(I am duplicating it here because the comment section is better, but this entry is slightly easier to read on patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/65377653)
I was asked recently “how do you keep track of 50+ books from a file system perspective” and I realized… that’s a good question, and the answer is going to be specific to the author in question. But I can tell you why I chose my method, and maybe the why will lead people to ask the right questions for themselves.
Because I write multiple series in multiple settings, my organization system is based on a hierarchy, and it starts at the very top with whether a setting is Major or Minor. I had to make this distinction because otherwise, organizing my Projects folder alphabetically would put some of the least used settings at the top, instead of the settings I use all the time. So the list begins like this:
MAJOR-Peltedverse
Minor-Archipelago
Minor-Childrens Books
Etc. That ensures that the setting I use the most is at the top of the least.
For a minor setting with only one series, the folder once opened gives you this:
Minor-SettingName > NameofBook1
Minor-SettingName > NameofBook2
Where the folders are named after the books. If the book has only one edition, the novel folder will contain its drafts, its ebook and print layout files, its audiobook files, and its cover and developmental art. (If there are enough files, they get separated into folders, too: Art, Audiobook, Ebook, Print, etc).
My largest setting, the Peltedverse, has separate “arms” (Eldritch, Stardancer, Faulfenza) that contain multiple series, so its MAJOR-Setting folder dedicates a folder to each arm. Those folders contain the multiple series that fit into that part of the universe, and will have separate folders for each novel within the series, with its developmental art, drafts, audio, cover art, etc.
All this means when I open a specific novel’s folder (no matter how deep in a setting it is), I’ll always have its cover art, drafts, ebook and paperback layouts, and developmental material in one place… which is a necessity because those are the bare minimum things I need to issue that story as a product, which is important to me as the businessperson/publisher. However, the folder structure will show me that story in the context of the setting and related stories that it exists alongside of, which is important to me as the writer.
The point, then, of the schema is twofold:
1. Help me find the stuff I work on most often, quickly.
2. Help me see the stuff I work on in relation to the other things that relate to it.
The ‘in relation to’ need is a powerful one. For a while, I had one of my settings organized so that each novel was hidden in the folder of its series, but the events in those series interwove and I discovered it was hard for me to hold it in my head without seeing it. So while a lot of my settings are organized like this:
SETTING > SERIES1 > Novel 1
SETTING > SERIES2 > Novel 1
That particular setting is organized like the first image I uploaded.
SETTING > SERIES 1-Novel 1
SETTING > SERIES 2-Novel 1
So that all the novels are visible in the setting folder, but are kept in order because the folder name puts the series name first. It looks like the second image I uploaded.
For some reason, seeing all the novels exploded out this way without having to dig into the series helped clarify for me, mentally, as a storyteller, that the books were interrelated and couldn’t be treated as separate elements with no relation to one another. Maybe it’s because the file structure makes it feel lie one enormous series (which it is, sort of), rather than five or six separate ones. But it’s the only folder I have organized like this. The rest of them look more like this:
Though please don’t do what I do and name your novel folders after your working titles, because it makes searching for things a pain in the tail. >.>
I don’t want to make it sound like my file system is perfectly sorted. I’m constantly adjusting it; for instance, the realization that several of my books now have multiple editions (first edition, second edition, tenth anniversary edition, special Kickstarter edition, etc) has made it important for me to be able to find the most recent/pertinent version. I recently reorganized two of my most commonly used folders so that I don’t accidently use an old edition’s file when I’m making changes: that was a bit of an adventure.
Similarly, my file structure changed when I went from hiring out for print layout to getting software to generate my paperbacks. The software creates an ebook and paperback layout from the same master file, and creates its own file structure that separates those into different folders… so while I used to have ‘Ebook’ and ‘Paperback’ folders that contained multiple drafts of each of those things, now I have a folder with a master file and the generated files, and sometimes that can become a nesting nightmare if I’m not careful. I’m still figuring out how to handle that one.
My other current issue is cover art—I had cover art sorted into the novel folder, which is great until you want to refresh the entire series’s covers. All of a sudden you’re digging into six different folders to get at each file, when it would be easier if they were all in one place… so I’ve started reorganizing cover art into a series-level folder, rather than a novel-level one.
For this reason, I’d say be mindful of your pain points. Your frustrations (“I can’t figure out which of these files is the most recent edition!” “I can’t find the audiobook cover, it’s not in the cover art folder, why did I put it in the audiobook folder with the audio files??”) will demonstrate your needs more clearly than any attempt at top-down organization (though of course, starting out with something you think will work is a good idea; you can modify it from there). Also, understand that as your career evolves (or your body of work grows, or both), your file system may have to change. Before I’d published anything, I didn’t need to address any of the concerns that having ebook/paperback/special editions created. I didn’t care about cover art. What mattered was having the drafts and developmental art in one place.
Granted all these things, here’s my checklist for getting started:
1. Start with a system you think will work.
2. Be mindful of your pain points and modify your system to address them
3. Be willing to change your schema as your career evolves or your oeuvre expands
Note that file systems can be aspirational. If you’re working on Book 1 of a series, creating a series folder and making folders for the future installments in the series (and maybe dropping notes for them in those folders) can sometimes give you a boost, mentally/emotionally. There have been times I’ve browsed my projects folder and found a mostly-empty folder for a project I thought I might want to do in the future, and discovered that the notes I’d left in that folder (no matter how minor) were exciting and made me want to get back to that project.
From a practical point of view, you should make sure you conduct frequent back-ups. I have cloud copies of my projects folder, and offline backups. I just drop the whole ‘Projects’ folder and that takes care of everything.
In sum: your file system has to serve your needs as an author, and a writer who intends to write nothing but standalones (and maybe has only finished one or two) is not going to have or need the same kind of file system an author with multiple series in interlocked universes might. Your file system should reflect your writing plans; to some extent, you can use that organizational schema to mold those plans, as well. Start by asking yourself what you intend, and build from there.
Do you have an organization schema for your writing files? Tell me about them! I’m always looking for new ideas!
Or at least, I intend it to be relaxing. Hopefully it delivers.
4:22 minutes
Materials:
In which I talk about the paper, the paint, and the experience of oils versus gouache. Fun stuff, will do more.
Thank you Locals supporters! Your contribution to my art war chest here is what's powering these experiments and videos. For now I'm keeping them public but I may start doing some subscriber-only videos if you all are interested.💖
Thanks for your comments yesterday on the business post... all very provocative, in a good way. I'll try to respond to all of them today.
Some Alysha misc now, since I'm gearing up for the results of the Kickstarter!
Petrov is giving away coupon codes for every book in the Alysha series (and has some leftover coupons for Marda and the business book). You can pick those up here (and please do! The books are bought already, someone should use them!) https://twitter.com/PetrovNeutrino/status/1457344535843987461
Our own @JudasComplex sent along a sample of the Faith in the Service audiobook, which I've attached for your delight! I... haven't had a chance to listen to it. Don't ask me about my past week and a half or so. Putting it here will guarantee I get to it.
After hearing the amused comments during the livestream, I went ahead and added all the ship type illustrations I have inked from the 90s to the wiki. Glory in the rampant adorableness of their anthropomorphic stylings! See those ...
A little comedy today, at least in the link. Transcript follows.
Hi, all. Welcome to this episode of The Jaguar’s Heart.
A while back I was introduced to a comedy sketch about Cuban coffee by a Mexican comedian, Gabriel Iglesias. ( The sketch begins with him greeting all his fellow Latinos and then backing up to say ‘but we’re all different, aren’t we’ which is a segue into a demonstration of how different Hispanics speak Spanish.
It is hilarious. First, because I am a Spanish speaker and a linguistics hobbyist, and his portrayal of various accents resonated with my experiences in trying to make sense of them myself… Not always easy, since from culture to culture, slang and accent are often totally different (and sometimes grammar! Spaniards use a grammatical construct that has died out in many other Spanish-speaking countries, the plural “you.”)
I also loved it because the Cuban coffee part is real. I grew up with Cubans. I know how we are....
One of the most common things I hear (and say) right now is "the asymmetry is the story." Here's one about how none of us are innocent of the sins we hate in others.
Hi, all. Welcome to this week’s episode of The Jaguar’s Heart.
It’s been weeks since the Baen’s Bar incident and I’m still thinking about it... because the longer I do, the more I feel, overwhelmingly, that it’s obvious that the problem is deeper than “this forum was saying stuff that offended us.” We have to back up to the glaring fact that people on opposite sides no longer consider each other human. Nothing I say will matter because the people disagreeing with me don’t think I’m human. They have denied my humanity; they have not bothered to listen to my beliefs, or have fake-listened to them in that way that people do when they’re so ready to prove you wrong that they’re only using your speech to provide talking points for their own ideas.
We have forgotten how to listen.
Increasingly, we have also ...
I have been hacking at this for nearly two weeks! But I think I'm minimally viable (other than a few niggling CSS errors I'm chasing down). Everything's been redesigned around the quiz, and the store in particular got overhauled in a way that hopefully makes what you want to shop for easier to find. Please go wander my website and my revamped shopify store and tell me if there's anything that breaks for you (or that delights you - there are easter eggs!). The site should change colors based on the time of day, and there are random fun facts to read (and click on) and other things, too. Plus, the quiz! And such. :)
Website: https://mcahogarth.org
Quiz: https://mcahogarth.org/bookrec/
Shop: https://studiomcah.com/
Mostly, what the jaguar is up to is resting, because I managed to overuse my hands/arm/shoulder and now every time I type or sit at the computer or drawing board, I aggravate the injury. Very frustrating! But I wanted to get out this (mostly dictated) update for you!
Kherishdar 5 is about 2/3rds done, and Conversations 3 is 90% done. (Yes, imagine my frustration that I’m this close and can’t keep going!). I’m still anticipating an early summer date for those.
The gamelit novel is now available at retail, which means it’s officially out! It will finish serializing on PatreLocals and then I’ll decide what I’m serializing next. If you’ve read it and feel like dropping a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or my shop, I’d appreciate it! And the special edition will be available once I okay the new proof, which probably won’t get to me for another month or so. Sorry! Special editions take a long time to print. Here's the "Every retailer" landing page; note that AI-audio is the only ...
The Jokka kickstarter launches Thursday! And runs for 12 days, so if you want any of the original art (or one of the few “get yourself drawn as one of the Jokka” slots), go sign up to be notified of launch!
Scott Adams is fond of saying that you either want something, or you decide. That if you’re in the ‘I want’ phase, you don’t actually take steps; things only start happening when you have decided they’re going to happen. And I, ariisen, have finally decided I’m sick of not scanning and archiving my sketchbooks and turning them into stuff you can enjoy, like art books and prints and wiki images! I’ve already done Sketchbooks 1-10, and I’ve made a start on the next set of ten.
My plan is to run a Kickstarter for the first art book in a month or two (so if you’re a fan of my art more than my writing, your campaign is coming!) and use that as the proof-of-concept for the process for the remaining 200 or so… see where the issues are, streamline where I can, order proofs of the art book and decide what paper I like and what kinds of covers are economically feasible. I’ve timed myself and it takes about two hours to scan one sketchbook, if I stand there and do nothing but turn pages. I don’t think I can make that part go by faster, but I might be able to do something about the post-processing phase. Let the experimentation begin!
While I’m doing that, I’ll be posting some of the scans here! These posts will be separate from Back in Time Tuesday, which is for finished artwork dug out of the closet from whatever time period I feel like sharing. This means the Patreon will be getting EVEN MORE ART.
I’m debating right now whether the art sharing will be my “serial” until I’m ready to serialize new fiction. Someone also suggested writing wiki/worldbuilding entries as serial content, which might be fun. But I’m still only wanting to do those things—I definitely haven’t decided. Until then, there definitely will be an art explosion. I’ve montaged some things up there as demonstration of what you have to look forward to!
If you are a lurker, now’s a good time to decide whether you want to subscribe to contribute to my coffee fund. I do, in fact, literally drink a cup of coffee while trapped in my laundry room, turning pages and leaning on the drier! Or if you’re a paying subscriber, consider buying me a monthly coffee if you’re currently in the ‘tossing the jaguar a buck’ club. My coffee capsules are closer to $2 after shipping. XD
We’re all overloaded and looking for moments of beauty and cheer and inspiration in our days. A lot of this older artwork is silly, or delightful, or cartoonical, and I think it might be just what we need.
Seriously, check out happy bee guy there. What even was that. Lol.😂
Anyway, I'm doing the things! Jokka! Art! Fun! Forth!