BrandonBits: Obligatory New Year's Post

What a wild year for pretty much everyone it seems. At least all the negativity swirling around did force me to focus on other things and be rather productive. However, I still wasn't nearly as productive as I had anticipated. I had hoped to publish four books this year and have a fifth one nearly finished. Instead, I published one book, am editing another, have nearly finished the rough draft of another, and haven't done much with two that I started last year. Ah well, once the Jesse Boomer trilogy is complete it will open the floodgates of creativity, allowing me to publish a few things in quick succession.

Something I did do that I hadn't planned on was revisiting all my previous books and making them available in paperback form, which was pretty involved when considering how many additional edits I made, so that undertaking can probably be compared to the writing of an entirely new book.

All right, I guess now it's time to set goals for 2018.

Goal 1: Publish five books. Sure, that seems like a tall order, but considering the fact that one book is a few weeks away from completion and another will be done a month after that, I'm quite confident this goal can be met. I'm especially excited to work more on This Dinosaur Future I Dreamed and imagine I'll bang that one out pretty quick because I've wanted to focus on it for quite some time. Plus, it's a project I'm very passionate about.

Goal 2: Become a full-time writer. I do have a day job that isn't too bad, but it's definitely time to move on and pursue my passion. I'm hoping that by around spring time I'll have enough of a following (via Amazon, Patreon—which I really need to upload more content to—, and Ko-fi) to take a chance and devote all my time to writing and other creative projects.

Goal 3: Work on a variety of projects outside of writing, such as art, music, and videography.

Goal 4: Be more social.

Goal 5: Get out more. I'd like to spend more time in coffee shops and traveling around to various places. This sort of coincides with the goal to be a full-time writer because as soon as that happens I won't feel so tied down and will be more apt to go on random trips, actually staying in places while writing about them.

Goal 6: The obligatory eat-healthier-and-exercise-more goal everyone seems to have.

BrandonBits

I hope everyone had a great holiday. As is typical, I spent it watching Christmas-themed slasher flicks, drinking, and committing carbicide.

The free book promotion went okay, but not many seemed to be too jazzed about it this time. Ah well, it has only strengthened my efforts to be more proactive in reaching more readers. Thus, I am currently using Amazon Marketing Services to promote Night of the Killer Roos and Nudibranchs! The Modified Version through the long weekend, which has resulted in plenty of clicks and a few more sales. Of course, focusing more on public relations is a bit difficult while working on a book one hopes to publish in a month. Still, here I am running campaigns, posting to blogs, finally getting around to joining Goodreads, and buying a new camcorder that will allow me to produce more video blogs and other various videography projects to share in an effort to promote myself.

Last Day for FREE Books

Today (Monday the 18^th) is the last day to take advantage of the FREE book promotion. The updated digital versions of the five following titles are FREE:

The Emboof Influence
Night of the Killer Roos
Nudibranchs!
Nudibranchs! The Modified Version
The Unfabulous Horrors of Chameleon Island

FREE Books!

From now until Monday the 18^th several digital versions of my books are free to download. All have been recently updated (for the last time O_O), so I encourage all my readers to take advantage of this promotion even if they have downloaded them before*.

The Emboof Influence
Night of the Killer Roos
Nudibranchs!
Nudibranchs! The Modified Version
The Unfabulous Horrors of Chameleon Island

Jesse's Conveyance will be offered for free at a later date to coincide with the promotion of Jesse's Influence.

*If you have previously downloaded any of my books, just sign in to your Amazon account and navigate to the product page of the downloaded book. From there, click on the link "Manage Your Content and Devices". Find the book, select it, and delete it from your list of content (you may also need to clear your browser history). You will then be able to download the updated version of the book from the product page for free during this promotion.

BrandonBits: Free Books Tomorrow

Now that everything’s been sorted out, let’s try this again.

As I’ve done in the past, as a courtesy to my readers who previously purchased any previous editions of my books, for a limited time the updated digital versions of all my previous stuff will be made available for free. Tomorrow (December 15^th) through Monday (December 18^th), several of my books can be downloaded free of charge from Amazon.com. The free titles will be:

The Emboof Influence
Night of the Killer Roos
Nudibranchs!
Nudibranchs! The Modified Version
The Unfabulous Horrors of Chameleon Island
 
I will be posting links to these titles tomorrow. At a later date I will be making Jesse’s Conveyance free to coincide with the promotion of Jesse’s Influence.

BrandonBits: Paperbacks Video

BrandonBits: Paperbacks Available

All my completed books are now available in paperback form.

Free Books - HALTED!

I had to put a stop to the book promotion because Amazon never updated the files for any of my books. The previews show the correct versions, as does my KDP bookshelf, but after downloading the books from the website, I now see the files being sold are all the outdated ones >_<

BrandonBits

Per usual, I have been quiet lately. Also per usual, it has been for a very good reason. I have been extremely productive. First of all, Jesse's Influence is now available (links at the bottom of the post). Actually, it's been available since late September; however, I remained quiet about the release because I wanted to get the rest of my books up to speed. Furthermore, all my books are now available in paperback. No more revisiting. No more miniscule corrections. I am done fussing with past projects.

As I've done in the past, as a courtesy to my readers who previously purchased any previous editions, for a limited time the digital versions of all my previous stuff will be made available for free. Tomorrow (December 8^th) through Tuesday (December 12^th), several of my books can be downloaded free of charge from Amazon.com. The free titles will be:

The Emboof Influence
Night of the Killer Roos
Nudibranchs!
Nudibranchs! The Modified Version
The Unfabulous Horrors of Chameleon Island
 
I will be posting links to these titles tomorrow. At a later date I will be making Jesse's Conveyance free to coincide with the promotion of Jesse's Influence.

Finally, I can refocus on Jesse's Legacy and start adding more content to my Patreon.

Jesse’s Influence (digital): https://www.amazon.com/Jesses-Influence-Jesse-Boomer-Book-ebook/dp/B075W6ZYJ8/ref=la_B004XOA2H0_1_8/140-3237217-0434825?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1512694047&sr=1-8

Jesse’s Influence (paperback): https://www.amazon.com/Jesses-Influence-Boomer-Brandon-Blankenburg/dp/1973174731/ref=la_B004XOA2H0_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1512697145&sr=1-4

BrandonBits: Various Updates

Jesse's Influence: I am applying the finishing touches. This book will be published within the next few days.

 Jesse's Conveyance: Completing the sequel has compelled me to revisit the original. While I hate pulling a George Lucas, I noticed some glaring issues that could not be ignored. The story remains the same, but I've gone back and fussed with the punctuation, as well as rearranged some sentences. When the new version is uploaded I'll make it free for a few days, something I wanted to do anyways when the sequel is published. Furthermore, I'm so confident in the new version I will be looking into making a paperback edition available. If I'm pleased with the result, my other books will receive the paperback treatment as well.

 Jesse's Legacy: The cover is already done, which I will be sharing shortly after Jesse's Influence's publication, as is the rough draft. I should be able to start editing next week, which will probably take about a month and a half to complete.

Nudibranchs! The Modified Version: While I am very proud of Nudibranchs! I understand that many horror fans are uncomfortable with the sexual content. Therefore, I am working on an alternate version, which will be available in the very near future.

BrandonBits: Jesse's Influence Cover Art

I just thought I would go ahead and share the cover art for Jesse's Influence. The goal is to publish week after next.

BrandonBits: Now on Patreon

I am currently on the third round of editing Jesse's Influence. After that I'm having someone read through it. During that time I'll make whatever changes come to mind and prep for publication. Although, I won't be jumping the gun. I will let it sit for a week. The past has taught me it's usually not until after I think a book is ready for publication that days later I'll realize a small change here and there must to be made. I'm very particular, taking pride in my ability to both write and edit.

Since I'm still a couple weeks from publishing it means the book won't be available until early September. However, I have some exciting news. I can now be found on Patreon (link below). Here I will be posting my short stories available exclusively for patrons. Right now only one story has been uploaded. Another one titled Heron Horror is on the way and will be available in the next week or so. Once I've finished editing Jesse's Influence and Jesse's Legacy I'll be posting an absolute minimum of two stories a month, with the goal being three per month.

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BrandonBlankenburg

BrandonBits

I am halfway through the first round of editing Jesse's Influence. It took quite a while to finally get started, but I have made a lot of progress in a short amount of time. The truth is I didn’t start editing until last week. I just had too much going on in my life to make the time until now. However, the good news is I'm happy with how things are shaping up and am confident this first round will be finished by next weekend. Of course, I'll give the book a couple more run-throughs and let it sit a week before publishing. I've learned my lesson; it is best not to publish right away because chances are that while it sits I'll probably think of some more minor things to add and correct. The bottom line is Jesse's Influence will be published in August, followed by Jesse's Legacy in September.

BrandonBits

We completed moving about three weeks ago and are finally getting settled into the new place. There's still a little unpacking and organizing to do, but at least I now have an actual office space dedicated solely to writing. Previously it was either a desk in the corner of the bedroom, or the dining room table. Here I have a view of the courtyard, trees, sky, and wetlands; which is much better than a view of the next drab building and I-5. Furthermore, the bright, vibrant colors I decided to use when putting the work area together ensures it's a space I enjoy being in. I actually look forward to coming home and using the space strictly for writing on a daily basis.

When it comes to writing, I have made some progress on that front, though not as much as I'd like. The move took three weeks and was very stressful and really took its toll on my energy level and immune system (I'm currently battling a couple ailments), so what little time I've had free has mostly been spent relaxing. Although, instead of further delaying any output by publishing Jesse's Influence and Jesse's Legacy at the same time, I've decided to focus on editing and publishing Jesse's Influence first, as I should be able to get that done within a couple months, then follow through with Jesse's Legacy shortly after. Along the way I do want to make some progress on Snapshot Existence and This Dinosaur Future I Dreamed; I'm especially excited about the latter, feeling it may end up being my best book.

BrandonBits

I must admit to being extremely behind in research, editing, and anything that has to do with writing. For the past three weeks my day job has been very hectic and much busier than usual, causing me to work overtime, with quite a few days being an additional two hours each. Add to that the drive there and home, which leaves me too exhausted to do much of anything in the evening. Furthermore, the area in which my partner and I live has rapidly gone downhill (crime is 123% higher than the national average*, more and more homeless people are popping up on the corners and trespassing on the property, used syringes are a common sight, someone tried to steal my partner’s bike that was chained up on the second floor next to our door, and his car was recently broken into) prompting us to look for a new place to live away from Seattle/Northgate. I know I’ll get back on track once things settle down, but that may be a while. Once we have a place, the actual move will take up a lot of time, so I imagine Jesse’s Influence and Jesse’s Legacy won’t be published until around midsummer. I apologize for the delay, but it cannot be avoided.

* http://www.areavibes.com/seattle-wa/northgate/crime/

BrandonBits

I made a video

BrandonBits

Further research for Jesse’s Influence and Jesse’s Legacy is off to a slower start than anticipated. I guess I felt in need of a break from “work” after having expended so much energy completing both rough drafts in such a short period of time. Plus, we’ve had so few nice days lately that I felt the need to get outside and do stuff whenever they occurred instead of sitting inside. I’m quite sure I’m still on track for publishing in spring.

While I may be behind with research/editing, I am ahead of schedule when it comes to working on Snapshot Existence. I’ve been using my breaks at my day job to work on that and I’m happy to say I’m just a few chapters away from finishing the rough draft. I imagine that will happen in another week or two. Therefore, don’t be surprised if a month or so after the two Jesse books are published, Snapshot Existence pops up as well. Since it will require far less research than my previous books, completing it should seem like a breeze to me. The same goes for Hornworm, which will be finished around the same time (more details later).

Once those are done I’ll be focusing on the dinosaur book inspired by my dreams that I tweeted about in October. I’m calling it This Dinosaur Future I Dreamed. Considering I began work on it back then I imagine it’ll be published before the end of the year.

Readers may be wondering about the four horror books centering on marine creatures I was supposedly working on. Worry not, they’re coming. I figured it would be best to get some more personal projects out of the way first. Since they all have similar themes (marine creatures go on a rampage) and all fall under the same scientific field, when researching one I’m researching them all. This should allow me to write them all simultaneously, with the goal of having the rough drafts nearly finished around the end of this year/early next year. It’s a gargantuan goal to meet, but one I feel capable of doing.

I know there’s a lot of talk of rough drafts, but my plan is to get a bunch of them done, then publish titles one after the other at astonishing speed.

BrandonBits

I just thought I would share a couple articles/pages I've recently found online that mention my writing:

Animals. They're Coming For You, Barbara...

Who Needs A Talking Rabbit?

BrandonBits

I'm trying to get back into the groove of things online with the intention of being more vocal regarding the projects I'm working on. Life and writing has kept me extremely busy lately. However, I'm happy to report that I recently completed two rough drafts, meaning two books are nearing completion. After a couple more months of research and editing I intend to publish them both at the same time this spring. One of them is Jesse's Influence, while the other is Jesse's Legacy, which will complete The Jesse Trilogy that started with Jesse's Conveyance in 2011.

While finishing up the Jesse books I will continue to work on my sci-fi drama Snapshot Existence. The rough draft is already two-thirds finished, so I imagine I'll be publishing it within a month or two after the Jesse books. It will be followed by a more personal book. Then I can get back to focusing on cheesy zoological horror.