In association with Bewitching Book Tours, from the 1st to the 15th of March 2013, I will be whoring myself around various book blog sites on the Interwebz to promote “The Genesis” and also to do other, more interesting, things.
Spotlights, Interviews, Guest Blogs, Reviews…you’ll get to see them all! Oh my glob*, this is so exciting, you guys.
Here is the current line-up for the tour, which will start on March 1st:
Date
Blog Name
Post Type
1-Mar-13
Fang-tastic Books
Interview
2-Mar-13
Curling Up With A Good Book
Interview
2-Mar-13
Krystal’s Enchanting Reads
Spotlight
3-Mar-13
Pembroke Sinclair
Interview
4-Mar-13
White Sky Project
Spotlight
5-Mar-13
Butterfly-o-Meter Books
Review & Guest Blog
5-Mar-13
Paranormal Book Club
Spotlight
6-Mar-13
Michelle @ Mom With A Kindle
Guest Blog
6-Mar-13
Unraveling Words
Review
7-Mar-13
Howling Books and Design
Spotlight
8-Mar-13
Love YA Books
Interview
9-Mar-13
Lunar Haven Reviews and Designs
Guest Blog
11-Mar-13
Jodie Pierce
Interview
12-Mar-13
Beauty in Ruins
Guest Blog
12-Mar-13
Immortality & Beyond
Interview
13-Mar-13
Book Addict
Guest Blog
13-Mar-13
A Dream Within A Dream
Spotlight
14-Mar-13
Nomi’s Paranormal Palace
Spotlight
14-Mar-13
Phantasmic Reads
Review & Spotlight
15-Mar-13
Secret Southern Couture,
Spotlight
I will be posting daily (maybe twice daily, depending on the content), for the duration of the tour, which will include links to the post(s). Make sure you check them out. I’ll be putting up all kind of insightful stuff!
Boy, if I didn’t have a genuine reason to finish the first draft of The Vampire’s Son by the end of February, now I really do.
* Been watching a lot of Adventure Time recently. Lumpy Space Princess is my favourite EVERYTHING.
A while back, I talked about how I didn’t want to release the paperback edition of “The Genesis” straight after finishing it, because I knew there’d be typos and the like. Well, after another two months’ worth of re-reading and proofing, the paperback is finally here.
I know there will still be typos hiding in there somewhere. I just know it.
My book has been through beta readers, through an editor, and re-read by yours truly too many times to mention. And still, at the final proofreading stage, there were a total of 149 changes. Granted, a large portion of these were formatting issues, but that figure includes sixteen typos. Sixteen. Six-teen. Six and ten.
That includes wrong uses of the words “bated” and “spurned”. Five beta readers and an editor didn’t pick those up. And this is after the Great Find/Replace Debacle, whereby I managed to change any reference of Genesis’s to Genesis’s’s (or something to that effect) and then released that into the world.
But then that’s the magic of eBooks. Made a boo-boo? No problemo! Just whack up the changes and notify people to update their version. Granted, it still doesn’t look great to the people who originally bought it when you go around making stupid mistakes, but I imagine it’s easier to forgive when you can just replace it with an undated edition instead of a lump of a dead tree, where those errors will live forever.
It just reaches a point where you have to let it go, move on, accept that nothing can be absolutely perfect. Otherwise, I’d still be proofing it next year, and probably the year after. I can’t be proofreading ad infinitum. I have other books to write, to have edited and beta read and proofread and to send out into the ether, most likely with mistakes in those, too.
So…it’s been a while since I did a proper update. In short, life’s been weird the last few months. I’ll probably go into detail on my personal blog once the dust has settled. In the meantime, here’s some updated links to updated versions of “The Genesis”, which now has significantly less typos and other errors. Woot.
My book is out! My book is out! My book is out! My book is out! My book is out! My book is out! My book is out! My book is out! My book is out! My book is out! My book is out! My book is out! My book is out! My book is out! My book is out!
Holy shit, it’s getting close! I’m all excited and terrified and giddy and nauseous.
In anticipation of the thousandshundreds tens of sales I’m predicting, I’ve decided to offer a pre-order option for those of your just aching to get your greasy mitts on this book.
I’ll also be putting up a PDF sample over the weekend, so those of you who haven’t yet been won over by my charming personality and winning smile can get a taster for the book itself.
I keep saying this so much that it’s becoming something of a catch phrase, but it bears repeating: THESE ARE EXCITING TIMES, PEOPLE. Get your party hats on, because it’s about to go WILD.
* Pre-orders will be e-mailed in the chosen format to the e-mail address provided through PayPal, at midnight GMT on 12th September 2012.
Right, so the time is readily approaching for the release of my first* book, “The Genesis”, and I just thought I’d throw up some information regarding release dates and formats and whatnot.
First off, release date:
12th September 2012
Mark your calendars! Put reminders in your phones! Send out the carrier pigeons!
Now for the bad news. Sit down. Oh, you’re already sitting. Well, then…
“The Genesis” will, at first, be released in eBook format only.
I’m sorry. Don’t hit me!
Before you get out your pitchforks and torches and chase me into the woods screaming, “EBOOKS ARE GOING TO BE THE DEATH OF LITERATURE!”, let me explain.
I’m doing this for a number of reasons, including distribution and speed of release. The appealing thing about eBooks from a writer’s point of view is their (relative) ease of creation. I don’t have to worry about spine sizes, paper weight, or cost. Provided I create the book in the correct format (which I’ve also hear horror stories about, but I’m hoping my web design past might help me crawl though those trenches relatively unscathed), a release can be pretty immediate.
The reason I’m not doing it sooner is because I have a few minor tweaks that still need to be, well, tweaked. Also, I’d like to give it just one more read through before it’s released into the wild. And the reason I want to read it again is:
TYPOS.
More fear-inducing than the idea that people just won’t like my writing style, or the story, or the characters, or me, is the thought that someone, somewhere will pick up a shiny paperback copy of The Genesis, only to find a typo on page 20.
And this isn’t to say that I’m trying to put out unfinished work. Ohhhhh, no. But authors and publishers the world over will tell you that there are typos in almost every book ever released.
I re-read the thing about three times. I also had a text-to-speech program read it to me while I read, making doubly sure that my eyes weren’t skimming or substituting any of the words (which is a marvellous–if somewhat time consuming–editing tip that I can’t recommend enough).
I paid my editors to clean up the manuscript, which they did all over the place.
I then had other people read the finished product, who found more typos we’d all missed. I have no doubt there will be more hiding in there somewhere, giggling like schoolgirls as they wait to trip up the unassuming reader who picks it up.
At $50 per revision, I’d rather hold off a month or so, check it again and again and again.
Where to Buy
As an indie author, there aren’t many options for pre-order.
That said, here are links to my Amazon and Smashwords profiles. Once the book is released, going to these will also get you links to the book itself. I’ll update with actual book links once it’s out:
I want to make it as easy as possible for readers to get a copy of this book (of course, that ideally would involve releasing a paperback edition, but let’s not nitpick).
You don’t need an e-reader in order to read e-books. You can get the Kindle App for free, which will work on any of the above formats (links take you to the Amazon site).
I think that’s about it for now.
Once the book’s actually released, I will start posting some extra bonus material o/
* It is my first book, written from scratch, but it is also technically a retelling of my older book, also called “The Genesis”, listed under the now defunct and unavailable Vampyr Snyper series title. For more information on this, including how to claim a free copy of the new book if you purchased the original, click here.
So I’m ploughing through what promises to be the final ever edit I do (before it goes to an editor–that’s right, an actual editor that I have to pay in cash and not in promises of love and devotion) of The Genesis, and it’s painful. See, last October, when I had this oh-so-amazing idea to start the entire first book over again in order to better suit it to the rest of the series’ progression, I wasn’t thinking it through. Yes, in the long run, it will be better, but hell if it’s not painful to work on now.
Some plot points that made perfect sense now don’t; some characters are doing things that isn’t right “because the plot says so”; there’s still a fair number of plot points that are glossed over completely. It’s horrible, and I’ve really painted myself into a corner, in that I love the new stuff and I know it will be better this way, but some of the old stuff just…worked better, and it’s tempting to just revert back.
Worse still, Muse is getting impatient. I can hear it in her voice when we talk, mostly because she’s yelling “Just f*cking finish it!” at the time.
Anyway, main reason for posting is that all six or so of you who are actually waiting on something to happen with this series can know that I am still working on it. I’m working on it every day.
I want, I need, this book to be finished. I need to be able to draw the line under it and move on. I have stories yet to tell, and you never know when that bus is going to hit you (though, to be fair, you do have to leave the house in order to be hit by a bus).
The other reason for posting is to share some new techniques (or not new, but rather I’ve just never tried them before) I’m finding quite helpful this edit.
#1 Don’t Break the Chain
I was inspired by this video by Charlie McDonnell, who picked the technique up from an interview with Jerry Seinfeld. Basically, you get a calendar, and on that calendar you set a goal of a minimum requirement that you must complete each day (for Charlie, it’s 30 minutes working on a video; I’ve set my goal as 2 hours spent editing, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but I’ll get to that in a minute).
Here’s my calendar so far:
The Genesis ‘Don’t Break the Chain’ Calendar
I am yet to break the chain. I feel so empowered.
I should point out that two hours is not what I usually do. It is the minimum I am allowed to do before I can consider my chain unbroken for the day. I often do much more. Most days I finish work at 5pm, immediately open my MacBook (I’m not some kind of space-bending wizard: I work from home), and I will still be working on it at 11pm (give or take an hour or two chatting on Skype, but shh, don’t tell anyone). Being childless and having zero responsibilities (housework, what’s that?) is great.
(Small point: Charlie’s video was posted on the 19th April; I started on the 21st. I don’t know what I did on those two days between watching the video and starting the process–I’m just going to go out on a limb and assume I was drunk.)
Sidenote! Write Chain!
I have had an app that does just this very thing specifically for writers for some time, and–as you might expect–I’ve never used it. Bad monkey.
Basically, all set a daily target, and you have to update every day with your progress, else you break the chain.
Sensing a theme here? Good.
In any case, I’m sure that would’ve been really handy when I was writing the earlier draft, but never mind. I’m sure it’s a wonderful app, I just never got around to using it, and now it’s not really relevant, because I’m not basing my productivity on word count.
You can get the Write Chain app for iPhone from How Not to Write.
#2 The Pomodoro Technique
A little while ago, Muse was telling me about this article she’d read about using a timer to boost productivity. I went and looked up this article, and this was my introduction to the Pomodoro Technique.
She’s since forgotten this conversation, since when I reminded her that she was the one to first tell me about it, she was all, “I’ve never heard of it.” We’re getting old before our time, Muse and I.
Anyway, while it sounded interesting, I didn’t actually look this up again until I’d started my “Don’t Break the Chain” calendar, and was looking for the absolute best way of going about this whole editing business.
While it can be a full lifestyle changer, in its essence, the technique is a time management system, which works like this:
You set a timer for 25 minutes where you will work, distraction free (the book outlines how to do this important part, too) on your goal.
After the 25 minutes, you take a 5 minute break that doesn’t involve your work at all.
Rinse and repeat for all the time you have.
Look, Ma! I laid a time management system!
I’m not doing it justice. Just go read it instead. You can get a PDF of the book, the quick start “cheat sheet”, the to-do list and the activity log FOR FREE (and everybody likes free stuff) from the Pomodoro web site.
That’s all I have for now.
Wish me luck on the rest of this minefield of an edit, and be sure to let me know if you end up using/are already using either of these techniques!
Side Story!
Here’s a not-so-funny side story. You remember a while back I told you about my beta readers? Well, one of them accidentally read the old 2009 version of the book instead of the new one (like a MELON). Neither of us realised this until a few weeks ago, when I asked him what he thought on a particular character, only for him to respond with, “Who’s that?” (I’d changed the character’s name between drafts). On the upside of this, I did get to hear the opinion from someone who had recently read both versions, feedback for which–for the most part–were positive. Score.
So I know the other week I asked for some feedback on my latest book covers. For those interested, the feedback was unanimous, and people preferred the covers without the pretty people on them. However, shortly after I posted that blog, I got into a Skype conversation with Muse, and we discussed the importance of striking, enticing book covers. Then, as women in their late twenties are prone to doing, we started talking about sex.
Now, we all know sex sells. That goes without saying. Sit a half-naked woman on your car and BOOM, suddenly the car’s just as desirable as the boobs and backside draped over it. It’s like magic.
With that in mind, I decided to do something a little…erm…drastic. I decided to “spice up” the the Blood of Ages covers.
You might be thinking, “But there is no sex in Blood of Ages. Everyone practically hates each other.” And, yes, well…that’s true. Which is why I’ve had to make some very minor, hardly noticeable tweaks to characters, settings, and plot lines, which I will go over in another post later today.
Don’t worry! It will be the same series you know and love, only now with some sexy twists!
I am very excited to be able to give you a sneak peek at the new covers for the first two books in the Blood of Ages series (others will be following shortly; I need to find more models first), which I hope will better promote the series through subtle, somewhat “suggestive” imagery.
Because what is urban fantasy without sex? I’ll tell you what: pointless!
Without further ado, here’s a taster of new covers:
Sexy as all hell, amirite?!
At first, I was worried they might look a bit too raunchy, but actually I’m really happy with how they turned out. They’re still in the development stages at this point, and I welcome feedback, so feel free to let me know what you think about this new direction!
I’ll be updating the rest of the web site once I’ve found images for books 3 – 5.
The latest edit of “The Genesis” is off sunning itself with the Muse (a.k.a. being torn to pieces). When I get it back, I expect the manuscript to be a trembling, terrified, but wholly improved draft, ready for me to take another (and final) bash at it.
While I wait for its return, I’m considering my options with regards to the book cover. I’d like some opinions on the below designs, prompted by feedback I’ve already had. I myself am torn. I love both covers for different reasons.
On the one hand, the model I have for the cover is absolutely ideal for the part of Catrina, and I like the idea of giving the reader an idea of the main character before they’ve started reading. In terms of the series as a whole, having the girls on the 3 books surrounding Catrina’s story work well to indicate the progression of her story (you’re getting closer to her, get it?! Full of symbolism. Layers, baby. Layers.). If I was to go ahead with the second design, I’d need to remove all the models from all the covers, and I don’t know whether the books might look a little too generic like that.
On the other hand, I do like the impact the one with the background only has. I think it jumps out a little more, and it emphasises the title, since I’m not distracted by the presence of a pretty lady.
versus
What do you think? Do you like people on your book covers? Do you like having an idea of characters, or would you prefer to envision them yourself? Is there too much or too little in the two designs?
And before anyone starts commenting “they both look shit”, even if you do think that (and hey, everyone’s entitled to their opinion), instead consider telling me which one you think is the least shit.
Finally, bear in mind that these are still concepts at this point, and may be subject to further amendments before release.
Thanks for reading! Be sure to let me know what you think in the comments below.
So I finished my latest edit of “The Genesis” about two hours ago. These are exciting times, people. While I haven’t had all my feedback yet, the results I did have from the quicker betas as well as the subsequent input from The Muse has yielded a very decent second draft already.
To celebrate, I read through some of the comments I had from my beta readers so far with regards to this first major edit, after which I felt like sharing.
While I asked for feedback on everything in this draft (characters, settings, general story, etc); the most interesting for me was discovering what people thought about the people I’d invented.
Some opinions were shared (bear in mind none of the betas know each other – well, two do, technically, but I’m fairly sure they didn’t discuss it). For example, the general consensus of one character was about the same, like so:
One Beta said, “Wonderful character.”
And one said, “[This character] makes the scenes with [this other character] more interesting […]. She interacts well with all the other characters.”
And another said, “I felt safe whenever I read the book and [this character] was in the scene.”
And another said, “She was soooo amazing. […] you could never spend enough time with her.”
And another in a less positive light, like so:
One said, “You don’t see very much of [this character] […] kinda bland […]”
Another said, “At first couldn’t remember [who] that was […] Maybe that tells you something about being a forgettable character.”
And another said, “Not really sure of the point of [this character].”
While others seemed to split opinions…
One said, “[He] is a great character. Lot of mystery about him[…]”
But one said, “I got fed up every time he appeared […] I just didn’t like him.”
And one said, “BAMF! (Bad ass mother fucker). […] he’s so awesome.”
But another said (my personal favourite of all the feedback I got): “He’s a dick. He’s a dick. He’s a dick. He’s a massive, MASSIVE dick.”
And one character I obviously messed up entirely, because people judged him in complete polar opposites:
While one said, “[…]he seemed too evil […].”
Another said, “I like [this character]! He IS the Angel from Buffy […] Protective yet strong and able.”
And another seemed to realise the mish mashed character, saying: “I think I misinterpreted how you wanted [this character] to come across. He reminded me of all those hunchbacked characters who assist the mad doctors in the old black and white monster films and Golum from Lord of the Rings.”
The overall feedback was good. Some had read the older versions, while others came into it brand new. There were some correlations and differences between those who had and those who hadn’t read the earlier one, mostly good stuff, but some parts I needed to improve on from the old version pulled through into the new, as well, mainly things that I’d kind of bypassed, forgetting that people won’t have read anything else now!
I guess the point I’m trying to make here is that people will have varying opinions of your work, regardless of how you work it. Some characters will please everyone, while others will divide opinions. What you hope to achieve, as a writer, is to pave the way well enough so that the majority of your readers will understand the story you’re trying to tell.
The other point I’m trying to make is that feedback is important.
You cannot be the alpha and the omega of your story’s progression and hope for it to please the masses.
Now I’m going to go have a little lie down. And maybe cry a bit.
In association with Bewitching Book Tours, from the 1st to the 15th of March 2013, I will be whoring myself around various book blog sites on the Interwebz to promote “The Genesis” and also to do other, more interesting, things.
Right, so the time is readily approaching for the release of my first* book, “The Genesis”, and I just thought I’d throw up some information regarding release dates and formats and whatnot.
(Small point: Charlie’s video was posted on the 19th April; I started on the 21st. I don’t know what I did on those two days between watching the video and starting the process–I’m just going to go out on a limb and assume I was drunk.)
