StephenHermer.com
Writing, Iguanas, and Electronics

Writing Tools

Most of you will be familiar with MS Word, but if you are not an author you might not know about Scrivener, New Novelist, or The Novel Factory. I do not plan on writing a detailed review or comparison of these three pieces of software, but I am going experimenting with each of them to see which will work best for me. I already own a copy of Scrivener, but I do not really like it. Part of the problem might be that it is primarily targeting Apple users, so the PC version is a bit clumsy, but it is

It has been a while...

My writing career was put on hold in 2018, and I am just getting back to it now... during the 2020 pandemic. As part of my reboot, I have scrapped all of the existing outlines and drafts... time to start over. Here are my preliminary writing plans for 2020: I am working on zombie-related horror novel now, partially to get back into writing, and partially because I am really enjoying it. I hope to have the first draft completed in July, and the second draft a month later. I am not sure if this novel will go further than that, but we will see. Tom and Piper Adventures will be a...

Before You Publish

I want to go over some of the things that self-publishing authors need to learn to be successful. I am a long way from being successful in my own writing career (I have yet to finish a single book), but I have learned a great deal that will help my books become successful when I do actually finish them. Also, some of this (like free ISBN numbers) might only apply to Canadian authors, but I am sure most countries will have similar programs or nominal fees.  Do Your Own Copyright Registration This one is optional, as the author you are protected, but if you do decide to register a...

Writing Update & Plans

I am working on my daily writing prompts as well as outlining three adventure novels and working a full time job, so my original publishing date plans have changed. Book one was planned for early December, book two for late January, and book three for March or April. Very optimistic, but I was expecting to have a final draft of book one go to editing by early October. I want to start writing the first draft of book one on September 1st, with a goal of a complete first draft by the end of October. I will write book two in November, for NaNoWriMo, and then I plan...

Official Website

The Official Tom and Piper Adventures website has been setup, a design is in place, and I have been experimenting with various forms and page content. I am happy with the design, but writing good content is difficult when the books are not complete and the author does not want to give too much away. The main landing page will include the sales copy from the first book, so it may be the last page to be completed. The "Their World" page will discuss the character's world and will feature are from the first book. There will be a "give-away" section for ARC registration...

Domain and Website Update

I registered a pair of domains today, and had them point to my existing hosting account. The Official Website for Tom and Piper Books: tomandpiperadventures.com This will be a marketing website, primarily to promote the books among potential readers. I have a lot to learn about publishing, but most successful authors say that marketing has to start long before the book releases. I do not have any content or a design at the moment, but that will change as I work on the site over August. My goal is to have a basic site ready in September so that the official website is well established...