WE ARE STILL SET FOR AN END OF MARCH RELEASE OF INDEBTED. So just like this amazing song by KINGS OF LEON: IT'S COMING CLOSER: · Here's the latest news: I submitted corrections to Indebted's PDF (interior format) today. That means that within five business days I should get another PDF proof of the book. Once I approve that one, the publisher will print the first copy of Indebted and send it to me in the mail for final approval.
· The cover is sort of a sore subject with me right now. I couldn't seem to explain my vision for the cover to the designer. I take full responsibility because I'm a writer and I should be able to describe in words what I want, but it just never came across to them based on what I've been getting for mock-ups. It came to a point in the process that I was afraid that the cover was looking "self-pub." Don't get me wrong; I am self-pub. I will own that all day and into the next; I just don't want you to be able to point to my cover and say, "Ahhhh, self-pub." I pay for it to be done professionally, so it should look professional. I know that my covers are not the norm anyway. I am aware of the genre for which I write. I'm supposed to have some smoking-hot guy on the cover—or a very beautiful girl in an elaborate ball gown walking though a field or conversely draped over a chair—or a kick-ass, tatted vixen in a leather outfit who is ready to smack the taste out of your mouth. Sex sells. Beauty is everything. I get it. But, I don't know...done and done, right? If I do it too, then I don't stand out. Not to say that mine are cutting-edge covers. I mean a feather is hardly original, especially when it comes to the kind of story I write, but there is still something about it that appeals to me. It is very, very simple—and simple is difficult for me. I find simple a challenge. Simple is appealing in another regard: because size does matter. Sometime simple comes across better when the image is small, like in an eBook ad. I am primarily an eBook author (for now, anyway). If the cover is complicated, it doesn't seem to come across as well. I am also hoping for a more universal appeal. Maybe it will appeal to others outside of the genre as well—more of a crossover book. (Marketing executives are clutching their sides right now from laughing so hard at me.) Anyway, I scrapped the cover they were working on. I called a halt to it yesterday. I'm going with the alternate mock-up from Intuition. I remember really liking it when I had to choose between the two last time. I don't get that feeling now, but I think it's because I'm really disappointed that I couldn't explain myself well rather than it not being amazing. (Sorry, bored yet?) As soon as I get the jpeg of the cover, I'll post it so you can see it. · I'm NOT going to dwell on the cover. I'M GETTING SUPER EXCITED FOR INDEBTED! I JUST READ THE LAST CHAPTER! I WANT TO TELL YOU RIGHT NOW WHAT HAPPENS, BUT I CAN'T! UGH! I'M DYING! ONLY A COUPLE MORE WEEKS AND YOU CAN READ IT FOR YOURSELVES! IT'S COMING CLOSER!
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Here's the latest progress on Indebted (For all of you NOT interested in the publishing process that I've outlined below, I will just say that I think we're still on track for Indebted to go live in March of 2012 on Amazon.com. Yay! Can't wait for you to read it): · I received the LCCN (Library of Congress Control Number) for Indebted on 2/8/12, which opened up the interior design process so that I could then upload my manuscript to CreateSpace. · I uploaded the manuscript of Indebted on 2/9/12 to CreateSpace. I had already downloaded the questionnaire for the interior design team, so I just cut and pasted my answers onto the form on their site. (When I first did this for Inescapable, the online questionnaire was time sensitive and would only remain open for something like 20 minutes before it would "time out" and make you start again. My advice to anyone publishing is to get the questions in advance and work on them so that when you do it, you won't be pulling your hair out.) · I also completed the questionnaire for the book cover design on 2/9/12. CreateSpace contacted me via email to arrange a consultation with a Designer Manager to go over the questionnaire. I had my consultation on 12/16/12. The Design Manager is not the person who will be designing my cover. Her job is to ensure that the designer assigned to my cover has all the relevant information about the characters and the plot. (Okay, this conversation is always a little awkward for me; it's not the designer manager's fault either, it's mine. I provide a brief synopsis of each of my manuscripts: Inescapable, Intuition, & Indebted, so that they know the plot, progression, and characters—new and old. But, invariably, there are those questions about the characters that sound absolutely absurd when one says them out loud. Case in point: Designer: So this Brennus is a... Me: He's an undead, evil faerie. Designer: *Small exhaled laugh* Ooo-Kaaayy... It gets more awkward from there but I won't bore you with the details. I'll just say that one can tell right away if someone is NOT into the fantasy genre. This is not a criticism of her. If someone were to describe his idea for worm farming in the Arctic, I would probably roll my eyes. I'm not into worms, farming, or the Arctic, so I see it as a completely human reaction. But, like I said: awkward. ) · I'm hoping that the interior format sample chapters are ready by 2/20/12 or 2/21/12 (Monday or Tuesday). The sample chapters are a PDF file that consists of Chapter 1 of the manuscript and any other formatting from chapters that were specifically mentioned prior to formatting the interior. For mine, I expect to see a sample from Chapter 2 because I have an "email exchange" that I want formatted to look like computer writing and indented to offset it. Once I get it and approve it, they will format the entire book and then send the entire PDF file to me for review and approval. So, just like in this song by Kasabian: I'M WAITIN' P.S. This song reminds me of Brennus and the fellas |
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