The Parts Other Than Writing
I love the writing, but the rest is less fun (yet necessary).
In March of 2025, I began to create the next sci-fi series I would write. The idea in my head was a businessman, in a distant future on a far-away planet, at a time of faster-than-light space travel, becoming a pirate.
I had this whole idea in my head that I started to lay out for all this guy went through, plus how the universe worked, and a cool concept. But then, a lot of the backstory I was creating was also cool. I decided, rather than start where I originally planned to, with 10 years of backstory, I would begin with the backstory.
The Gentleman Space Pirate series started to take form. From the original document, I began creating the layout for the books. Before I knew it, I had 5 books plotted (book 3 picking up where I originally intended to start to tell this story). I also have an idea for a 6th book but haven’t plotted that yet.
The Gentleman Space Pirate Series
Book 1: Rise of The Captain
Book 2: Piracy, Partners, Politics, and Profit
Book 3: Mixing Business With Pirates
Book 4: The Captain Takes No Quarter
Book 5: Something, Something, Pirates, Treasure (no, I have not worked out the title yet).
I started writing book 1 in the middle of September 2025. I finished writing it at the beginning of December. Since then, book 1 has been edited by me, sent to some beta readers, re-edited, and is now with my editor.
If all goes according to my plan, Rise of The Captain will be published this fall, either in September or October.
Now comes the less fun stuff.
The writing is only the beginning
With book 1 largely done, for now, I’ve been working on the rest of the series. Books 2 and 3 are done. Book 2 has been edited once by me; book 3 is being edited by me now. As of this blog, I’m 29 chapters into writing Book 4 (which is plotted to be around 44 or 45 chapters total).
Each book is coming in around 90,000 words and is taking me 2 or 3 months to write. Yes, I know that’s actually a fairly swift pace. I’ve been consistently exceeding my 1500-word daily goal (I aim to write a chapter a day, and they frequently come in closer to 2700 words).
But the writing is only the beginning. The editing is also important. I am a firm believer that editing shouldn’t take place until you finish the first draft. That’s because, if you are at all a perfectionist, stopping to edit as you write will derail the writing. Before you know it, there’s no finished draft; instead, you keep rewriting bits and pieces and never reach the end. More than one writer has been unable to finish a work in this way.
Editing, however, is not the only job when it comes to being an authorpreneur. I’m the head of Argent Hedgehog Press, the imprint I created to publish my books under (rather than using Amazon or other self-publishing options). Before I even get to publishing, however, there are multiple jobs to do.
All books need a cover, formatting, and marketing. These are each steps that can’t be ignored.
The other parts
I’m not an artist. Fortunately, I’ve met an amazing artist who has been doing my covers for the last few books. She also revamped my website, which is why it looks as amazing as it currently does.
For the covers of the books in the Gentleman Space Pirate series, I envision ships in combat or otherwise flying around doing their thing. To that end, I wanted to bring a vision of the main pirate ship of the series to life. Rose, my amazing artist, has done that (preview coming soon). Now comes the cover for book 1.
I need to write the blurbs. Not just for the first book, but the whole series. This needs to be short and catchy, with enough drama to draw a reader in. This series, fortunately, focuses on 1 specific protagonist. That will make it easier to create the necessary stakes to drive each book.
All 5 Gentleman Space Pirate books can stand alone. You could read them out of order and not be lost. No cliffhangers from one book to the next. This is a new approach on my part and will feed into how I write my blurbs.
Then comes promoting everything. It’s the beginning of July as I write this. That means I have 3 or 4 months to start putting this out there. I’d like to do a book trailer and some other things to get this into the world before it’s even published.
And of course, I need to go over my editor’s edits when they get back to me and record the audiobook. This likely won’t begin before I get back from my medieval reenactment event the first week of August.
So, the parts other than writing, though less fun, are necessary.
It’s all part of writing as a pro
When I chose to be an authorpreneur, I knew what that entailed. Time, effort, and a lot of work go into the writing, but just as much, and sometimes more, goes into the other parts. Skimping on any of them misrepresents me.
The initial covers I created for my Source Chronicles novels were bad. No, I make no bones about this. These were not good. And much as the old adage about not judging a book by its cover is well known, it’s untrue: People totally judge books by their covers. A bad cover, especially from a self-published indie author, speaks volumes.
This isn’t my hobby; it’s my vocation. I love it, and all that goes into it. Warts and all. I’m deeply grateful that I can do this with my life and keep creating and sharing my imagination. But the writing is only the beginning. The other parts of the business are just as important and worth putting time, effort, and energy into.
I’ve long believed that nothing worth having is easy. While the parts other than writing are less fun, there is still fun to be found. The creative process is a joyful process. It breathes life into the world. And the world can use all the color, light, and life it can get these days.
The parts other than writing matter and are often the place to get assistance. Some people can do more of this themselves, but there’s no shame in asking for help. And another eye looking over your reading – from beta reader to editor to arc reader – can do your book a lot of good.
That’s a look at the other parts of writing. Thanks for reading. As I share my creative journey with you every week, please consider this: