Marsha Altman's Blog, page 6
May 24, 2012
Publication!
Book 5's available! Get your copy, hot off the presses (somewhat literally, because it's print-on-demand).You can buy it directly from Createspace here.
You can buy the paperback on Amazon here.
You can buy it for Kindle here.
You can buy it for all other eBook formats here.
It behooves me to say that if you buy it on Createspace, a greater percentage of the money goes to me than if you buy it elsewhere, where Amazon takes more.
Back copy:
Twenty years have passed since Mr. Darcy married Elizabeth Bennet, and their family has grown. All of the Bennet sisters are married, and their children are on the threshold of adulthood and ready for entrance to proper society. War in Europe is over, and it seems that England, and our beloved families, are at peace.
But trouble lurks on the horizon. A popular revolt is brewing in Derbyshire, lead by a deluded radical. The very safety of Pemberley and Chatton House are threatened when a family member goes missing, and Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley, with the help of relatives and friends, must attempt a dangerous rescue while the wolves close in around them.
In Altman's fifth installment of "The Darcys and The Bingleys," she continues Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice not just through romance and foibles but political intrigue, action, and the occasional brutality required of life in Georgian England.
Whither Book 6?
I'm a bit in the hole from editing and design costs, but as soon as I get out of that - get your copy of book 5 today! - I will start working on book 6, hoping for a fall release.
May 7, 2012
Rolling rolling rolling
Feels like this, right?Hopefully, book 5 should be out next week. The print version is there, but lacking a cover. A couple people have responded to my cover design ad, but no one has actually delivered the cover yet or said officially they would do it. So, if you can design book covers, there's $50 in it for you. The eBook version is pretty much there, but it's hard to tell. I can't submit it for premium distribution on Smashwords until I publish it, and only when they review it for premium distribution do they find if things are problematic in the file formatting. And that takes a week. And I can't put up the Kindle version until the print version goes up. But rest assured, I am working on it.Whither book 6? Well, that depends on sales of book 5. If I earn back my money on book 5 (I did shell out good money for copyediting), I'll try to do book 6 in the fall or winter 2012. If I'm in the hole, we'll see. It's kind of a tense time for me, because both of my bosses and my first publisher owe me money, but until they get it to me, my bank account is pretty low.
If you're looking for a review copy of book 5, the e-version will be pretty easy to get from me, but if you want a print copy for review, you need to be someone who will actually really super do the review. No offense to reviewers, but this time it's money out of my pocket to get you a the book, so if you want to do the print review, please be serious about doing it, and give me an email.
There is no textual differences between the books, except maybe in the acknowledgments if I forget to line up last-minute additions correctly. Also, I worked really hard on the formatting for book 5's print version, because you need to format print versions, so I'm really proud of it, but I know some people like their eReaders. Just so you know.
May 1, 2012
Jane Austen with me in Kathmandu, NepalBoy, it sure has b...
Jane Austen with me in Kathmandu, NepalBoy, it sure has been awhile, hasn't it? So long that Blogger has significantly changed its layout for designing posts.I have been back from India for the last month, and insanely busy for all of it. I arrived on top of Passover, then had to begin to catch up at my job and finish my Kickstarter project, which has had just hours and hours of audio to transcribe. And I've been working on book 5. I'm doing the last of the copyediting issues now and from then it's formatting, layout, then publication.
A couple things of note:
- The size of the book will be the size of The Ballad of Gregoire Darcy, as those proportions are easily available on Createspace, whereas the proportions that Sourcebooks used (shorter with wider pages) are not allowed for wide distribution
- All of the previous books have used a creme-colored paper to some extent; book 5 will be whiter. Again, this is a distribution requirement. I am making an effort to have the books look similar, but I also want to get it to the most people possible, because I know a lot of people are going to want the hard copy.
- The price for the hard copy will probably be around $14.95, or less on discount, and the price of the eBook will vary depending on sales and promotional periods, but stay between $2.99-$4.99 for the most part. I don't think I'd put it way above that. Please watch my group page and blog for announcements of specials. I may even reduce it to .99c a couple times for a day or something.
- Because this is a POD book, there will be a delay on shipping. I don't have any control over this. If you want to buy a copy directly from me because POD is not available in your area (non-US), you can contact me and I'll set that up.
- While I'm trying to keep the general layout from book 4, I won't have as much freedom for fancy flourishes that Sourcebooks did a lot of at the beginning of chapters and between scenes, but I'll do what I can for the hard copy. The eBook will pretty much just be text because it has to work on all formats. The Kindle version has more room to move.
- It's 80,000 words, so it'll be somewhere in the 300-350 land of page numbers. Again, this is only relevant if you're buying the hard copy. Book 5 is not as long as the previous books because it has a more concentrated plot. Book 6 is the shortest book by far, at least 67,000 words or something like that, and after they get longer and longer as I have more and more to do with the younger cast. The final book is something crazy, like 200,000 words. Man, I hope we get there.
February 19, 2012
Contest!
I'm shooting for a May release for book 5, though that projection may turn into June, so it's a very soft "May." The book is at the copyeditor's (it take a long time to go through line-by-line) but in the meantime I need some help.
I'm looking for cover art - public domain art I can either obtain or buy from an art stocking site. It should be a wilderness scene, or a country scene, preferably involving the hunt or some other action-related event, because there is a lot of action in Derbyshire in this story. It has to be a painting, not a landscape photo, in keeping with the theme of the other covers.
The Knights of Derbyshire takes place in 1822-1823, so the art should either be from that general time period (1800-1830) or be art of that time period, because fashion changed a lot and it will be noticeable to get it wrong.
If I choose the art you found, you'll get a credit in the book and a free copy of the book.
In other news, I'm going to India on Sunday the 26th - next week - so I won't be updating this blog a whole lot until April, when I'm back in the States. If there's some major news to report I will put it up, but otherwise, follow my adventures here. Wish me luck!
I'm looking for cover art - public domain art I can either obtain or buy from an art stocking site. It should be a wilderness scene, or a country scene, preferably involving the hunt or some other action-related event, because there is a lot of action in Derbyshire in this story. It has to be a painting, not a landscape photo, in keeping with the theme of the other covers.
The Knights of Derbyshire takes place in 1822-1823, so the art should either be from that general time period (1800-1830) or be art of that time period, because fashion changed a lot and it will be noticeable to get it wrong.
If I choose the art you found, you'll get a credit in the book and a free copy of the book.
In other news, I'm going to India on Sunday the 26th - next week - so I won't be updating this blog a whole lot until April, when I'm back in the States. If there's some major news to report I will put it up, but otherwise, follow my adventures here. Wish me luck!
February 11, 2012
Rants I Shouldn't Go On
I read a lot of magazines. I have monthlies, but I also have three weeklies - Newsweek, Entertainment Weekly, and the New Yorker - to give me something new to read every Shabbos or just while I'm eating dinner on weekdays. And it makes me pretty damn angry to find that two of out of three of them have advertised or endorsed P.D. James's Death Comes to Pemberley. The New Yorker had a full-page back cover add (which probably cost at least $50,000, knowing what I know about magazines) and Entertainment Weekly included it in its weekly list of ten things I should care about, which is also advertising. Which is fucking insulting to me.
Let's not bother to discuss The merits of Death Comes to Pemberley because it doesn't really matter. Reviews have been bad-to-mixed, but it's certainly no The Education of Miss Mary Bennet so I have to give him points for just not being that, the worst of the worst when it comes to famous authors cashing in on the craze or just people doing bad writing. I haven't actually read DCTP because even if I had a free copy, I don't have time before India to do much of anything that doesn't involve the trip itself. The real point is, for this much promotion, I want DCTP to be a fucking classic. I want it to justify its existence and the amount of money Knopf has put into promoting it by being better than Pride and Prejudice.
I shouldn't be so down on James. After all, she's a cute little old lady who has worked hard all her life at writing and if she was ever going to make money from it, it definitely has to be now because she's going to keel over in a few years. It's not really that I hate her. It's that I want to be her. I don't awnt to tear a corrupt system down. I want in on it.
Let's face it: I'm no Shakespeare. I have a certain level of competency at what I do which is pretty established in this genre, and I have enough people liking me to justify its continued publication. But I wrote ten G-ddamn books in 5 years while also attending grad school, and have spent even longer promoting them, mostly by myself or with very little publisher money. I did all of the blogging and the social networking and got my Jane Austen creds by going to England and I still pay JASNA $30 every year or whatever it is for them to invite me to events that I can't attend because they're on Shabbos. I give away digital copies of the early drafts for free. I joined author social networks and I read all the Jane Austen blogs. The point is, I've paid my fucking dues, stretching my budget to spend my hours doing publicity until the next royalty check comes, and I'm going to continue to do all of this and I would appreciate I don't know, ANY of what she had handed on her to her on a silver platter. In fact, I think I would be happy with jut the platter.
Any other Austen author who says she doesn't feel this way is lying to you.
Let's not bother to discuss The merits of Death Comes to Pemberley because it doesn't really matter. Reviews have been bad-to-mixed, but it's certainly no The Education of Miss Mary Bennet so I have to give him points for just not being that, the worst of the worst when it comes to famous authors cashing in on the craze or just people doing bad writing. I haven't actually read DCTP because even if I had a free copy, I don't have time before India to do much of anything that doesn't involve the trip itself. The real point is, for this much promotion, I want DCTP to be a fucking classic. I want it to justify its existence and the amount of money Knopf has put into promoting it by being better than Pride and Prejudice.
I shouldn't be so down on James. After all, she's a cute little old lady who has worked hard all her life at writing and if she was ever going to make money from it, it definitely has to be now because she's going to keel over in a few years. It's not really that I hate her. It's that I want to be her. I don't awnt to tear a corrupt system down. I want in on it.
Let's face it: I'm no Shakespeare. I have a certain level of competency at what I do which is pretty established in this genre, and I have enough people liking me to justify its continued publication. But I wrote ten G-ddamn books in 5 years while also attending grad school, and have spent even longer promoting them, mostly by myself or with very little publisher money. I did all of the blogging and the social networking and got my Jane Austen creds by going to England and I still pay JASNA $30 every year or whatever it is for them to invite me to events that I can't attend because they're on Shabbos. I give away digital copies of the early drafts for free. I joined author social networks and I read all the Jane Austen blogs. The point is, I've paid my fucking dues, stretching my budget to spend my hours doing publicity until the next royalty check comes, and I'm going to continue to do all of this and I would appreciate I don't know, ANY of what she had handed on her to her on a silver platter. In fact, I think I would be happy with jut the platter.
Any other Austen author who says she doesn't feel this way is lying to you.
January 10, 2012
Writing About Writing: The Worst Kind of Writing
NOTE: The Kindle sale on my first book, which is currently $1.79, ends on January 15th.
Took a long walk today. Only 20 blocks or so, but I realized I haven't been outside a whole lot since starting my novel (now standing at 17,000 words) last week. Mostly for food. Entirely for food, actually. When I'm writing a novel it takes up most of my head space, so if I'm doing it right, if I'm not writing I'm thinking about what I'm going to write or how much I need to research before I can continue and how screwed I am, but my head is basically in the book. Not at all times, but at most times. I'm living in the book.
Advice for writers:
(1) Don't worry too much about distractions. I mean, clear off your schedule and all, but distractions are just going to happen. Let them enter your mind and leave.
(2) Don't stop for the day when you run out of ideas. Stop a bit before that, when you still have a sense of the next scene, so that you won't be a blank slate the next day. You always want to start off running.
(3) You'll be surprised how much shit you get done (paying bills, cleaning your room, writing blog posts) when you're procrastinating.
Back to work.
Took a long walk today. Only 20 blocks or so, but I realized I haven't been outside a whole lot since starting my novel (now standing at 17,000 words) last week. Mostly for food. Entirely for food, actually. When I'm writing a novel it takes up most of my head space, so if I'm doing it right, if I'm not writing I'm thinking about what I'm going to write or how much I need to research before I can continue and how screwed I am, but my head is basically in the book. Not at all times, but at most times. I'm living in the book.
Advice for writers:
(1) Don't worry too much about distractions. I mean, clear off your schedule and all, but distractions are just going to happen. Let them enter your mind and leave.
(2) Don't stop for the day when you run out of ideas. Stop a bit before that, when you still have a sense of the next scene, so that you won't be a blank slate the next day. You always want to start off running.
(3) You'll be surprised how much shit you get done (paying bills, cleaning your room, writing blog posts) when you're procrastinating.
Back to work.
January 8, 2012
Actual Writing
Book 5 is at the copyeditor's.
I'm writing a new book, not related to my P&P stuff. So I am away. Writing. Be back soon. Maybe a month.
I'm writing a new book, not related to my P&P stuff. So I am away. Writing. Be back soon. Maybe a month.
December 18, 2011
Liars, All Of Them
If anyone tells you they know what's going on in publishing right now, they're lying. Sure, they might have a business model that profits on last month's publishing trends, but talk to them six months from now at their job at Starbucks.
I'm considering going with an eBook publisher for book 5. There would be upfront fees, and they would take some of my royalties, but some of these companies are really legitimate and somewhat selective about what projects they take on. The main reason is that they would take some of the work out of my hands when it comes to layout, design, and file conversion and distribution, which can be technical and time-consuming, and publicity, which I can't really do myself. How much publicity they would do, how it would benefit me, and whether it would be worth a portion of my profits is the big question nobody can really answer, even publishing professionals like my bosses (who are agents) and my agent. Everyone's got a good guess, but it's really a guess. The publishing conference on eBook publishers that I went to was just ... exhausting. In the end I will still probably go with one if I can, because if I don't like the model or the business model becomes totally outdated in a year, I have books 6-10 to do something else with.
SALE - On book 1 for the Kindle, now $1.99 for the rest of the month.
In other news I'm going to India in March to volunteer for the Tibetan refugee community, and write about it afterward. This is a big deal for me, so please consider donating to my Kickstarter project. There's a fun video where I explain what I want to do and why, plus you get to see my kitchen wall. I don't know if that does anything for you, but I'm throwing that out there. And there's great prizes! Super great prizes, actually, when it comes to Tibetan stuff. Please give it a look-see. And try not to remember that I just used the term "look-see."
I'm considering going with an eBook publisher for book 5. There would be upfront fees, and they would take some of my royalties, but some of these companies are really legitimate and somewhat selective about what projects they take on. The main reason is that they would take some of the work out of my hands when it comes to layout, design, and file conversion and distribution, which can be technical and time-consuming, and publicity, which I can't really do myself. How much publicity they would do, how it would benefit me, and whether it would be worth a portion of my profits is the big question nobody can really answer, even publishing professionals like my bosses (who are agents) and my agent. Everyone's got a good guess, but it's really a guess. The publishing conference on eBook publishers that I went to was just ... exhausting. In the end I will still probably go with one if I can, because if I don't like the model or the business model becomes totally outdated in a year, I have books 6-10 to do something else with.
SALE - On book 1 for the Kindle, now $1.99 for the rest of the month.
In other news I'm going to India in March to volunteer for the Tibetan refugee community, and write about it afterward. This is a big deal for me, so please consider donating to my Kickstarter project. There's a fun video where I explain what I want to do and why, plus you get to see my kitchen wall. I don't know if that does anything for you, but I'm throwing that out there. And there's great prizes! Super great prizes, actually, when it comes to Tibetan stuff. Please give it a look-see. And try not to remember that I just used the term "look-see."
December 11, 2011
Winter Cycle
When it comes to writing I'm like a bear. I eat and eat and eat (this is the writing part) and then I hibernate for a long time. This bad analogy is made worse by the fact that I don't like porridge. But I do have long periods of intense work (it takes me about a month and a half to write a book) followed by intense periods of headaches, being whacked out on my allergy medication, watching a lot of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and generally looking like a lazy bum while everyone around me is working. Right now I'm readying myself for what will hopefully be a new book in January, a YA novel based on Tibetan myth, and also the editing of book 5 before it goes to the copyeditor at the same time because I'm crazy like that.
In March I should be, G-d willing, in India, doing some volunteer work, and I have Kickstarter project about that that I'll be shamelessly publicizing on this blog as soon as I star in a poorly-edited video about it. When I get back in April book 5 will be out of copyediting and by May it should be published, because things like layout and uploading take time if you do it right, and I have every intention of doing it right.
Reader poll: I'm debating between calling book The Knights of Derbyshire, which is teh original title, or Mr. Darcy and the Knights of Derbyshire, which is more in line with the titles of the published books. The second one is a little kitchsy; I don't know what to do about that. I'm not good at titling things. If you have an opinion, let me know. If you have a better idea, and I end up using it, you will get a free hard copy of the book.
Also I have a Twitter Account now because the internet demands it. I don't think I'm any happier about it than you are.
In March I should be, G-d willing, in India, doing some volunteer work, and I have Kickstarter project about that that I'll be shamelessly publicizing on this blog as soon as I star in a poorly-edited video about it. When I get back in April book 5 will be out of copyediting and by May it should be published, because things like layout and uploading take time if you do it right, and I have every intention of doing it right.
Reader poll: I'm debating between calling book The Knights of Derbyshire, which is teh original title, or Mr. Darcy and the Knights of Derbyshire, which is more in line with the titles of the published books. The second one is a little kitchsy; I don't know what to do about that. I'm not good at titling things. If you have an opinion, let me know. If you have a better idea, and I end up using it, you will get a free hard copy of the book.
Also I have a Twitter Account now because the internet demands it. I don't think I'm any happier about it than you are.
December 1, 2011
Obligatory Rambling Post
My body and I don't agree on many things. I'm not even on speaking terms with my stomach or my small intestines for reasons I'm not going to go into, but my biggest beef right now seems to be my brain and its desire to nap. Man, does it love to nap. It's probably the SSRI I'm on, but since I don't like crying all the time, I have to stay on the SSRI. Before I was on it, I never napped, but now my body and I have the same discussion every day:
Body: OK, you've been awake for two hours. It's time to nap. For like, 3 hours.Me: No. I went to bed early last night. Body: But you didn't fall asleep until 3:30 am.Me: Which, I would point out, is your fault. I went to bed at midnight and turned out the lights. And whatever, we woke up at 10, I have plenty of sleep.Body: But you need a nap. Now.Me: No! I need to work.Body: Bullshit. You set your own hours and you know it. Now, go nap or I'm gonna make you unable to focus and miserable. You might even fall asleep standing up in an elevator.Me: Can we put this off until like, 9 pm? And also that was really embarrassing.Body: NOW.
I've tried everything. Going for walks, using that blue light sun lamp, showering, caffeine, and generally refusing to lay down. Doesn't work. Nor does it make me amazingly productive on either end. I lose a lot of the day. That's OK when I'm between editing/writing jobs, which I am at the moment, but really bad the rest of the time. Also it makes me write long, rambling posts about minor inconveniences in my life.
In other news...SALE! My first book will be going on sale on Kindle for $1.99 from December 22nd to January 8th as part of a Sourcebooks promotion. Get it here. And by the way, I would never price my eBook at $9.99 and won't be doing that for book 5. That's way too high for the eBook world. It's where publishers would like it to be but not where people buy it.
SALE! As a Sourcebooks author, I get a 70% discount off books ordered on their website until January 1st, so if you want to order any books from Sourcebooks and the Amazon discount isn't deep enough for you, including other people's books, just send me an email and I'll give you the code. Whatever I can do for fans, you know. Happy Holidays!
Body: OK, you've been awake for two hours. It's time to nap. For like, 3 hours.Me: No. I went to bed early last night. Body: But you didn't fall asleep until 3:30 am.Me: Which, I would point out, is your fault. I went to bed at midnight and turned out the lights. And whatever, we woke up at 10, I have plenty of sleep.Body: But you need a nap. Now.Me: No! I need to work.Body: Bullshit. You set your own hours and you know it. Now, go nap or I'm gonna make you unable to focus and miserable. You might even fall asleep standing up in an elevator.Me: Can we put this off until like, 9 pm? And also that was really embarrassing.Body: NOW.
I've tried everything. Going for walks, using that blue light sun lamp, showering, caffeine, and generally refusing to lay down. Doesn't work. Nor does it make me amazingly productive on either end. I lose a lot of the day. That's OK when I'm between editing/writing jobs, which I am at the moment, but really bad the rest of the time. Also it makes me write long, rambling posts about minor inconveniences in my life.
In other news...SALE! My first book will be going on sale on Kindle for $1.99 from December 22nd to January 8th as part of a Sourcebooks promotion. Get it here. And by the way, I would never price my eBook at $9.99 and won't be doing that for book 5. That's way too high for the eBook world. It's where publishers would like it to be but not where people buy it.
SALE! As a Sourcebooks author, I get a 70% discount off books ordered on their website until January 1st, so if you want to order any books from Sourcebooks and the Amazon discount isn't deep enough for you, including other people's books, just send me an email and I'll give you the code. Whatever I can do for fans, you know. Happy Holidays!
