Wit & Travesty

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Monthly McGruder Updates: November

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monthly mcgruder updates via wit and travesty

Yes, it’s time for updates. Thanks for sticking around and checking in on us. Do give us an update on your writing life in the comments or on social media!

Writing Updates & Goals

Here’s your monthly plug: you can now buy DESTINY SEEKER: THE MESSENGER. WOO HOO! Don’t forget to leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads!

In regards to my Goodreads book challenge, I’ve got 5 more books to go! Two of them are ARCs that I promised to read. I’m looking forward to finishing strong this year!

I’ve done a lot of research this month on establishing a better drafting and publishing schedule. I met with a good friend, Teralyn, and learned a lot from her. She’s a pro at working on multiple projects at once, and I think I will follow in her footsteps on that one. I have a few projects at various stages of completion and I think it’ll help me stay motivated to write.

After I situate all my NaNoWriMo additions to book two, I can determine how long it’ll take to finish and I can start giving y’all some teaser dates on when I’ll have book two ready for you! In the mean time, I will be working on sprucing up part one for you.

We Participated in NaNoWriMo!

And boy, it was a struggle! I got a few migraines during November and thus I was put way behind on my writing goals. However, I learned so much during this round. I learned a lot about my writing habits, my writing style, and how to set better goals for myself. I’m not very good at writing every day but I know I’ll eventually have a writing regimen each week so I can reach my goals sooner and maintain healthy expectations.

But yay for winning!

What We Wrote in November

Surprise! I needed a break from NaNoWriMo, which meant I had some blog content for you. To recap, just click on them below:

What’s Coming in December?

I’m not sure if I’ll have any blog post for you this month, but hopefully I’ll have some good ol’ updates for you on my publishing plans. I really want you to be in the know so you can be there to be excited and supportive for me. If you sign up for the newsletter below, you’ll get those juicy details before everyone else.

Subscribe to the Wit & Travesty Newsletter

We’d love to invite all of you to subscribe! It’s different from getting emails every time we publish a new blog post. In our newsletter, we’ll share insider information on the publishing process, freebies, editing service discounts, tips, future book sale discounts, and more exclusive content.

Subscribe through the pop up on the website, this image below, by dropping your email in the little prompt to your right, or go here.

newsletter invitation

That’s about it from us! We’ve been pretty busy and we know you have been, too. What have you been up to? Let us know and bask in your own glory in the comments section or via social media.

Monthly McGruder Updates: October

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monthly mcgruder updates via wit and travesty

Yes, it’s time for updates. Thanks for sticking around and checking in on us. Do give us an update on your writing life in the comments or on social media!

Writing Updates & Goals

Here’s your monthly plug: you can now buy DESTINY SEEKER: THE MESSENGER. WOO HOO! Don’t forget to leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads!

In regards to my Goodreads book challenge, I had to change it. After being super behind for a few months and not really enjoying my books, I changed my goal to 43 books. It’s funny that it’s only 7 less books, but you have no idea how relieved I am. Now I can enjoy these ARCs on my TBR without having to push myself too hard. Remember, there’s no shame in tweaking your goals, especially if they’re making you a bit miserable!

Speaking of tweaking goals, I’ve got some heavy updates concerning my debut novel. If you follow me at all on Instagram, you’ll know that I’ve been struggling with my publishing experience. Some days I’m on cloud nine about my accomplishments, and other days I was really self-conscious about how many typos or errors made it into the novel. This tug on my heart has made it difficult to work on part two. I couldn’t really move on without making some adjustments to part one. Thus, I’m revising part one. This looks like proofreading the chapters and adding a map!

I could go on, but I’ve talked about this in my newsletter and I will write out a blog post about the experience, my decisions, and hopefully some publishing dates. Y’know, there’s the opportunity to buy a second edition of my amazing debut novel, and I can hopefully share a soft publishing date for part two.

As you can imagine, this is pretty hard for me. I’m swallowing all the pride here. It kind of feels like a failure and I’ve beat myself up over it, but I’m determined to create an amazing second edition for my readers, but chiefly for myself. I guess this feels hard because no one really talks about this, so I feel like I’m the only one. Of course, I would love to be proven wrong on that fact!

We’re Participating in NaNoWriMo!

You’re probably not surprised about this! Travis and I will be working diligently on our novels during November. Travis is working on the finishing touches of The Ancients Stirred, which I know will excite many of his early readers. I will be pausing part one proofreading and diving into adding more content to part two!

Part two is actually pretty short; about half of what I gave you in part one. So, I will be adding more scenes in book two to round it out a bit more, raise the stakes a bit higher, and give you more of what you asked for. I’ve already done this and I’ve been pretty pleased with my efforts. In the future, expect to see some chapter excerpts! We’re also highly motivated to participate since we get to participate in a Write-In over at Evermore! Needless to say we’re excited.

What We Wrote in September & October

We had some great blog posts for you! To recap, just click on them below:

What’s Coming in November?

Since we’re participating in NaNoWriMo, it’s likely that we won’t be posting any blog posts. If we do, it’ll be a surprise to everyone! In the meantime, we wish you luck on your writing goals in November.

Subscribe to the Wit & Travesty Newsletter

We’d love to invite all of you to subscribe! It’s different from getting emails every time we publish a new blog post. In our newsletter, we’ll share insider information on the publishing process, freebies, editing service discounts, tips, future book sale discounts, and more exclusive content.

Subscribe through the pop up on the website, this image below, by dropping your email in the little prompt to your right, or go here.

newsletter

That’s about it from us! We’ve been pretty busy and we know you have been, too. What have you been up to? Let us know and bask in your own glory in the comments section or via social media.

Monthly McGruder Updates: August

· Leave a Comment

monthly mcgruder updates via wit and travesty

Yes, it’s time for updates. Thanks for sticking around and checking in on us. Do give us an update on your writing life in the comments or on social media!

Writing Updates & Goals

If you’re still catching up, you can now buy DESTINY SEEKER: THE MESSENGER. WOO HOO! Don’t forget to leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads!

I’m still sort of catching up with my own writing and marketing goals. I had to list out all my ideas, projects, goals, and everything in between: I have real life to live, I need to market DS part one, and I’d like to finish part two soon so I can get that project ready to publish. It’s so much and I’m sad that this is how it is; juggling projects is just very normal for indie authors. I had to spread all these things out over the course of the rest of the year to make it manageable. My goals for this month is to just focus on the list meant for this month and not get antsy about all the other things. We’ll see how that goes! I am preparing (already) for NaNoWriMo. I haven’t decided if I want to use that time to work on part two or if I want to go crazy on this feminist pirate novel I keep mulling around in my brain. We’ll see!

In regards to my Goodreads book challenge, I’m only one book behind. Oh my days, that was a ton of reading to catch up! I’m so close to completing my Goodreads goal (31/50 books) so I think I’ll slide in right at the end of the year. I have so many amazing books to get to, so I’m pretty excited.

We Had a Fun Book Review/Q&A Swap with Amy Braun

author updates via wita and travesty

Amy Braun and I worked hard during the past month or so to read, review, and interview each other about our recent novels. It was so fun and I learned so much, personally. I now know what a media kit is, hahaha! If you want to see my posts on Amy’s work, check out these links:

If you want to see what she wrote about me and my novel, here are the links to her blog:

If my fellow author friends want to do a swap like this in the future, be sure to contact us and let’s talk!

What We Wrote in August

We had some great blog posts for you! To recap, just click on them below:

What’s Coming in September?

Right now, I’m not really sure! I’ve been writing posts as they come to me but I’m not sure blogging—beyond sharing book reviews—will be at the forefront. Each month I hope to take it easy somehow so I don’t feel incredibly burnt out. This blog might be put on hold to do that. I don’t like making promises like that, but you’ll definitely hear about new posts on our social media, our newsletter, or your inbox.

Subscribe to the Wit & Travesty Newsletter

We’d love to invite all of you to subscribe! It’s different from getting emails every time we publish a new blog post. In our newsletter, we’ll share insider information on the publishing process, freebies, editing service discounts, tips, future book sale discounts, and more that you’ll find solely on the newsletter.

Subscribe through the pop up on the website, this image below, by dropping your email in the little prompt to your right, or go here.

newsletter

That’s about it from us! We’ve been pretty busy and we know you have been, too. What have you been up to? Let us know and bask in your own glory in the comments section or via social media.

TESTIMONIALS

I won a contest via Wit & Travesty in the summer of 2017. The prize was a professional edit of the first 100 pages of a WIP. My middle grade fantasy was only 90 pages, so she read the entire manuscript. She was communicative and positive about the project. Her edits markedly polished up my manuscript and were easy to understand.
Rachel Barnard
Whitney did a copy-edit on my third novel, Checkmate. She was a pleasure to work with, and helped me give my novel that final polish that it needed before publication. Put her on your list for editors that help your work shine!
Angelika Offenwanger
Whitney McGruder has created a vast and imaginative world in Destiny Seeker with surprises to delight the reader at every turn. Readers can settle in to devour the diverse and ingenious magic Destiny Seeker has to offer. I highly recommend it.
Jessica Frazier
Whitney helped me with two short projects written for children, and she was very pleasant to work with. She has an eye for detail, helping me with small grammar errors as well as insights about adding scenes that would enhance my story. Her turnaround time was extremely quick, which I really appreciated when on a deadline!
Brittany Olsen
Whitney and I worked together in a writing feedback group some years ago and have remained in touch since then. From the beginning, I was struck by her absolute responsibility as an editor. Even in the capacity of a group member, not even being employed or contracted by me to edit my work, Whitney was unerringly punctual, thorough, and accurate with her feedback. Her advice is genuinely insightful and I believe the marketability of my work was noticeably increased due to her guidance. I so value her skills that I still turn to her as a resource after three years of working with her in-person have passed.
Jonathan Baker
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