Looking for Advice!

So I have been doing this writing thing seriously for a decade now. And I feel like I could use some advice. What steps should I be taking at this stage in my writing journey? I am at a point where I feel like I have a decent handle on how things operate, but I am looking for the things I need to do to take things to the next level as it were. I could use a trail guide as it were (now the picture makes sense)! First let me show what I have on offer, in a fair amount of detail:

My ‘Assets’:

• 3 books about a redneck wizard with a crippling meth addiction (the Jubal County Saga). None are wide, all are in KU.

  • Book 1: 53 reviews, 4.6/5 stars, August 2021 release.

  • Book 2: 20 reviews, 4.7/5 stars, November 2021 release.

  • Book 3: 12 reviews, 4.3/5 stars, January 2022 release.

• They have earned a combined 998.05 in online sales, and about 400 in physical sales.

• Website (talesbybob.com), with a fairly active blog.

• Email list: 100ish

• Facebook Page/Group: 564/160

• Twitter: 306

• Instagram: 387

• Patreon: 3 patrons

• Side hustles: I have a number of small side hustles that bring in a little money each month to fatten up the war chest (and by that I mean hire editors usually).

Potential ‘Assets’ (none of this has really been edited, and some is quite old):

• 3 25k words each novellas, that make up parts of the next few Jubal County Saga books.

• 1 horror novel (102k words).

• 2 grimdark fantasy novels of a proposed trilogy (154k words combined).

• 100k words of southern horror short stories (many of which are/can be set in the Jubal County saga).

• 100k words of steampunk short stories.

• 90k words of… spooky, weird, melancholy romance? Spread across a pair of novellas and short stories.

• 35k words of southern gothic short stories (set in the world of Jubal County).

• 50k words of dark fantasy short stories.

• A hodgepodge of other short stories, some fantasy, some cyberpunk, some horror. Maybe another 50k words.

Very brief overview of my career to date:

A decade ago I started out writing short stories, for submission to indie press anthologies and school lit journals. I had six or so published. Then a very, very small press published several collections of my steampunk short stories, and it was not a great experience. Not long after I finished my first full length work, a horror novel set in Montgomery. I’ve attempted to shop it out to agents to no avail. Got some advice from John Hartness, decided to start seriously self-publishing. Started with what folks told me was my most interesting idea, the Jubal County Saga.

My fairly set in stone thoughts on my near future publishing wise:

Three books are out in my Jubal County Saga, the next two are over halfway done. Plan is for book 4 to come out this summer, and book 5 this winter. Then the plan is to put out one a year for the next decade or so.

Various ideas I have toyed with, to supplement the above plan:

• Idea one: publish things closely related to the Jubal County Saga, steer into that so to speak. Release some collections of southern horror/gothic short stories in the setting, put out my southern horror novel. Related to this would be possibly working up some sort of anthology/box set with similar authors.

• Idea two: try to branch out into other genres, to offer a wider selection (so I appeal to a wider audience?). In this route I put out short story collections of my fantasy, steampunk, and cyberpunk stuff. I also put out a book that is basically a “Worlds of Bob” collection with sample stories from each of my ‘worlds.’

• Idea three: Try and get some of my stuff published by small presses in an attempt to reach a wider audience, usually through anthologies.

• Idea four: Bundle my Jubal County Saga books in twos or threes, and release them Wide as omnibuses.

• Idea five: really get back to being serious about trying to get my full length horror novel trad published.

Obviously, none of the above ideas will be ‘the only way,’ and I can mix and match to a degree. My concerns however are twofold:

First, the money to hire editors. Anything selfpubbed, there is an upfront cost that I am going to have to shoulder. This is a large part of why I have such a backlog of writing in the ‘vault’ instead of just hammering out a crap ton of releases.

Secondly, splitting marketing efforts. Right now, it is easy (as much as anything in marketing can be) to only have to flog one dolphin, which is my Jubal County Saga. I have found spaces where I do a decent job getting traction promoting, and as much as I currently have a known presence it is based around those books. So delving into another genre will widen my appeal, but potentially I will lose out on folks eagerly awaiting my next Jubal County Saga, who skip reading a book because it is in a different genre. That could be a trivial concern, or it could be major. I have no point of reference.

Things I know I need to do, and would love tips on:

• Grow my email list

• Get more active on my patreon

• Either shit or get off the pot on my facebook group. I don’t really use it, and it seems impossible for me to remember to do so. Should it stay or should it go?

What do you think?

If you were in my shoes, with this sort of set up, what would be your next steps? Any and all advice is welcome.