Process and Progress

Current Stage:

Promoting the launch! – March 2024 to Oct 2024

With the complete book now out in the wild and available here on the website and on Amazon, I have started to spread the word about THE WORLD THAT WAS.

The book has been well received in the first few months so success will come down to whether I can build an audience and how many copies I am able to sell.

To quantify how I am progressing, I developed the following list of goals

Sell a copy to an unknown person
Sell a copy to someone on each continent:
- North America (thanks Katrina, Shawna and Bek!)
- South America
- Europe (thanks Christos, Nick and Sylvain!)
- Africa
- Asia
- Oceania (thanks Kate, Kieran and Dan!)
- Antarctica (tell him he’s dreaming!)
Sell 250 copies
- The average for a self-published author and break-even price with my printer
Sell 500 copies
- Jumped from 384 to just short of 500 before the six month anniversary of release
Sell 1000 copies
- Bookbub feature prompted over 500 sales in 24 hours!
Sell 3000 copies [Currently sold: 1336 (44.5%)]
- The average lifetime sales for a traditionally published book
Sell 5000 copies
- Roughly the number of pre-orders required to hit a best-seller list
Sell 10,000 copies
Host a book reading
Host a classroom discussion
See the book in a bookstore
Have my book given as a gift (Thanks Jannik!)
See someone reading the book at the beach (Thanks Danni!)
See my book on a coffee mug!
- Thanks Kristen!
Receive an Amazon review
- One review massively increased the book’s rating, jumping from the millions to 500k
Receive 10 Amazon reviews
Receive 50 Amazon reviews [Current reviews: 15 (30%)]
Receive a Goodreads review
Receive 10 Goodreads reviews
Receive 50 Goodreads reviews [Current reviews: 26 (52%)]
Receive my first fan art
- I would love to add some additional graphics to my website

Previous Stages:

Initial Concept – 2010 to 2011

[COMPLETE] The idea started in a theoretical physics class and grew during my university exchange to Malaysia. The Initial Concept was only a few hundred words.

Story Outline – 2011 to 2014

[COMPLETE] The story grew over the next few years . I fleshed out the middle of the story after a failed Nanowrimo attempt, identifying the main beats of the plot and the different threads. Characters began to develop. The Story Outline was about 2,000 words.

Chapter Summaries – Jan 2019 to 27 Jan 2020

[COMPLETE] I turned my broad story idea into individual 300-500 word chapter summaries while on a relaxing holiday back in Malaysia. Moving to Vienna threw a spanner in the works but inspired by friends, I resumed the effort and in two months had finished the remaining chapters. The complete Chapter Summaries were around 20,000 words.

First Draft – 27 Jan to 26 Jul 2020

[COMPLETE]. I jumped into writing with a New Years Resolution to finish the book in 2020. Aided by the COVID-19 lockdown, the full first draft took one day short of six months. The First Draft was 126,000 words.

*The Engineers approach to writing, graphs galore!*

Initial Read – 8 to 17 Aug 2020

[COMPLETE] I bound a physical copy of the book and – having not read for the whole year – settled down into the couch to read the story. I promised myself no edits for the first read (which was excruciating!)

Initial Review – 17 Aug 2020 to Oct 2020

[COMPLETE] After the first read, I attacked my review copy with a pen to analyse the chapters and tighten up the story.

*Step one of the review process, so much green!*

Test Readers – Oct to Dec 2020

[IN PROGRESS, 10/11 readers’ feedback received]

I made ten copies of the book for a select group of test readers to see how the book survives first contact with an audience. I specific chose people who would provide brutally honest feedback and their comments greatly improved the story. While waiting for their feedback, used the time to read the story out loud and build a shortlist of potential agents.

The feedback sheet provided to test readers

Audio Edit - Oct 2020 to Jan 2021

[SUSPENDED, see below. 37/42 chapters recorded (11h2m), 2 chapters rewritten from new POV]

A useful step in my editing process was reading the book out loud to pick up on any unnatural dialogue, overly wordy phrases or dropped sentences. I recorded the majority of the novel but refocussed my efforts due to the need for a substantial rework of the final chapters.

*A more sustainable pace after a new year hiatus*

Preparing the teaser chapters – Dec 2020

COMPLETE. I took a break from the audio edit to collate the feedback from my test readers and use it to edit the first two chapters of the book. These are now available for a taste of the story to come.

Second Edits – Apr to May 2021

[COMPLETE-ISH]

A trip to Australia provided a hard deadline for finishing the main review of the novel. The to-do list was broken down into ten steps:

Finish consolidating test readers’ feedback into a chapter-by-chapter summary [COMPLETE]
Rework Chapter 3 to occur over a longer period [COMPLETE]
Merge Chapters 8 and 10 [COMPLETE]
Write a new chapter (Chapter 17), moving the existing chapter to become Chapter 22 [COMPLETE]
Rework Chapter 36 [COMPLETE]
Rework Chapter 37 [DEFERRED]
Rework Chapter 38 [DEFERRED]
Rewrite the Epilogue [COMPLETE]
Address the individual comments from test readers throughout the book [DEFERRED]
Print and bind seven copies of the book [4/7 COMPLETE]

Long overdue trip to Australia – Jun 2021

After a long delay due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, I finally managed to get back home to visit family and friends (and deliver copies of the book to my next round of test readers).

Getting back into it, final edits – Jul to Dec 2021

After a two month break (though I did spend some time fleshing out my plan for the sequel) I had the mental clarity to dive back into the final edits. For real this time! Editing is a task that never ends and there is a temptation to endlessly tinker but after these final steps I will be finished and ready to hand the book onto potential literary agents.

Bind copies for the final round of test readers (and myself!) [COMPLETE]
Read and edit the book in its current state [COMPLETE]
Rework the Chapters 37 & 38 [COMPLETE]
Receive feedback from test readers [COMPLETE]
Collate final feedback into chapter-by-chapter spreadsheet [IN PROGRESS]
Address outstanding issues/concerns [IN PROGRESS]

Statistics for another comprehensive round of edits while awaiting feedback from the second round of test readers. I managed to save 2691 words (2.2% of the full novel), even with an expanded prologue and significantly changed ending.

Collate and incorporate final feedback – Jan 2022

The end is nigh! Having received feedback from my second round of test readers, I am now in the process of collating all feedback and the various musings I have accumulated over the past year. I finished another complete edit of the edition provided to the second round of test readers so hopefully many items will already be addressed.

Collate final feedback into chapter-by-chapter spreadsheet [COMPLETE]
Address outstanding issues/concerns [COMPLETE]
Final read through [COMPLETE]

Querying preparation – Feb 2022

With the book finished, I have started the search for a literary agent. There is a lot outside my control in this stage, the process is opaque by nature and the timeframes between submission and response are quite long. However, I am doing what I can to progress things while each round of queries is out.

Write query letter [COMPLETE]
Write synopsis [COMPLETE]
Develop list of potential agents [COMPLETE]
Format initial pages for submission [COMPLETE]
Submit to initial agent [COMPLETE]

Querying literary agents – Mar to May 2022

After developing a list of potential literary agents, I started the process of querying. I used the approach suggested by Alexa Donne, identifying a small batch of agents that provide quick rejections to test whether the query letter is effective. If the query letter gets a decent percentage of requests for additional material, I could send the query letter to my larger list of agents. If not, I would adjust the query letter and submit it to a second batch of fast response agents.

Send query to initial batch of fast agents [COMPLETE]
(Optional) Adjust query letter and send to second batch of fast agents [COMPLETE]
Send queries to identified agents [Sent: 16 Rejected: 6 No Response: 10]

Reworking submission materials – May to Jun 2022

After years of Covid disruptions, I headed back to the UK to revisit locations from TWTW! I spent the week in Somerset, traipsing around to visit various book landmarks and museums and flying my drone for a different perspective of the sights.

I’ve had little luck with my initial queries to agents so needed to revise my query letter and the initial pages.

Visit Bristol Castle [COMPLETE]
Visit Bath museums [MISSED]
Visit Howell Cavern [COMPLETE]
Visit Nether Stowey Castle [COMPLETE]
Visit Combe House Hotel in Holford [COMPLETE]
Visit Kilve beach [MISSED]
Rework the query letter [IN PROGRESS]
Rework the prologue [COMPLETE]

Submitting to freelance editor, reading and thinking ahead – Jul to Aug 2022

I was feeling a bit demoralised after having no luck with my initial query letters so took time away from writing and enjoyed a summer break filled with travel, Covid (!), reading other people’s books and playing games (Subnautica was amazing!). My parents got me a developmental edit of the submission pack for my birthday so I did spend some time mulling over their suggested changes.

Editing early chapters and second round of submissions – Sept to Oct 2022

I’m now working through the early material to tighten it up and getting ready for a second round of submissions, this time focussing on those who represent science fiction.

Amend initial chapters [COMPLETE]
Rework query letter [COMPLETE]
Develop new list of agents [COMPLETE]
Submit to new agents [COMPLETE]

Prepare the book for free release – March to July 2023

I decided to try a different approach (see my blog post) and have started releasing TWTW as a web novel!

I updated the preview chapters and, starting on 3 July, began releasing two new chapters of the book each week (there are 43 total). I will have the full book available for pre-order so keep an eye out if you would like to show some support. And please share with anyone you think might enjoy a bit of a twist on the standard time travel story!

Update first chapters [COMPLETE]
Divide book for weekly releases [COMPLETE]
Organise pre-orders (website exclusive early adopter edition, Amazon edition, kindle edition) [COMPLETE]
Let people know! [IN PROGRESS]
Send out Advanced Review Copies [IN PROGRESS]

Upload the chapters and spread the word – July to November 2023

Starting on my birthday, I released my book two chapters per week on both Royal Road and Reddit. It was an amazing experience to watch as a larger audience engaged with the novel, sharing the things they liked and highlighting final spelling mistakes. There was a common criticism of the book’s beginning so I spent time to rewrite the opening chapters.

Release chapters each week [COMPLETE]
Let people know! [COMPLETE]
Send out Advanced Review Copies [IN PROGRESS]
Finalise designs with the printer [COMPLETE]

Prepare for launch! – November 2023 to March 2024

With the complete book now available online, I have started to spread the word about THE WORLD THAT WAS. Initial text of the book is available here on the website, on Reddit Serials, and on Royal Road.

As I prepare for the 29 March 2024 release, a large portion of whether the book is successful will come down to whether I can build an audience and how many copies I am able to sell.