Christopher X. Sullivan's Blog, page 4
April 12, 2018
ARCs available for the Book of Beginnings
Status: Mark is punishing me for using GR!
Haha. Oops. I did kind of promise not to check this stuff until I got home... (That lasted eleven days, which is pretty good.) Mark surprised me on April Fools with an Alexa Skill dev challenge (which needs the internet to test). It's kept my interest and has been a real challenge and lifted my spirits (though it's glitchy as Hell).
But now my mind is on fire with things to do when I get home. I want to jump back into my writing habits and go, go, go, go. (This is why Mark took my keyboard away in the first place...)
Here's what I need to do first, before moving on to editing:
1) Write the 'endings' of Books 7, 8, 9, 10.
2) Write the 'beginning' of Book 7. (I know I wrote it once... but it's lost somewhere.)
Here's what I propose:
If you guys want to keep me extra motivated, we could do a buddy read type thing for the Book of Beginnings. I check my email stuff in the late afternoon as a reward for finishing my daily writing goals. And seeing you guys interact with the story makes me super-charged with writing fuel. Haha.
What do I expect in return for an ARC?
0.5) Your Time. (Reading time is a precious thing. By asking for an ARC you're saying that you're curious and have the time to try it in the last week-ish of April, when I'll need the motivational boost to kickstart the writing habit.)
1) Honest Review. (You aren't obligated to do this. I had to DNF 'Call me by your name' even though Mark loved it so much. We all have our reasons for what we can't take.)
2) Status updates during April 20-27th. (Completely optional, but I love seeing what you enjoy about the story. This will be a *huge* psychological bonus to get me back on the writing track.)
3) Purchase. (This is why I don't feel right going through NetGalley... if you are the kind of person who LOVES this story and want to read more stories like it, then I NEED you to buy it. Your purchase will help train the Amazon algorithm, the best recommendation engine on planet Earth. For a few days in mid-May, I will have the book at 99 cents. Please, if you read the ARC and are a super fan, buy it then. Once it gets to 50 purchases, the algo should kick in and the story will reach other readers who are probably predisposed to liking it (or who like the books you like).)
That's going to be it from me until next Wednesday. (I promise, Mark. No more worrying from me!)
I'll get you the ARCs Wed/Thur-ish. Anything else I need to mention?
Please have your reviews in by NO LATER than AUGUST 24th. I will be running a BookBub (if I can get it) and many other adverts during the week "The Book of Endings" comes out.
Also, this book has many simple typos. If you're the kind of person who can read on a Google Doc and wouldn't mind fixing the glaring he-instead-of-him type mistakes that jump out at you, please send me a message with your email address and I'll send you the Doc. You can buddy-read along with the rest of us and you'll have my eternal thanks. You'll make this so much easier for my professional editor to focus on the more technical stuff, too.
Potential Editors: I'll send you a softcover of the finished copy. (Probably with your Review on the back cover!) And maybe more stuff. (Or if you don't want to give your address, I'll post a private copy that you can then purchase.)
I'm a competitive person and if you do some amazing typo-catching for me, I'll be even nicer to you. [Seriously, Mark finds my need-to-be-number-one super annoying.] :)
Haha. Oops. I did kind of promise not to check this stuff until I got home... (That lasted eleven days, which is pretty good.) Mark surprised me on April Fools with an Alexa Skill dev challenge (which needs the internet to test). It's kept my interest and has been a real challenge and lifted my spirits (though it's glitchy as Hell).
But now my mind is on fire with things to do when I get home. I want to jump back into my writing habits and go, go, go, go. (This is why Mark took my keyboard away in the first place...)
Here's what I need to do first, before moving on to editing:
1) Write the 'endings' of Books 7, 8, 9, 10.
2) Write the 'beginning' of Book 7. (I know I wrote it once... but it's lost somewhere.)
Here's what I propose:
If you guys want to keep me extra motivated, we could do a buddy read type thing for the Book of Beginnings. I check my email stuff in the late afternoon as a reward for finishing my daily writing goals. And seeing you guys interact with the story makes me super-charged with writing fuel. Haha.
Therefor, if anyone wants a FREE REVIEW COPY, just make a public comment on this blog post, then send me a private message so I can send you a download link. Let's say up to ten people? I don't know if more will want to join, but the more the merrier.
What do I expect in return for an ARC?
0.5) Your Time. (Reading time is a precious thing. By asking for an ARC you're saying that you're curious and have the time to try it in the last week-ish of April, when I'll need the motivational boost to kickstart the writing habit.)
1) Honest Review. (You aren't obligated to do this. I had to DNF 'Call me by your name' even though Mark loved it so much. We all have our reasons for what we can't take.)
2) Status updates during April 20-27th. (Completely optional, but I love seeing what you enjoy about the story. This will be a *huge* psychological bonus to get me back on the writing track.)
3) Purchase. (This is why I don't feel right going through NetGalley... if you are the kind of person who LOVES this story and want to read more stories like it, then I NEED you to buy it. Your purchase will help train the Amazon algorithm, the best recommendation engine on planet Earth. For a few days in mid-May, I will have the book at 99 cents. Please, if you read the ARC and are a super fan, buy it then. Once it gets to 50 purchases, the algo should kick in and the story will reach other readers who are probably predisposed to liking it (or who like the books you like).)
That's going to be it from me until next Wednesday. (I promise, Mark. No more worrying from me!)
I'll get you the ARCs Wed/Thur-ish. Anything else I need to mention?
Please have your reviews in by NO LATER than AUGUST 24th. I will be running a BookBub (if I can get it) and many other adverts during the week "The Book of Endings" comes out.
Also, this book has many simple typos. If you're the kind of person who can read on a Google Doc and wouldn't mind fixing the glaring he-instead-of-him type mistakes that jump out at you, please send me a message with your email address and I'll send you the Doc. You can buddy-read along with the rest of us and you'll have my eternal thanks. You'll make this so much easier for my professional editor to focus on the more technical stuff, too.
Potential Editors: I'll send you a softcover of the finished copy. (Probably with your Review on the back cover!) And maybe more stuff. (Or if you don't want to give your address, I'll post a private copy that you can then purchase.)
I'm a competitive person and if you do some amazing typo-catching for me, I'll be even nicer to you. [Seriously, Mark finds my need-to-be-number-one super annoying.] :)
April 11, 2018
Avalanche!
Status update: I shouldn't be using my internet time to look at Goodreads, but screw it. I've been a good patient for three weeks and I want to see what people have said!
Haha. The wait has been so suspenseful! I've got a week to go before I'm back in my work environment, but I'm in good spirits (thanks to a special April Fools gift). The less said about aches and pains the better.
This is definitely a freaky experience being so open with you. I'm very private and secretive, even with my closest friends. And this book is much different than any other I've written. Also, I see some of the comments you highlighted aren't the ones I thought were supposed to be funny... :/
Don't worry, my friends laugh at me at weird times, too...
Thank you so much for talking about my story--it's truly a weird, wonderful experience. I think next week I'll post a blog looking for ARC review readers? Does that sound like a good idea? Apparently in my haste to get this published, I didn't message the DBML Mods.
If you want to make the review read more fun, just know that I'll be creeping on your status updates. Especially during the first week when I get back home and am adjusting to the workload. If you don't want me to comment on your comments, just say so... then I'll go in my corner and have a nice long cry.
;)
Mark still has me on 'non-work' mode and it's driving me up the wall. But I recognize why I need to relax... or so I keep repeating... over and over. I will be a good patient... I will...
I'm still getting used to Goodreads.
Also, I'll make a post about beta-readers/typo-hunters. Thank you for everyone who has volunteered. I'm thinking up my editing schedule as I sit here... I think I'll have my volunteers go over the "Book of Endings" as I finish that content.
I'm wondering if annob, Xia and Gabriella might like to <spoiler> read the first three books (the complete Friends to Lovers arc)? You'd have to use Google Docs and correct simple typos, but you'll by my guinea pigs to see if the length is too extreme.</spoiler>
Let me know! See you next week! Keep those status updates coming... :)
Chris
Haha. The wait has been so suspenseful! I've got a week to go before I'm back in my work environment, but I'm in good spirits (thanks to a special April Fools gift). The less said about aches and pains the better.
Super special thank you to Xia, Gabriella and annob. I have no idea what twist of fate brought us together, but you three started the avalanche of to-reads. I knew I was in good hands when I saw the three of you talking about my story the day I left for the hospital. (Though I have to say, I watched you guys add it to your list... and then it just sat there for a few days and I was like... are they going to read it? What's going to happen? Ah! Haha.)
This is definitely a freaky experience being so open with you. I'm very private and secretive, even with my closest friends. And this book is much different than any other I've written. Also, I see some of the comments you highlighted aren't the ones I thought were supposed to be funny... :/
Don't worry, my friends laugh at me at weird times, too...
Thank you so much for talking about my story--it's truly a weird, wonderful experience. I think next week I'll post a blog looking for ARC review readers? Does that sound like a good idea? Apparently in my haste to get this published, I didn't message the DBML Mods.
If you want to make the review read more fun, just know that I'll be creeping on your status updates. Especially during the first week when I get back home and am adjusting to the workload. If you don't want me to comment on your comments, just say so... then I'll go in my corner and have a nice long cry.
;)
Mark still has me on 'non-work' mode and it's driving me up the wall. But I recognize why I need to relax... or so I keep repeating... over and over. I will be a good patient... I will...
I'm still getting used to Goodreads.
Also, I'll make a post about beta-readers/typo-hunters. Thank you for everyone who has volunteered. I'm thinking up my editing schedule as I sit here... I think I'll have my volunteers go over the "Book of Endings" as I finish that content.
I'm wondering if annob, Xia and Gabriella might like to <spoiler> read the first three books (the complete Friends to Lovers arc)? You'd have to use Google Docs and correct simple typos, but you'll by my guinea pigs to see if the length is too extreme.</spoiler>
Let me know! See you next week! Keep those status updates coming... :)
Chris
March 22, 2018
Next Month + Error Collection
Hey Guys,
I'll be out of commission for the next month, but will definitely respond to any messages when I get back to my computer!
If you find annoying typos, misnamed things, etc... feel free to leave me a message or a comment.
I can vividly remember wanting to change Senor Mark to the proper 'Senor'. I know I forgot it!
Also, 'Dr. Tim' is supposed to be Tim's last name. I haven't come up with Tim and Stacy's last name (and I'm obviously not going to use their real last name).
Also, the 'Interludes' probably have some blatant typos. I wrote them in one day. I'll go over them when I get back to work.
I plan on pulling together the "Book of Endings" the first month after I get our of Hospital-Jail (these sections mostly written and lightly edited). Then I'll start on the last three books.
I wanted to have a small snippet of a song for you guys called "You're As Ugly (As a Rhinoceros)", but it's not quite ready. I'll have to hold you in suspense. ;)
Until then,
Chris
I'll be out of commission for the next month, but will definitely respond to any messages when I get back to my computer!
If you find annoying typos, misnamed things, etc... feel free to leave me a message or a comment.
I can vividly remember wanting to change Senor Mark to the proper 'Senor'. I know I forgot it!
Also, 'Dr. Tim' is supposed to be Tim's last name. I haven't come up with Tim and Stacy's last name (and I'm obviously not going to use their real last name).
Also, the 'Interludes' probably have some blatant typos. I wrote them in one day. I'll go over them when I get back to work.
I plan on pulling together the "Book of Endings" the first month after I get our of Hospital-Jail (these sections mostly written and lightly edited). Then I'll start on the last three books.
I wanted to have a small snippet of a song for you guys called "You're As Ugly (As a Rhinoceros)", but it's not quite ready. I'll have to hold you in suspense. ;)
Until then,
Chris
