After reading more about ebook pricing, I’m thinking my initial plan my need to be revised.
| Writing / Editing | Release Date | Book | Length | Price |
| May 4 – 31, 2015 | Oct 4, 2015 | Season 1: Episode 1 | ~25k | FREE |
| Jun 1 – 28, 2015 | Oct 4, 2015 | Season 1: Episode 2 | ~25k | $2.99 |
| Jun 29 – Aug 5, 2015 | Nov 1, 2015 | Season 1: Episode 3 | ~25k | $2.99 |
| Aug – Oct 11, 2015 | Nov 29, 2015 | Season 1: Episode 4 | ~25k | $2.99 |
| Oct 12, 2015 | Dec 26, 2015 | Season 1: Omnibus | ~100k | $5.99 (save 33%) |
| Oct 13 – Dec 15, 2015 | Feb 7, 2016 | Season 2: Episode 1 | ~25k | $2.99 |
| Dec 15/’15 – Feb 16, 2016 | Mar 20, 2016 | Season 2: Episode 2 | ~25k | $2.99 |
| Feb 17 – Mar 13, 2016 | Apr 17, 2016 | Season 2: Episode 3 | ~25k | $2.99 |
| Mar 14 – Apr 6, 2016 | May 15, 2016 | Season 2: Episode 4 | ~25k | $2.99 |
| Apr 6 – May 1, 2016 | Jun 12, 2016 | Season 2: Omnibus | ~100k | $6.99 (save 42%) |
While books are on pre-order I’ll list them at a reduced price of $1.99 per episode, or 4.99/5.99 per season.
I’ve also come up with a new writing schedule. I reduced my hours at work to 3 days a week, but my Tuesdays and Thursdays seem to get swallowed up by my to-do list backlog, and I get less than 2-3 hours of writing in. I thought if I had a more strict schedule on those days I could treat it like a job. I wouldn’t be late for work or not put in the time, so why should I not put the time into this career? The schedule below allows for 8 hours of sleep per night (I need 8.5 to feel normal according to my sleep experiment, but this will probably do).
Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday (1.5 hr/day; 6 hr/week)
8:15 pm – 9:45 pm Novel (1.5 hr)
9:45 pm – 9:50 pm Get ready for bed
9:50 pm – 10:30 pm Leisure
Tuesday, Thursday (7.5 hr/day; 15 hr/week)
8:30 am – 10:00 am Novel (1.5 hr)
10:00 am – 10:30 am Break
10:30 am – 12:00 pm Novel (1.5 hr)
12:00 pm – 12:45 pm Lunch
12:45 pm – 2:15 pm Novel (1.5 hr)
2:15 pm – 2:45 pm Break
2:45 pm – 4:15 pm Novel (1.5 hr)
4:15 pm – 5:00 pm Life stuff / Logistics
8:15 pm – 9:45 pm Novel (1.5 hr)
9:45 pm – 9:50 pm Get ready for bed
9:50 pm – 10:30 pm Leisure
Saturday (4 hr/day and week)
10:00 am – 12:30 pm Novel (2.5 hr)
8:15 pm – 9:45 pm Novel (1.5 hr)
9:45 pm – 9:50 pm Get ready for bed
9:50 pm – 10:30 pm Leisure
In total I’ll get in 25 hours a week this way. I have 10 weeks left on this schedule, then one week of vacation while kids are in summer camp (writing binge like T/R schedule; 37.5 hrs), then 2 weeks vacation of nothing, and then I’m back to working 5 days a week, so I’ll only get in 1.5 hours every night (10.5 hours per week). Note that all of these times are actual writing/editing times. In my “leisure” and during my 20 min coffee / 30 min lunch breaks at work I’ll read business related things such as blogs like The Passive Voice and forums such as KBoards, and will try to squeeze marketing in those times as well.
According to my spreadsheet I average a measly 390 WPH writing, and edit at 2500 WPH. I’m hoping to finish editing Episode 1 this week, so starting Monday I’ll have 75k remaining. Each episode will take me 64 hours to write and 10 to edit, so about 75 hours total. By the time I add covers and promo planning, about 85 hours, or 3.5 weeks (lets round to 4 weeks because I have to learn book layouts and how to upload, etc). I’ll use my summer camp week to arrange promos, covers, beta readers, etc. I want to have the whole thing done before work picks up again and also before the first release, because I like to go back and add hints to make sure they’re all a cohesive document. I won’t be able to do that with season 2, but hopefully things pick up enough that I can work less at the day job all year, not just for a few months.