Joseph Rhea's Blog, page 12

How important is the title of your book?

Let me say right from the start that the titles of my books are very important to me.  They often drive the narrative and sometimes they are a clue to some aspect of the plot. I don't pick them based on possible "market value" (even though I probably should) but instead they usually just materialize when I'm outlining the story arc.

My first book, Cyberdrome, was a combination of "cyber" (meaning man-machine interface) and "drome" (meaning arena) since my story took place inside a virtual world inhabited by digital avatars controlled either by humans or computer programs. It was essentially a meeting place for humans and A.I.

I consider it a coup d'état that I was able to snag the title "Novum" for my newest science fiction book (and eventual series) before any other SF author. Why? From the Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction:

novum (n.) [Latin for "new"] the primary element in a work of science fiction by which the work is shown to exist in a different world than that of the reader. "...the term refers to those concrete innovations in lived history that awaken human collective consciousness out of a static present to awareness that history can be changed."

That describes my story so perfectly that I was actually panicked that someone else would publish something with that title before me, even though the term has been used in science fiction circles since the 70’s.

So how important is the title of your book, and how did you come up with it?

Novum: why it is the best and ONLY title for my new book series

I consider it a coup d'état that I was able to snag the title "Novum" for my new science fiction book (and eventual series) before any other SF author. Why? From the Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction:

novum (n.) [Latin for "new"] the primary element in a work of science fiction by which the work is shown to exist in a different world than that of the reader. "...the term refers to those concrete innovations in lived history that awaken human collective consciousness out of a static present to awareness that history can be changed."

That describes my story so perfectly that I was actually panicked that someone else would publish something with that title before me, even though the terms has been used in science fiction circles since the 70’s. Was I lucky or what?

Novum 2 begins

I wrote the first 500 words to the Novum sequel tonight. Woot!

Novum now just $1.99

After the Fall, humanity moved beneath the surface of an ocean planet. Read #Novum, now just $1.99 for #kindle edition. Learn more...

Novum now just 99¢

After the Fall, humanity moved beneath the surface of an ocean planet. Read #Novum, now just 99¢ for #kindle edition. Learn more...

Novum is Live!

Last week was the official worldwide launch of NOVUM (Dystopian Undersea SciFi) Get the Kindle edition for $2.99 or 162-page paperback for just $7.99! See links below:

Kindle/Fire eBook Edition
United States: www.amazon.com/dp/B00E0NVLK6
United Kingdom: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00E0NVLK6
Canada: www.amazon.ca/dp/B00E0NVLK6
Germany: www.amazon.de/dp/B00E0NVLK6
France: www.amazon.fr/dp/B00E0NVLK6
Spain: www.amazon.es/dp/B00E0NVLK6
Italy: www.amazon.it/dp/B00E0NVLK6
Japan: www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00E0NVLK6
Brazil: www.amazon.com.br/dp/B00E0NVLK6
India: www.amazon.com.in/dp/B00E0NVLK6
Mexico: www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B00E0NVLK6

Trade Paperback Edition
United States: www.amazon.com/dp/1490942947
United Kingdom: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1490942947
Canada: www.amazon.ca/dp/1490942947
Germany: www.amazon.de/dp/1490942947
France: www.amazon.fr/dp/1490942947
Spain: www.amazon.es/dp/1490942947
Italy: www.amazon.it/dp/1490942947
Japan: www.amazon.co.jp/dp/1490942947
Publisher: www.createspace.com/4353911

Please share if you care and thanks if you do.

Novum is launched (and free for 48 hrs)

Today is the official worldwide launch of NOVUM (Dystopian Undersea SciFi) Get the Kindle edition FREE today and tomorrow (or get the 162-page paperback for just $7.99)!

Kindle/Fire eBook Edition
United States: www.amazon.com/dp/B00E0NVLK6
United Kingdom: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00E0NVLK6
Canada: www.amazon.ca/dp/B00E0NVLK6
Germany: www.amazon.de/dp/B00E0NVLK6
France: www.amazon.fr/dp/B00E0NVLK6
Spain: www.amazon.es/dp/B00E0NVLK6
Italy: www.amazon.it/dp/B00E0NVLK6
Japan: www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00E0NVLK6
Brazil: www.amazon.com.br/dp/B00E0NVLK6
India: www.amazon.com.in/dp/B00E0NVLK6
Mexico: www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B00E0NVLK6

Trade Paperback Edition
United States: www.amazon.com/dp/1490942947
United Kingdom: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1490942947
Canada: www.amazon.ca/dp/1490942947
Germany: www.amazon.de/dp/1490942947
France: www.amazon.fr/dp/1490942947
Spain: www.amazon.es/dp/1490942947
Italy: www.amazon.it/dp/1490942947
Japan: www.amazon.co.jp/dp/1490942947
Publisher: www.createspace.com/4353911

Please share if you care and thanks if you do.

Novum is finished! (but now I don't want to spend time promoting it)

Is it weird to have my second book finished and have absolutely no desire to promote it? I mean like not even submit it to any review sites or give copies away on Amazon Select?

I love my new story, and I'm very happy with the quality of the manuscript, the Kindle and paperback covers look great, and I like the book descriptions, both long and short versions. I even have the website created and uploaded, ready for visitors. Everything is in place and ready to start promoting. However, all I want to do now is write another book (actually the sequel to Novum), and then the one after that, and the one after that...

What's wrong with me? At first I assumed that I was just burned out from years of promoting my first book, but today I'm wondering if I'm actually becoming...dare I say it...a writer? More specifically, a writer who cares about quality and finishing books but doesn't care one lick about sales...a writer who just wants to write.

Anyone else in this strange place, or at least visited it sometime in their past?

Almost there: Novella passing through final stages of publication

It's kind of depressing to realize that the "publisher" half of my novelist sideline might end up taking longer than the "writer" half. I completed the manuscript to my new scifi novella in under 3 months (a record for me.) It has now taking over 2 full months to work it through beta readers, then have it edited, and finally polished by me. I also went through numerous variations of the blurb (which is quite important for online sales.) Now I am having second thoughts about the cover I had planned, so I am experimenting with something very different. My artist brother, Dave, will be rendering the new cover soon (hopefully) and it will be perfect and all will be well in the world (again, hopefully.)

On the positive side, I am very happy with the 26,000-word story as it now stands and will feel no trepidation when I release it to the world. Hopefully, that will be in a month or so . Stay tuned...

writing novellas

I passed 21,000 words in the first book of my new science fiction series yesterday, officially making it a "novella" (novellas are traditionally 20-40,000 words long). I am just about to write the "climactic" final scenes, so the final length should be just under 23,000 words. As I go through my first real edit next, I might add a few bits of dialogue here and there, or even a new scene if it appears the story needs it, but in the end, the story will top out at no more that 25,000 words, so a novella it is.

While comparing this story to my first full-length (95,000-word) novel, Cyberdrome, I have to say I really prefer shorter works. It's not that I'm lazy; it's just that I really prefer to read medium-length stories, especially if there are more stories to come in that universe (I have outlined 4 stories in this series.) Novellas tend to be more concise and to the point (i.e. there is no room for rambling dialogue or "filler" chapters in a 20,000-word story.) Novellas are also closer to the structure of screenplays, which to me is a good thing.
More on the uniqueness of novellas in the link below:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2012/10/some-notes-on-the-novella.html