I did it! I finished the first rough draft. My sweet little beginning chapter book idea is now an actual, completely typed out story with a beginning, middle, and end. I made a deal with myself that I would devote the next 6 months to trying to get it traditionally published, and if I’m not successful with that, I’ll go ahead and self-publish.

I’m familiar with self-publishing, did you know I’ve done it three times already? No? Here’s a link to my books: (shameless plug).

But, this is my first foray into beginner chapter books.

So what’s next? I’ve used canva to make a beautiful to-do list, because beauty helps me achieve. The next steps on it are editing: both content/story and line-editing for grammar. I sent the very very first rough draft out to my sweet beta readers and I’ve already gotten good feedback. I also did a few character sketches, just to get a feel for him and the vibe I’m going for.

Most of all, I feel really excited.

So, here we go, full steam ahead. And yes, by full steam, I mean as full steam as a homeschooling mom of three can be.