And so,
given that the year is coming to an end, the time has come for my traditional report
of the past twelve months.
Let’s start
as usual with listing which resolutions of the past year I managed to complete:
- I
managed to write and publish (30 November) the Italian book “Sirius. In
caduta libera” (Sirius. Free Falling), the fourth part in the Aurora Saga,
which is also my thirteenth published book. The work on this novel took me more
time than the previous ones, mainly because I had only a few notes put aside
and I had to plot it almost completely just before starting the first draft (in
mid-February). It was my hardest book to write so far, but it’s also one of
those I’m most satisfied with. I managed to unite all the threads of the
previous parts of the saga and add the missing link in its story. It is a hard
science fiction novel that also represents my tribute to astronautics,
a topic that has always fascinated me, as it narrates a story that takes place
largely in the Earth orbit, although in a not very near future (in about a
century);
- I
finished my own English translation of “The Mentor” within the first months of
the year, just like I had decided. This new translation, which is already
revised, will stay in my computer for the moment. I wanted to start at least
the translation of the second book in the Detective Eric Shaw Trilogy, but
there was no time to do it. Anyway, I am happy with this result;
- I read
longer books and above all I read almost exclusively books that I liked a lot.
I have no idea how many, but the number does not matter. The important thing is
to have read every day something that amused me, maybe taught me something, and
in particular that made me feel good. Because the purpose of reading for me is
just this: make me feel good. Therefore it makes no sense to make challenges about
pages or books read. They are all nonsense.
A
resolution is missing
from this list. In fact, those listed at the end of last year were four. I have
not finished writing the book on self-publishing that I started in 2017. I didn’t
actually resumed writing it, because my time and commitment were redirected to
more urgent matters.
What
else did I do in 2018?
I
translated into Italian another book by Richard J. Galloway, “Saranythia Part 2
- The Varton”,
which will soon be released in Italy (I gave him the final translation a few
days ago). This is the sequel to “Saranythia Part 1 - The Gates of Setergard”,
released in autumn 2017 and in which the protagonists of his previous novel “Amantarra”
(released in Italian in 2013) return. The Italian translations of these two
books were also made by me.
In October
I participated in the event “Segni e voci altri mondi” (Signs and voices
of other worlds), which was held at the headquarters of ALTEC in Turin (where half of the ISS was built). I’ll
soon publish a report of my participation on this blog (stay tuned).
At the
beginning of December, moreover, I also conducted a lecture about Mars
(together with two of the Italian scientists who recently discovered a liquid
water underground lake on the Red Planet) and I taught my self-publishing class
at the University of Insubria in Varese . I’ll also post a report of this
experience very soon.
Without
considering the duration of my stay away from home, this commitment has taken
away much time in the previous months so that I could prepare for it.
I also
attended eight MOOCs (mass online open courses), among which the most
interesting ones were The Science of Nuclear Energy and The Science Behind Forensic Science. The latter is very
well done, as it shows with videos the work of the forensic scientist from
their point of view both in the field and laboratory.
Finally,
from May on, I started to take more care of the advertising of my books on
Facebook, in particular those of the Aurora Saga in Italian. With a view to
the release of the fourth book in the series, I decided to concentrate my
efforts so as to obtain the best possible result.
And I must
say that I succeeded.
I learned
to make better use of the paid tools provided by Facebook and at the same time
I increased the effectiveness of the free ones in getting a better organic
results for my posts. This resulted in a noticeable increase in engagement on
my Facebook page and in an evident positive effect on my books’ sales.
I could not
do anything else (not that all this is not enough), because the writing from
scratch, the revision and publication of “Sirius. In caduta libera”
absorbed me practically starting from mid-February (I finished the first draft
including 114 thousand words at the end of June) until the release date of the
book, leaving little time and especially little energy to use in other
projects, also because at the same time I found myself translating a book and
preparing a course and a lecture.
On the
other hand, I had decided not to cause more stress to myself than what was
necessary and I am happy I did less, but did it better.
But now
2019 is coming and it’s time to set some new objectives:
1) complete
the first draft of “Self-publishing lab: il mestiere dell’autoeditore”, but
this time for real! Most likely I will teach the class in Varese again next
autumn and by then I would like to have the book available, although not
necessarily in the final version. It will also provide me with the opportunity
to partly update the course and offer some more tools to my students;
2) translate
“Syndrome” into English and maybe even start the translation of “Beyond the
Limit”. I have promised to myself that by 2020, one way or another, I will
publish (or start publishing) the Detective Shaw Trilogy in English. Actually,
once the Aurora Saga has finished (which will happen in 2020), I want to commit
myself to translating and publishing in English all my books not yet available
in this language, and in general to make the most of everything I’ve written so
far to make it reach a larger audience;
3) start
working on “Nave stellare Aurora” (Starship Aurora), the final book in the
Aurora Saga. It is a long novel whose purpose is to worthily conclude the story
of Anna, Hassan, Melissa, Alicia and Susy, and to do that, I need to work on it
in a wider period, in order to make the most of its potential;
4) and
then, as always, read many beautiful books. This is always the simplest
resolution to accomplish!
 |
| Me at ALTEC (Turin). |
I have only
four resolutions again, but this time I want to complete them all. Will I manage
to do it?
There are
also other things I’d like to do.
At the
moment, I did not impose myself to publish any book in 2019. I need not
to set this particularly demanding deadline for at least a while. I’ll decide
on the way.
Of course, I
want to continue working on advertising and promotion to improve the
economic return of my job and make it less dependent on external events on
which I have no control.
Also I
would like to experiment other ways to use what I have already written and my
writing skills to develop new projects of which I still prefer not to say
anything (at least until I really start working on it, if I ever do it).
What I feel
with certainty is that my seventh year as a self-publisher will be crucial,
since it represents the approach to the conclusion of the Aurora Saga, which,
with the four books of “Red Desert” and the next four, is undoubtedly my most important series, the
one with which my adventure in self-publishing began and which is the main
motivation that pushed me to continue it, between highs and lows.
What will
happen next is still a mystery, but one of those that don’t scare me, but
stimulate me. A mystery which I’m facing with curiosity.
In closing,
as always, I thank all those who follow and support me, all my loved ones,
friends, collaborators and readers, both old and new.
Thank
you for being there.
If you like,
let me know your new year’s resolutions with a comment on this post or on the
social networks where I share it.
I wish
you all a happy 2019!
No comments:
Post a Comment