Back in October of 2011, I announced the 12 for ’12 project, in which I attempt to write a short novel every month in 2012. (Yes, it’s insane. Yes, I think I can do it. Yes, you can help out.)
So far, it’s been a huge success. I broke the dozen books up into four trilogies so I could run a Kickstarter drive for each. That includes the Matt Forbeck’s Brave New World trilogy, the Shotguns & Sorcery trilogy, and the Dangerous Games trilogy.
I’m just about to launch the Monster Academy trilogy to wind it all up, and I want you to join in the fun.
Can This Be Done?
Sure. By novel, I mean a work of fiction that’s at least 50,000 words, a bit shorter than most of my novels, which tend toward 80,000 words. The Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards each define a novel as anything over 40,000 words, but I want to be a bit more ambitious. And 50,000 words is, not coincidentally, the number of words writers shoot for during National Novel Writing Month.
I’m a full-time writer – this is my day job – and disasters aside, I write fast, often between 3,000 to 5,000 words per day. That makes 50,000 per month doable. Toss in the other freelance gigs I don’t plan to give up, though, like writing the Magic: The Gathering comic for IDW, and that makes it a bit more of a press.
After a horrible cold smacked me and my family around for a month in the spring, I’m running a little bit behind. I also took a month to write a longer novel – the first based on the Leverage TV show – which I just couldn’t resist. Still, I’m determined to catch up fast, and I guarantee you’ll get your books no matter what.
The Year-Long Plan
As I complete the novels, I publish them as ebooks and as print-on-demand books. Those of you who join in on the Kickstarters will get the books before anyone else, hopefully within just a few months of when I complete them. I want to make sure the books get properly edited and have great covers in addition to fantastic stories. The first trilogy is already available as ebooks, so if you want to catch up, you can get started there.
Please join me on this wild ride, and help me spread the word. Thanks for your support!
