Galley edits have been my life. It's wonderful when you can read through your own manuscript and find yourself sitting on the edge of your chair in total anxiety over what's going to happen next. That's the good stuff (not to toot my own horn).
What I've had to come to grips with, however, is that there is probably a word (or two or three) that I've missed - as heinous as this sounds, I know. Yet the fact remains: I may (must we speak in whispers now) have missed a typo. Aiiieeek!
Okay, so when you're editing a 300,000+ word manuscript, and you know so many of the lines by heart, it's really easy to miss stupid typos like, "He told not him to go," instead of "He told him not to go." It just is. As much as I've looked down my own nose at typos missed in other books, I've since come to the realization that it is a lot of words to get 100% right.
So I've done my best, and now the good news is that the book is over to final production. I've signed my soul away here and sent it off with the final okay - and the cost to see it in print may be a typo or two.
Best tea for Galley editing: Rooibos Caramel Creme with Mate Vana (and lots of cream!)
Friday, August 27, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
What lies beneath...
Cover concepts: Phaedor in a half-spin, black Merdanti blade slashing, green eyes alight... Ean standing with Bjorn looming behind him as the Temple of the Vestals crumbles... Trell gazing out over the Sand Sea where the drachwyr fly...
Any of these would be excellent covers for Cephrael's Hand. Unfortunately, I'm not quite important enough to garner a place on Michael Whelan's schedule (his rendition of Anne McCaffrey's The Rowan was the inspiration for Alyneri). I do however have some talented friends who have helped immeasurably in putting a cover concept together. In lieu of hiring a professional graphic artist (and paying professional fees), I'm pretty happy with the cover we came up with.
There's something terribly cruel about book covers. People empirically do judge your book by its cover, even though most covers have more to do with marketing than with the content of the book. It's almost as cruel a truth as the fact that it's easy to get an agent once you have a publisher interested in your book, yet most publishers only accept manuscripts from agented authors. This is a logic that, while circular, is yet incontrovertible.
Artists are always weighing the small adulterations of their work against the price of selling it. Is it more important to have a book cover that truly reflects the material within if, in so doing, the book doesn't sell as many copies? At what point in the process does artistic integrity break? At the other end of the spectrum, you can tweak and nudge and color correct and adjust until you're blue in the face and never actually be happy with the product. That's as true for the cover art as it is for the manuscript contained within. Eventually you have to say, "Enough!" and be happy with the result. Or at least be willing to quit tinkering with it. The rest is out of your hands (and into that expensive marketing team waiting to promote your work onto the NY Times bestseller's list, right?).
Best tea for judging a book by its cover: Egyptian Chamomile
Any of these would be excellent covers for Cephrael's Hand. Unfortunately, I'm not quite important enough to garner a place on Michael Whelan's schedule (his rendition of Anne McCaffrey's The Rowan was the inspiration for Alyneri). I do however have some talented friends who have helped immeasurably in putting a cover concept together. In lieu of hiring a professional graphic artist (and paying professional fees), I'm pretty happy with the cover we came up with.
There's something terribly cruel about book covers. People empirically do judge your book by its cover, even though most covers have more to do with marketing than with the content of the book. It's almost as cruel a truth as the fact that it's easy to get an agent once you have a publisher interested in your book, yet most publishers only accept manuscripts from agented authors. This is a logic that, while circular, is yet incontrovertible.
Artists are always weighing the small adulterations of their work against the price of selling it. Is it more important to have a book cover that truly reflects the material within if, in so doing, the book doesn't sell as many copies? At what point in the process does artistic integrity break? At the other end of the spectrum, you can tweak and nudge and color correct and adjust until you're blue in the face and never actually be happy with the product. That's as true for the cover art as it is for the manuscript contained within. Eventually you have to say, "Enough!" and be happy with the result. Or at least be willing to quit tinkering with it. The rest is out of your hands (and into that expensive marketing team waiting to promote your work onto the NY Times bestseller's list, right?).
Best tea for judging a book by its cover: Egyptian Chamomile
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Drumroll please...
Manuscript final edit completed - check.
Manuscript formatted and uploaded - check.
Publishing and pricing options finalized - check.
eBook options finalized - check.
Map of the realm finished and uploaded - check.
Author photo uploaded - check.
Author bio written and uploaded - check.
Back cover blurb written and uploaded - check.
All legal documents signed and uploaded - check.
Formatting options finalized - check.
Book moving into production - CHECK!
Manuscript formatted and uploaded - check.
Publishing and pricing options finalized - check.
eBook options finalized - check.
Map of the realm finished and uploaded - check.
Author photo uploaded - check.
Author bio written and uploaded - check.
Back cover blurb written and uploaded - check.
All legal documents signed and uploaded - check.
Formatting options finalized - check.
Book moving into production - CHECK!
Monday, May 10, 2010
I just have to say...
I like non-conformists. I like people "who refuse to limit themselves with labels" (I totally ripped this off from the Delphian School vision statement, but I'm a graduate of that school so I'm qualified to consider myself one of those people). So much about the Fantasy genre is subject to stereotype, but as is true for most stereotypes, too often people don't look past these oversimplified concepts to see what lies beneath.
Fantasy authors have been enthralling readers since long before Arabian Nights, and Science Fiction writers, with their genius in imagining the possible out of the impossible, have driven advances in civilization as much as Science itself.
And where SF drives us to imagine a different future, a different now, Fantasy investigates entirely new worlds where magic still reigns and honor, justice and good and evil are inextricably bound within the lives of each character.
Is it any wonder that some of the biggest blockbusters in Hollywood have been SF&F? These genres give hope for the goodness of man, hope that evil will not prevail, and keep our eyes on the stars.I like not conforming to the "typical" fantasy reader stereotype as well as the "typical" fantasy writer one. Being part of this "weird" group of people who continue to postulate new realities is a label I wear proudly.
On another note, my map is now finished. We're coming down to the final stretch of pre-production.
Best tea for ranting: Harsha with a little bit of honey
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
He says, she says
"Failure is the province of the craven and the dead," so says Bjorn van Gelderan in a quote that precedes Chapter 1.
Somewhere along the way I got it in my head that it would be great to have similar quotes preceding every chapter. In theory, this is a great concept; it would allow me to provide viewpoint snippets for a variety of characters, a little extra hint here or there about who they really are and how they think. Each quote would be relevant to the chapter it precedes, but it wouldn't be a quote from the chapter. In some cases, the quote might provide deeper insight into the chapter's main message. Other times it may simply provide levity.
This is a modest goal when you have 25 chapters. When you're encroaching on 60...well, it's ambitious to say the least.
With the final edit complete and ready to be uploaded for layout, I decided to confront this project. It has not been quite as painful as I anticipated, but I'm only half-way through and feel that I have fully exhausted my supply of witticisms, proverbs and poignant truths. So if you have any to offer, by all means send them my way!
Best tea for devising quotes from people who don't exist: Rooibos Hazelnut Dolce with Mate Vana.
Somewhere along the way I got it in my head that it would be great to have similar quotes preceding every chapter. In theory, this is a great concept; it would allow me to provide viewpoint snippets for a variety of characters, a little extra hint here or there about who they really are and how they think. Each quote would be relevant to the chapter it precedes, but it wouldn't be a quote from the chapter. In some cases, the quote might provide deeper insight into the chapter's main message. Other times it may simply provide levity.
This is a modest goal when you have 25 chapters. When you're encroaching on 60...well, it's ambitious to say the least.
With the final edit complete and ready to be uploaded for layout, I decided to confront this project. It has not been quite as painful as I anticipated, but I'm only half-way through and feel that I have fully exhausted my supply of witticisms, proverbs and poignant truths. So if you have any to offer, by all means send them my way!
Best tea for devising quotes from people who don't exist: Rooibos Hazelnut Dolce with Mate Vana.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Uncharted worlds?
Maps. If you are a Fantasy writer, your map may be the bane of your existence. I've lost track of how many times I have recreated this map. While I enjoy the world-building aspect, I do not expressly enjoy drawing 3,000 mountains and trees. The pitfalls of creation - wherein you write something as happening a certain way and then expect the physical universe to be able to manifest it - have no doubt caused a rift between writers and artists since time immemorial.
Some things, like the time it takes to travel from Acacia to Chalons-en-Les Trois, are easily amended in the work itself by expediently remarking that it took two weeks instead of one to get there. But when the Haden Gorge must open upon the Faisal escarpment with the city of Sakkalaah and the Assifiyah range split by the River Cry, and pivotal plot points occur within this geography, you've got to make that work.
My husband generously offered to pen the map on my behalf. Being a fine artist, he no doubt would've made short work of the project. Instead, in my enthusiasm, I took it upon myself yesterday to render the masterpiece and subsequently spent the next eight hours laboring over a continent dominated by mountains (who thought up this place, anyway?) and trying to force my flowery script into characters the size of mouse poo.
Nonetheless, a rough draft was accomplished around midnight. To my readers, you'll be pleased to know that all of the major cities are represented, even if you'll need a magnifying glass to read them.
Best tea for drawing maps of uncharted worlds: Peet's Rare Golden Dragon Oolong (and a little salted chocolate helps, too).
Some things, like the time it takes to travel from Acacia to Chalons-en-Les Trois, are easily amended in the work itself by expediently remarking that it took two weeks instead of one to get there. But when the Haden Gorge must open upon the Faisal escarpment with the city of Sakkalaah and the Assifiyah range split by the River Cry, and pivotal plot points occur within this geography, you've got to make that work.
My husband generously offered to pen the map on my behalf. Being a fine artist, he no doubt would've made short work of the project. Instead, in my enthusiasm, I took it upon myself yesterday to render the masterpiece and subsequently spent the next eight hours laboring over a continent dominated by mountains (who thought up this place, anyway?) and trying to force my flowery script into characters the size of mouse poo.
Nonetheless, a rough draft was accomplished around midnight. To my readers, you'll be pleased to know that all of the major cities are represented, even if you'll need a magnifying glass to read them.
Best tea for drawing maps of uncharted worlds: Peet's Rare Golden Dragon Oolong (and a little salted chocolate helps, too).
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Another interesting point of view
I was recently reading an article by Morris Rosenthal entitled, Do Self-Published Books Sell? He makes a great point that echoes statements I've heard from agents and editors, to wit: what can you bring to the table? If you have successfully sold a self-published book, you'll have something tangible to put in your future book proposals, i.e. you have statistics to show that a) you can market and sell your work, and b) a number of people actually want to read it. Those numbers can go a long way toward interesting a larger publishing house in your material - providing that you're even still interested in selling the book at that point.
At the very least, as a successful self-published author, you may have more bargaining power and will certainly be more savvy when and if you find yourself (via agent or not) at a publisher's negotiation table.
Best tea for researching the odds: Pomegranate Oolong
At the very least, as a successful self-published author, you may have more bargaining power and will certainly be more savvy when and if you find yourself (via agent or not) at a publisher's negotiation table.
Best tea for researching the odds: Pomegranate Oolong
Thursday, April 22, 2010
What do we do first?
Well, I've got my outline of actions done. My first steps to implementing this plan involve putting the marketing channels in place to promote the book even while I'm still muddling through the final edit. I've built my author website and have begun researching additional avenues for establishing a web presence.
Getting past that non-existent feeling when you realize that basically no-one knows anything about you or your little book can seem overwhelming. Having a web presence is going to be vital. People need to be able to find you and your book easily, once they do find out about it. That's step 1 - making it easy to find you. Taking your marketing to the next level of wide promotion is step 2.
What gives the big publishers their advantage is they already have lines of communication into bookstores, convenience stores, other chains, etc. where they'll place your book in front of the nameless thousands. The downside of these avenues is bookstores and chains like Target typically want to order books in quantity at a significantly discounted price. So while you may sell more books by having them in these stores, that isn't necessarily going to result in an equal return on your investment.
The big publishing houses also have marketing channels already in place. Coming in as a new author with a new book publishing on your own, you have to create a lot of those channels. Some of the Print On Demand (POD) publishers will sell marketing packages to their authors to help with some of that.
I think it's true for any book that much of the sales will be driven by the promotion each author creates on their own. There's no reason in this media-rich environment that one author can't promote their book and reach as many people as the big publishers do (assuming your novel would be one of the lucky few that such publishers choose to design a big promotional campaign around, which is actually very few of their yearly total). Many of the POD publishers actually do make your book available via Ingram or other wholesalers, so you may still see your book in Target one day.
Perfect tea to contemplate having the best of both worlds: Harney & Sons Wedding Tea (Mutan white tea with lemon-vanilla)
Getting past that non-existent feeling when you realize that basically no-one knows anything about you or your little book can seem overwhelming. Having a web presence is going to be vital. People need to be able to find you and your book easily, once they do find out about it. That's step 1 - making it easy to find you. Taking your marketing to the next level of wide promotion is step 2.
What gives the big publishers their advantage is they already have lines of communication into bookstores, convenience stores, other chains, etc. where they'll place your book in front of the nameless thousands. The downside of these avenues is bookstores and chains like Target typically want to order books in quantity at a significantly discounted price. So while you may sell more books by having them in these stores, that isn't necessarily going to result in an equal return on your investment.
The big publishing houses also have marketing channels already in place. Coming in as a new author with a new book publishing on your own, you have to create a lot of those channels. Some of the Print On Demand (POD) publishers will sell marketing packages to their authors to help with some of that.
I think it's true for any book that much of the sales will be driven by the promotion each author creates on their own. There's no reason in this media-rich environment that one author can't promote their book and reach as many people as the big publishers do (assuming your novel would be one of the lucky few that such publishers choose to design a big promotional campaign around, which is actually very few of their yearly total). Many of the POD publishers actually do make your book available via Ingram or other wholesalers, so you may still see your book in Target one day.
Perfect tea to contemplate having the best of both worlds: Harney & Sons Wedding Tea (Mutan white tea with lemon-vanilla)
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
If it's good enough for Samuel Clemens...
Self-publishing may or may not be the future. Then again, back in the 90's people said CDs would never replace analogue recordings. The technology avalanche just keeps building, evolving. Now we have Blueray and I'm going to have to buy Star Wars again.
Being surrounded by younger people much more tech savvy can be intimidating or inspirational. Taking the latter viewpoint as it applies to the publishing industry, you can only see a broader horizon. There are so many options now to get a book into the hands of readers a) very quickly, and b) with full control over the process.
Audrey Owen has a nice site that lays out some of the pros and cons of self-publishing. On the plus side, you have:
The downside of these same points is that you have to do most of the pre-production work yourself. You invest your own money instead of letting your publisher run the risk, and for some authors, the marketing process can be as frustrating and disheartening as the query-letter-rejection-letter stage.
I'm excited to explore this option and see where it goes (and not just because my husband keeps asking me when I'm going to sell my book and make a million dollars so he can retire). If this really is the next wave, I might as well be on it.
Recommended tea for weighing the pros and cons: Organic Assam (lemon and honey optional)
Being surrounded by younger people much more tech savvy can be intimidating or inspirational. Taking the latter viewpoint as it applies to the publishing industry, you can only see a broader horizon. There are so many options now to get a book into the hands of readers a) very quickly, and b) with full control over the process.
Audrey Owen has a nice site that lays out some of the pros and cons of self-publishing. On the plus side, you have:
- much more control of the process - you choose your formatting, style, cover artwork, et al.
- money - self-published writers can earn 40-60% of the sale price of the book as opposed to the standard 10%
- time - the production time alone can take 12-18 months, and let's not get started on the JK Rowling-esque years of endless query letters to agents and publishers.
The downside of these same points is that you have to do most of the pre-production work yourself. You invest your own money instead of letting your publisher run the risk, and for some authors, the marketing process can be as frustrating and disheartening as the query-letter-rejection-letter stage.
I'm excited to explore this option and see where it goes (and not just because my husband keeps asking me when I'm going to sell my book and make a million dollars so he can retire). If this really is the next wave, I might as well be on it.
Recommended tea for weighing the pros and cons: Organic Assam (lemon and honey optional)
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
All great ideas start with a cup of tea
It's true, some writers are inspired by scenery, others by music, art, a strange encounter on the street - any number of myriad experiences (just ask a SF author what inspires him and you'll get a whole host of bizarre connections between his toaster and alien mind control). I can't say I'm inspired by tea so much as my writing seems to improve when it's present.
Even so, this blog isn't really about tea (though there may yet be many references to it). I am keeping this blog in the hopes it will prove cathartic as I head into the self-publishing process on my novel, Cephrael's Hand (in bookstores soon!)
I've never been comfortable with shameless self-promotion, though I'm happy to shamelessly promote my yoga class to new students, but it's not quite the same thing as emailing all of your friends and asking them to buy your book even if they don't particularly like the Fantasy genre or even know enough of it to suspect that Cephrael's Hand is not an explicit novel about a young boy's personal struggle with puberty.
So look for more as I forage deeper into the forest of self-publishing armed with only an internet connection and a lovely cup of Harney and Son's Bangkok (green tea with coconut, lemongrass and ginger - an appropriate tea to begin any adventure).
Even so, this blog isn't really about tea (though there may yet be many references to it). I am keeping this blog in the hopes it will prove cathartic as I head into the self-publishing process on my novel, Cephrael's Hand (in bookstores soon!)
I've never been comfortable with shameless self-promotion, though I'm happy to shamelessly promote my yoga class to new students, but it's not quite the same thing as emailing all of your friends and asking them to buy your book even if they don't particularly like the Fantasy genre or even know enough of it to suspect that Cephrael's Hand is not an explicit novel about a young boy's personal struggle with puberty.
So look for more as I forage deeper into the forest of self-publishing armed with only an internet connection and a lovely cup of Harney and Son's Bangkok (green tea with coconut, lemongrass and ginger - an appropriate tea to begin any adventure).
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