Writing: Part time hobby, Full time Job

I now spend over 50-60 hours weekly writing content on four different writing projects I’m currently working on. I look at all the work I do on these unpaid personal projects and all the hours I’m putting in developing them and it’s like I’m running my own business. For a part time hobby my writing is slowly turning into a full time job.

Currently I’m in the final stages of preparing my second novel to be self-published, The Cassandra Cookbook. The book is almost ready for Print on demand Publication. The final draft of the manuscript is polished, the cover art is complete, I’ve drafted up the marketing plan and estimated the cost of a start-up budget. Now I have to work out the financing.

I’ve completed work on my fourth novel The Temptation of John Haynes. My original goal was to finish writing the manuscript in January 2006, but a bad case of writer’s block and an erratic work schedule kept me from completing that novel until this summer. At 121,000 words it’s the longest book I’ve ever written. With the manuscript complete I can get to work on the hardest part of writing that book: Editing and Revisions.

Also on Temptation, I’ve drafted up a query letter and synopsis. I’m submitting it to publishers and literary agents, but I don’t expect any responses except form rejections. The publishing industry is tough to break into; and with me writing this book in a unique genre like Black Fantasy Fiction my odds of getting published are lower than 0.5%. My first instinct with this book is to go Print on Demand with it, but I want to try all avenues before heading down the costly POD path.

In addition to the books, I post movie reviews on amazon.com. My rank is in the 5,000’s and my goal is to get it in the hundreds. So far I’m maintaining my position. Since I love movies, I definitely will be posting there more regularly with more movie reviews and book reviews.

I’d like to do some more screenwriting. It’s a different style of writing that I’d like to master. The ability to tell a story with the least amount of words is a great challenge and I’m starting to get the hang of it. But I’ve put that off my plate for the past year. I might pick it up again, but I don’t know when.

I’d also like to get back to drawing. It’s been ages since I’ve sketched up something. I’d love to break out my colored pencils and pen and whip up some drawings. Soon. Very Soon.
Then there’s this blog. It’s the most neglected of my writing projects. I’ve been meaning to come back here every Monday and Thursday with a new essay about an issue in the Black community from a Black man’s point of view, but all the editing work on the other books keeps me from getting back here with new content. But with the books out of the way, the blog will be getting more attention.