Joseph Rhea's Blog, page 7

The dreaded EDITING phase

As the writing phase for the third book in my Novum series, Rubicon, nears the end (two final chapters to finish) the "polishing" and editing phase will soon begin. For me this involves several steps:

1)  A last but through read through from beginning to end in a quiet room
2)  Several long walks listening to a British woman's voice read my story back to me (Ivona text-to-speech program is best for this.)  This completes my final polish.
3)  Next I send the manuscript to my brother, Dave, for his nit-picky and very detailed review
4)  The I send copies to a few select beta readers for overall impression.
5)  Finally, the manuscript is emailed to the well-paid-but-worth-it editors for final proof reading.

Following this, I start the publishing process. I format two editions, one for paperback and one for the various eBook formats, and then upload it all to the various distributors, along with my brother Dave's final version of the book jacket and cover. This part used to be very difficult to get right, but I have a lot of experience now so this doesn't take me long. After the final proofs of all versions are checked out, I give them the "okay" to publish, then I let all of you know it's available.

Check back soon for that!

Price fixing - the GOOD kind

After several months of trying different prices for the eBook version of the first two books in my Novum series, ranging from 99 cents to $2.99, I have finally made a decision to go with a fixed prices of $1.99 for each of the five books (two available now and three more coming up).

Why $1.99 per book? Several reasons actually. At the lowest price Amazon allows, which is 99 cents, I only make 35 cents per book, and considering what I pay for a professional editor to proof each volume, that's just too little. Conversely, the upper end of 2.99 per book I feel is too much to charge for a 25-30 thousand word story, especially one that is part of a series. At this price, I would be asking a reader to shell out nearly $15 to complete the series, and I just can't do that.

That leaves the middle price of $1.99, which boosts my royalties a bit, but more importantly, my readers will end up spending just $9.95 for the complete set, which is the price of many single novels on Amazon. When all five books are released, I will also release a single "combined" book, which will sell for a bit less, maybe $7.99, since additional editing will not be required.

See my next post for details on what happens between writing and publishing a book - the dreaded EDITING phase...

24k Gold

24k Gold is good, but passing 24k words is better (at least to writers.) Only 3 chapters left to write in Novum: Rubicon http://JosephRhea.com/Novum3

Working on cover for Novum-5

So it's not enough that my brother, Dave, finished the cover for the 4th book in my Novum series (while I'm still trying to finish book #3), yesterday I came up with the layout for the 5th and final book in the series, and so Dave is now working on making that a reality. Guess I need to finished #3 soon.

Just past 20,000 words

I'd love to report that Novum: Rubicon is finished and on its way to the editors, but alas, this is not the case. However, it does feel pretty good to pass major milestones, like I just did today. 20,000 words finished and probably less than 5,000 left in the story. Now as I say that, I do realize that it might be another 10,000 words. This story is sort of writing itself, in terms of the relationships developing between the characters. So, if they just stick with the outlined plot, then 5,000 words might do it. If, however, the characters choose to get in each others way, start fights, or even fall in love, then it might be another 10,000 or so. I think my readers would prefer a longer book this time, especially if there is more time spend getting to know the characters, but there is a part of me that wants to get started on the next installment, and that part is voting for the shorter route. Somehow, it will all work out in the end. It always does...

Crossing my own Rubicon

I hit a milestone this week, in that I reached the halfway point of the middle book in my series, which means I'm now halfway through Jacob Stone's story arc. That's exciting and a little sad at the same time. More excited than sad, of course, because there is SO much more to come. It's also interesting because the subtitle for this book is "Rubicon" because it is all about crossing the "point of no return," and not coincidentally, that is exactly what my characters just did in the story. It's almost like I meant for this to happen. Like I was following some sort of outline...;)

The word is EUREKA!

Usually, story ideas come to me in bits and pieces spread over a lengthy period of time. Rarely do they appear, fully-formed, on a short drive to work. Today was one of those days. I now have a completely new concept for the long-awaited sequel to Cyberdrome, and it is far better than the one I have had inside my head since 2008. You could call it a "reimagining" of my original idea, and I love it. Mind = blown.

Rubicon update

Passed 9,000 words on the new version of "Novum: Rubicon" today. (It helps that we were snowed in today in the DC area.) Man I love this new "non-linear" storyline. I was nervous at first trying something so different from the rest of the series, but now I see this really fits this particular plotline much better. Plus I love writing it again, and that can only improve the final story. Still on track for a summer release!

Rubicon redirect

After a few months struggling with the manuscript to "Rubicon," the 3rd and middle book in my 5-part Novum series, I have decided to go back to my original plan to make it non-linear, similar to the #firefly episode "Out of Gas" At least I #amwriting again and I like this version much better. Hopefully my readers will too. Still hoping for a summer release. Learn more at josephrhea.com/novumseries

Novum: Rubicon book cover and description reveal

Novum: Rubicon book cover and description reveal. Warning: contains spoilers for current book, Novum: Exile, so if you haven't read it yet, turn away. Turn away now! www.josephrhea.com/novum3
Note: Cover by Dave Rhea [ DaveRhea.net ]