. I haven't been as consistent at posting videos as I had planned, so I consider that to be a failure.
There were a lot of goals that were somewhat accomplished this month. There were some setbacks along the way, and moving back into my dorm at school took up time. I still consider this month to be mostly a success; it just wasn't as successful as some previous months.
Onto my goals for September!
1. Publish Sensuality.
It's coming out THIS MONTH! I can't believe it. I'm so excited! Randomly throughout my day, I'll smile and say I can't believe I'm publishing my first book soon.
Most of the big work is done, but there's still several small things I have to do:
Finish interior formatting
Format the back cover
Release the cover and announce the release date
Print a proof copy to make sure everything's formatted correctly
Finalize and release the recordings of the poems
Finish uploading it to Createspace and Amazon KDP
2. Read from Sensuality. at an Open Mic Night
Last semester, I started performing at open mic nights. It still terrifies me, but I want to promote Sensuality. by reading a poem or two from it. Maybe I can even sell some copies!
3. Write 15 poems
I'm upping the goal from last month because hopefully I'll have some more time to write. I'm also only 4 away from reaching my year goal of 35 poems.
Only 3 goals this month, but there's a lot that goes into publishing anything. This all feels so crazy! I'm so excited to finally share Sensuality. and see it become a book. If you don't want to miss its release, you can sign up for my newsletter below, follow me on Facebook, or subscribe to my YouTube channel. We'll keep in touch!
