K.A. Wiggins's Blog, page 18

Day 213

A post shared by K.A. Wiggins | �������� bookaholic (@kaie.space_author) on May 15, 2017 at 6:16pm PDT

This is it! (I think, lol.) Final edits are in, and apparently have a blend of developmental and line edit involved, but either way are intended as the final round before querying/proofreading & publishing unless BtE gets picked up by a trad pub. So of course I���m looking for ANYTHING else to do this morning, lol. Part of the angsting is traditional (it���s what I���ve done at every stage), part is confusion, since I had it in my head that the edits weren���t coming in until next week and apparently I haven���t learned to use a calendar again. But it���s great timing ���cause I might actually get through everything I need to do this month on the book after all! Ish��� If I can get queries out before the end of the month, I should still have enough time to wait for responses and pivot to self-pub before the end of the year if I don���t get any offers I like. Not quite full steam ahead, but still, better news than in a long time! And my editor���s email was certainly encouraging too, so hopefully any actual rewrites won���t be as intense as the last few rounds, lol. ���Course that doesn���t stop me being scared to open the report��� Gah���

Got a potentially exciting invite to record narration on a YA fantasy overnight too, so more on that later if it goes anywhere. I���ve also just got papers signed with another emerging audiobook service, so there remains a chance that my world may centre 100% around books going forward - yay! On the other hand, I���m still toying with a bunch of other plans on the side - starting in about August, the major work on actually creating BtE should be done and it���ll be time to move on. Lots of startup ideas, but I might take a local job instead for a little while and either write the sequel more slowly or save up to finance another writing stretch. The future is coming! Anyways, time to stop procrastinating and actually dive into the edits. Wish me luck, lol.

Monday

Start Time: 2:30 pm

Location: Abbotsford; home; chair

Drinking: Iced tea

Pick a Story

So I���ve been thinking about doing a prequel novella or short story to Blind the Eyes for the next round of newsletter bonuses. Which of these sound like something you���d like to read? Vote and comment on FB.

Teen sisters sneak off from the Tower to the underground club Freedom in its early days and things go sideways. One runs away after a relationship turns dangerous; the other starts up a secret counter-rebellion and stays in Freedom as a spy to save future innocents and atone for ruining her sister���s life.
YA urban contemporary w/ dystopian, supernatural & romance. ~10 years prev. to BtE book 1. Cast includes: Ange, Morristu, Ravel & Cass, possibly cameos by Serovate, Haynfyv & Sam.

The future Mayor of the Tower was once an ambitious young professional climbing the ranks of corporate power with a jr. exec. husband, showcase baby and a secret mission. But when the rising fog threatens the safety of her family and she refuses to leave, she loses her child, her husband, and her chance at success. When she cuts a deal with the evil intelligence within the fog, she becomes a double agent, working on the side of evil for a shot at the power to keep it from swallowing everything.
New Adult urban thriller, tragedy. Antagonist/villain backstory. ~120+ years prior to BtE book 1. Cast incl. Maria Ashera, possibly cameos by Serovate, Ravel.

Cadence & Ash as kids up north; dreamwalker training, learning to fight, faction politics between their respective camps (displaced First Nations & Roma Traveller). Or Cadence���s family���s failed mission to the city & her capture. Or Ash���s (off the page) journey during Blind the Eyes up to the point where he makes it to the Tower. This one would give a lot of world-building context and background, but is light on encapsulated storytelling/plot.
Kids or YA fantasy/contemporary, possibly thriller/tragedy. 10 years prev., 5 yrs prev. or 4 weeks prev. to BtE book 1. Cast incl. Cadence, Ash (protagonists, Ash formerly Itri/Silver), possibly Sam & Lily.

A young prince of the Tower as a preteen, coming to terms with his background and launching the rebel and counter-culture movement via the underground club Freedom. His rebellion against the Tower leader (/mom) & the deal he cuts with the enemy in unconscious imitation of his mother, gaining power at a terrible cost.
YA dark fantasy, urban fantasy. 5+ years prev. to BtE book 1. Cast incl. Ravel, Maria, cameos by Serovate, maybe Ange, Morristu, Haynfyv, Cass.

Tower Investigator Haynfyv geeking out and making a name for himself by being a bizarro luddite and digging into historic practices instead of using Tower surveillance for everything. Mostly just a chance to hang out with the weirdest side character.
Mystery. 5-10 years prev. to BtE book 1.
Cast incl. Haynfyv, Serovate, Maria, Ravel, cameos by Ange, Cass, Morristu.

A Street survivor saving a refugee from the Tower & Freedom, helping her raise her child, forming a family with the child after the mother cuts a deal to be taken back into the relative safety of the Tower.
Dystopian, romance, tragedy. 5 years prev. to BtE book 1. Cast incl. Sam, Morristu, Lily, cameo by Serovate.

Ebook Freebies

Freebies are live!

You can now download the free Limited Preview Edition ebook of Blind the Eyes, a YA dystopian dark fantasy, at your ebook retailer of choice:

Amazon
iTunes
Kobo
Nook

OR, pro-tip, the Special Preview Edition ebook AND audiobook are over 20% longer and you can get them free by signing up for my newsletter

Taking Over the 'Nets!

So I must be overdue for an update; it���s been over a month! Cue gasp, nervous laughter.

Aaaaanyways��� It���s about two weeks before I get the (hopefully last!) round of editorial back, and it���s been a busy month of book promotions and getting back in the freelancing swing of things. US exchange sucks when I have to pay my consultants, but rocks when I���m the one benefitting from it, lol.

Some cool stuff emerging on the book promo front; I���ve finally (!!) launched a newsletter. If you sign up you get the current freebie (extended preview of Blind the Eyes in Ebook or Audiobook formats), and any future freebies. I���ve got lots of ideas for supplementary novellas, so if I can keep those spoiler-free and under 80k words (lol), that���ll probably be the next freebie. Also doing extended updates and top recommended reads in the newsletter. A lot of indie authors in particular do cross-promotion or newsletter swaps, which is where you agree to promote someone else���s book in exchange for them putting it in their newsletter or on other platforms��� which is nice and probably super effective, but I don���t like the idea of just upselling some product I don���t personally know much about, so I���m going to focus more on book reviews and if a handful of indies or Canadian authors make it into the mix, all the better. But no spam, I promise!

And once I���d made up the pretty ebooks and audiobooks for my newsletter subscribers, I realized it would be super easy and a great trial run to make a shorter version and toss it up on all the major ebook stores, so you can now get a (just) 3 chapter Limited Preview Edition of Blind the Eyes on Amazon, iTunes, Nook and Kobo as well!

So the other cool thing about doing that work, besides pretty, pretty files out there for you all, is that I was able to get all of it up on Goodreads, so you can now Follow me on Goodreads or on my Amazon author profile for notifications through those platforms whenever I publish something new. And, like, reviews n���stuff. Plus I���m pretty sure there���ll be some ARC copies coming along one of these days��� So yeah, check it out ���n give me a follow there!

Day 212

A post shared by K.A. Wiggins | �������� bookaholic (@kaie.space_author) on May 11, 2017 at 6:22pm PDT

It���s always terrifying looking back at the last day���s work, especially when I think I���ve done something brilliant, something that had flow or inspiration attached, mainly due to the risk that I���ll discover it was useless tripe that needs to be redone. ���Cause that���s never happened before���

Anyways. Working through the plot in another format proved to be the right move, even if it was retreading ground I���ve passed over before. I���d like to think that I���d be smarter next time, more efficient, more streamlined��� but I���m suspicious that the process has to be like this, iterative, a redoing and rehearsing, a niggling of elements and thoughts and tiny and great changes again and again and again��� Or maybe I���ve just been making trouble for myself. Hard to say. Either way, it seemed to finally come together this time. I was able to state the story in as close to brief point form as I ever have done. There���s an arc, a continuity of motivation and resolution that I couldn���t quite purify out of the mass of complexity before. Irritatingly, it���s at the final hour, so the actual draft probably still has a great deal of confusing, but part of the trouble all along has been that I refuse to simplify right down to a single motive force. There���s always more complexity in people, in stories, in life, than that. However, distilling and teasing out the main story thread for readers is almost beyond me; it���s in there, but making it easy to see amongst all the words and switchbacks and angst in general is��� well, it may or may not have actually happened. Planning to review the plot and story forms today, do a last scan over the last 10 chapters to refine things one last time, and I should probably go through and do a form for every scene, or even macro scene (shudders), but we���ll see. The appeal of just shipping it all off to the editor is immense at this point, but if I���ve learned one thing, it���s that, indispensable as they are, editors are not magic and they don���t do all (or, really, any) of the work for you. Such disappointment. Sigh.

I���ve written these things several times now, the ���here we go again��� and ���thank goodness it���s done��� journal entries. This won���t be the last - but it���s bittersweet and painful and joyous each time. It���s nearly done. I have a list of dozens of things to accomplish this month, at least two thirds of which, if past lists are anything to go by, won���t even come close to getting done. I need to freelance and make money. There���s that stupid side business that I should really actually launch. I need to record an audiobook preview of BtE and get it up as a newsletter incentive - and get back on track with the marketing and platform building. I really ought to plot out the BtE sequel and my sadly neglected Wattpad WIP pile as well, but most likely I���ll try to see friends and family, maybe get a tiny bit of a breather, angst about turning 30 because there���s a whole new load of trauma, and muddle around until the next deadline starts breathing down my neck. #writerslife, lol.

Sunday

Start Time: 3:45 pm

Location: Abbotsford; home; chair

Drinking: Nettle, mint & chamomile tea

Day 211

A post shared by K.A. Wiggins | �������� bookaholic (@kaie.space_author) on May 10, 2017 at 6:29pm PDT

Basically failed yesterday; going out for some fresh air turned out to be a brutally pointless exercise as the cottonwood poison is out in full force and I spent the rest of the day barely able to keep my eyes open. I know it���s not very artistic or environmentalist to hate trees and nature, but��� evil, evil stuff, it is.

I���d hoped to finish substantial rewrites yesterday and do a last quick once-through today, but stalled out again just heading into the climax. There are lots of ways to end it, most of them emotionally involving, but whether it���s that I haven���t quite hit on the right one, or the plot and story arc are too clouded by all the revisions, it doesn���t quite flow through the way I think it needs to. So I pulled back and filled out the plot worksheet, which I have worked through something like in the past, repeatedly, but since I change it every single time��� yeah. It helped, maybe? This time round I came up with a whole revenge angle, which is interesting, but also derails things and would make for a major revision that I don���t have time for. I think I need to cut some ideas, or at least get clear on what���s primary vs. subplot, but agh! I thought I was way past this point and nearly finished!

Interestingly, this time round I was able to see more clearly how Cole���s initial goals and damage (driven by the desire to be accepted/good enough/not a failure) do actually feed into the entire plot, despite a ���story goal��� of bringing down the Tower. Thus the revenge angle; I think it could be very emotionally honest for her to work out at some level that her motivation to save people (altruism) is really selfishness and essentially a desire for revenge or to take down the system she can���t ever win under. But then I have this whole thing about connection woven in, which is related but maybe too tangential? And all the threads don���t quite weave together for the ending. So she���s realized her motivation is selfish, despite looking good on the surface, but then she committed to it for more altruistic reasons? To the point of being self-sacrificing? But realizes things aren���t that simple, that self-sacrifice hurts others?

And then there���s the issue of rising stakes, where it���s as clear as it should be how things get worse as they go���

Saturday

Start Time: 11 am

Location: Abbotsford; home; chair

Day 210

A post shared by K.A. Wiggins | �������� bookaholic (@kaie.space_author) on May 9, 2017 at 6:42pm PDT

The redirection is set; a third round of developmental edit starts Monday and runs to the end of the first week of July. I���m (just barely) on track to finish substantial rewrites today, covering the major climax and closing, which may be a big job and leech into tomorrow if I get stuck/tired. However, part of the course redirect is some paperwork to fill out around concept and plot, so I���d like to get that out tomorrow, as well as a final pass at the editorial comments to ensure everything���s been dealt with as comprehensively and neatly as possible. Interestingly enough, my editor seems surprised at how much rewriting and replotting I do between rounds, which shocks me in turn, as I can���t imagine resolving the things she points out with only minor adjustments. So either that���s insecurity making my life difficult, or or change my mind about what I���m trying to accomplish drastically every couple months��� which seems probable, actually.

So, second week of July to review final report and come up with any additional changes, then about two weeks to hash out a strong query letter and synopsis, and that leaves only two months (Aug-Sep) for querying agents before I need to kick things back into gear for self publishing if I want to target the holidays at the end of November. I may extend the timeline slightly, publishing for the following June, but I really can���t let it sit any longer.

Here we go; last 5 chapters (fingers crossed!)

Friday

Start Time: 1:30 pm

Location: Abbotsford; home; couch

Day 209

A post shared by K.A. Wiggins | �������� bookaholic (@kaie.space_author) on May 8, 2017 at 6:10pm PDT

Major change of plan alert! After mentioning the possibility of doing the traditional publication route (query agents, agents sell manuscript to publisher, fresh round of editing���), my editor pointed out that my writing is pretty good at a line level, and the best approach in such a case would be another round of developmental editing to tighten up the story, and a little help with query letter drafting. Which, to me, says that���s the right thing to do either way; if the story needs more work to be up to traditional standards, then it needs more work, period. Which is a horrible thought, on the one hand, as I���m potentially sinking in another close to CAN$2k in the process with the remote hope that I can make it back, but��� this far in, I really don���t want to back down. So, new plan. The budget for line editing is going into another round of developmental on the same timeline (due Monday, back in three weeks-ish). That gives me a few weeks to try to make some money through other avenues without as much marketing pressure, although I should really get a multi-chapter epub and audiobook preview polished up and start offering that as a newsletter incentive, along with a comprehensive brand, website and platform refresh. Theoretically, the following rewrite should be faster and tighter (here���s hoping!) if I���ve done a good job on this one, and I���m crossing my fingers that drafting the query letters will also be a relatively quick job. The plan from there is to get the queries out as quick as possible to, at a minimum, the agents I think are the strongest bets, mainly those that represent authors with similar genres, recent breakouts and the like, and then take a step back for a few months, focus on building up the freelancing and keep pushing the social marketing channels to higher visibility. I���m thinking I���ll set an intention to publish by the end of the year - or rather, the Christmas season, so December, unless I have a deal in hand or a close approximation of one by that point, so I���ll have to get back on the line edit, proofread and any additional design materials by, oh, beginning of October at the latest��� but that gives 2-3 months for a miracle to happen, lol. And a couple months to make enough to cover additional costs, which is also important. At this point, even if I could get an agent on board that quickly, and hear back from a publisher, it���s debatable whether I could get a strong enough offer to make it worthwhile. I figure, if the advance isn���t enough to cover the costs I���ve already invested and make it possible to finish off this book and write the next, I���m better off doing it myself. Not to mention, a small advance seems to indicate the publisher���s lack of intention to back the book in a way that will help it be successful in the first place! And a restrictive contract that gives open-ended right of refusal on additional works, restricts my ability to freelance and write other books to be self-published, or grabs too many additional rights (regions, film etc.) won���t be worth it, so despite having polished the book to a point where I think it���s become much more competitive, I���m still not sure if I���d be better off pushing forward and self publishing either way��� but a few months��� break to get the freelancing side of my career growing again seems like a good thing, as does another round of effort to polish the story up even more. So, here we are again, lol. Keep grinding along���

Thoughts on writing the climax & story arc/theme:

Because the Tower is about disconnection and obedience and Cole���s never disconnected, she���s able to break free. The resolution has to tie back to connection and obedience; Freedom is about shallow, disordered connection and no rules. You can survive without connection, but you can���t overcome. Cadence has to help with the Climax somehow. And Ange and Ash? Ravel?
Cole thinks she can support connection for others without being a part of it? Denial gives death an opening? Then seeks out/admits connection on her terms??
Needs some sort of critique, opposition or response to the Tower by the end. What���s the story arc resolution? What questions are answered?

Thursday

Start Time: 12:30 pm

Location: Abbotsford; home; couch

Day 208

A post shared by K.A. Wiggins | �������� bookaholic (@kaie.space_author) on May 6, 2017 at 5:52pm PDT

So my editor raised the question, yet again, of doing another brief story review before the line edit and now I���m second guessing everything, lol. While it���s a less intensive and expensive service at this stage of the game, the terrible CAD>USD exchange rate means it would be over $500 CAD and push back the schedule at least a couple weeks, so I���m inclined not to go there��� but on the other hand, I���d hate to miss a chance to refine and improve the story as much as it needs, and it has occurred to me that, if I wanted to try submitting to agents, there might be some benefit in refining the developmental edits and putting the line edit to the side for a bit. Cost savings, too, if I went that route, but in exchange it becomes a drastically longer timeline and I probably need to map out and write book 2 in the interim, which screws with my schedule for the next year and impacts my freelancing/career/travel choices. So, ugh. Choices. As far as I can figure, there���s not much point going the whole agent-publisher traditional route unless you���re a candidate for breakout success of the year, and��� I don���t know. With every revision, I think this story gets stronger and more commercially viable, but��� Agh. I hate working with so many unknowns! Makes it harder to focus on the things at hand, if nothing else.

Wednesday

Start Time: 11:30 am & 1 pm

Location: Abbotsford; home; chair

Drinking: earl grey tea

Day 207

A post shared by K.A. Wiggins | �������� bookaholic (@kaie.space_author) on May 4, 2017 at 6:46pm PDT

Overnight musings for today���s rewrites: pull back on the whole romance angle with Ash; it���s not really natural. Cole can maybe experience some jealousy, curiosity etc., but she probably can���t navigate or at least admit to herself the whole attraction/falling in love thing. Maybe lean into her being interested in Ash as a ���saviour���, his driven-ness, ability appeal to her. Also, I only just worked out: Cole & Ash. (Coal & Ash). It���s like before & after, fuel and remnant, but neither is flame. I wonder if I���m going somewhere with that, or if it���s just a coincidence��� the subconscious is a scary and wonderful place, kids.

In other news, it was a hard slog, but I did manage to get back on my 5 chapter/day schedule yesterday with a huge push to chapter 40, which puts me back on target to reach the end (ch60) by Friday with a couple days to spare for the inevitable overflow. In hindsight, I should have been a little less freaked by pushing the schedule along and left myself two months for this phase, but then again, it���s been good motivation and I can���t afford to just keep pushing the publishing date back forever and not making money. Interesting to realize that Rin Chupeco is a self-published; need to do some digging and see how she���s done it and where she���s at. Her latest book (The Bone Witch) looks miles ahead of her first two in terms of design and also marketing buzz, IG bookstagram posts etc., so it seems like she���s worked her way up to that point, but I���m impressed that she���s done it within three books or so, and has wide library circulation etc. Gives me some hope, after the disappointment of Melissa Marr���s One Blood Ruby. Poorly proofread with typos and awkward language choices in several spots. Seems like her publisher is maybe pulling the best resources back, which is brutal to see after a successful launch series and several additional books out there, all quite enjoyable and brilliant. It���s a terrible field that way, especially, it seems, in YA where there���s always a new trend and debut author to look at.

Part 2

So yeah, 2 hours just for review and minimal changes, but I think doing it this way is going to be better than trying for a last minute lightning edit the day before deadline. Little bit brutal facing up to a five chapter window starting, well, now, but hey, if that���s what it takes��� Cross my fingers that edits on this segment are minimal and easier to whip through!!

Tuesday

Start Time: 11 am & 2 pm

Location: Abbotsford; home; chair