I am currently struggling with consistency. I know that I need to put together a strict writing schedule, because without one I barely work on my book at all. How is everyones writing going?

This is chapter 1 of the novel I’m writing. I’d love feedback. Chapter 1 – The Hollow Mark Callahan pulled into his driveway at exactly 5:32 p.m. Not around 5:32. Not close to it. Exactly 5:32. Every Monday through Friday, depending on the lights three blocks back, he pulled in somewhere between 5:30 and 5:32. Today, it was 5:32. Perfect. The house sat quiet in the hills of the San Fernando Valley, a picture of everything he had ever imagined for himself. Three bedrooms. Three baths. Clean lines. Soft lighting. The kind of place that looked like it had never known chaos. Vision to reality. There was a time that phrase meant something else. Back when he was twenty-two. Back when The Hollow still existed. They’d caught their break at the Whisky a Go Go, filling in for a band that fell apart hours before showtime. One night. One chance. A room filled with just enough of the right people. Mark had stepped onto that stage with a guitar slung low and a voice that sounded like it had been dragged across gravel and set on fire. By the end of the set, they weren’t unknown anymore. By the end of the week, Sony Music had them under contract. Four albums. Seven years. Hit after hit. Until the night everything stopped. Shaggy died in a car wreck that should have killed all of them. Teddy never touched a guitar again. Ryan disappeared into silence. And Mark? He survived. He always did. He stepped out of the car, grabbed his bag, and walked to the front door. Right on cue, like every day before it. 5:33 p.m. “Hi, honey,” he called as he stepped inside. “What’s for dinner? I’m starving.” Sarah met him at the door, wrapping her arms around him like she had a thousand times before. She breathed him in. Cigarettes, worn leather, and the metallic scent of guitar strings still clung to him like a memory that refused to go away. “Surprise,” she said, smiling up at him. “Salmon. Your favorite.” He kissed her, easy and automatic. Perfect. Upstairs, a voice broke the moment. “Hi, Daddy! I can’t wait to hear your song!”

One of the biggest mistakes I see authors make is waiting until their book is published before thinking about marketing. In my experience, the real growth starts before launch. What helped me the most was building visibility early, creating a launch plan, staying consistent with promotion, and making sure readers knew my book existed before release day. That's the approach I used with In Her Own League, and it completely changed how I looked at publishing. A great book is important, but readers can't buy a book they've never discovered. If you're writing your next book, don't wait until it's published to think about marketing. Start building your audience now, connect with readers in your genre, and create a simple roadmap for your launch. Even small, consistent steps can make a huge difference over time. Question: At what stage do you usually start thinking about marketing your book before you publish, after you publish, or only when sales begin to slow down?

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