Doug Farren's Blog, page 18

Taking a Writing Break

I would like to remind everyone about my short Guide to Self Publishing that's available on my website. It provides a good kick-starter for getting started in the self-publishing business. If you are a writer and you haven't published your first book yet you should still read this little guide. What most people don't realize is that writing is a business. And as a business, you are entitled to certain tax deductions. Several members of my writers group did not realize this. One of them recently purchased a Microsoft Surface Pro 3 which is used exclusively for writing. She did not know she could write that off as a business expense. You don't have to have a book published to be in the business of writing. All you need is a plan to publish and you can call yourself a business.

I am taking a break from writing for the next few months. I have tons of things that have been set aside while I was working on Peacekeeper 2 (which is now available from most retailers). Lee Dilkie and I will be corresponding, deciding on what my next project will be and bouncing overall plot ideas between us. I have a YA Medieval dragon story I'd love to sink my teeth into but there are other projects that could be just as fun. As with everything I do with my writing, I'm interested in what my readers say as well. Any ideas or requests?

I was having a hard time getting Peacekeeper to pass Smashwords test for ePub compliance. They use an ePub validation website set up by the International Digital Publishing Forum. It can be found at: http://validator.idpf.org/. After a book is submitted to Smashwords, the author can download the ePub version and run it through the validator. If it has no errors, you're good to go. No matter how closely I looked at Peacekeeper 2, it kept coming back with errors. Mark Coker's excellent book on how to properly format a book for electronic publishing (The Smashwords Style Guide) provides what he refers to as the "nuclear option". It's a way to strip all formatting from a document and start over. I did this and now Peacekeeper 2 has passed the validation check. So how did this happen?

I write using Scrivener. I used to do my last few editing passes in Libre Office because it would automatically return to where I was at when I last closed the document. Libre Office is not 100% compatible with Microsoft Word and so I would export to Word-97 format and then run through it one more time to get things formatted properly. I believe Libre Office introduced hidden formatting codes that are virtually impossible to locate and screw up Smashwords conversion routines. I was using a very old version of Microsoft Word (2003 to be exact). I am now using Microsoft Office 365 and this problem should hopefully never return again. I'm lucky in that the nuclear option takes me about 2 hours to complete. A more complex book would require far more time.

If you've seen the movie Interstellar, then you will enjoy reading Christian Ready's blog post on the science behind the movie. Christian is one of the regular Launch Pad instructors and his astronomy-centered blog is informative and enjoyable to read--I visit it regularly.

Peacekeeper 2 is available

Please share this with your science fiction reading friends.

Peacekeeper 2 was uploaded to Amazon, CreateSpace, and Smashwords on the morning of 11/07/2014. It became available on Amazon-US around noon yesterday. It is also available on Smashwords main site. If you are overseas, it should be available soon. If you prefer to use Barnes & Noble, Apple iStore, or others, I'm afraid you will have to wait a short time. I'm having an issue getting my document to pass Smashword's rather stringent ePub verification. I'm also delaying a second upload to Smashwords because one of my readers is finding small mistakes that were missed by three proof-readers.

These mistakes are not major show-stoppers: A few formatting errors; 'Hanger' used instead of 'hangar'; and other minor mistakes. These will be corrected in the Amazon version as soon as Ekkehard Flessa finishes his reading.

I have also finished my little document on self-publishing. It can be downloaded from my website at:
http://www.dougfarren.com/Self_Publishing.pdf. This document has not gone through any review process so there will most likely be mistakes in it as well. I plan on periodically updating this document and when I do I will let you know through this blog. If you find I've missed something or you think I need to clarify something in the document, please let me know.

BSinSF - Scorpion

Peacekeeper 2 has been formatted for printing. During the formatting process I found and corrected two additional errors in the text (breath vs breathe and a stray word left over from a previous correction). I am now awaiting the results of the final proofing before I upload the final product to Amazon. If my plans pan out, the book will be available by next weekend.

I am almost done with my guide to self-publishing. As soon as I put the finishing touches on it I will send it off. I won't bother anyone with another email - I'll most likely include it in the weekly blog post reminder next week so keep an eye open for it.

I woke up this morning with the first signs of a cold. One of my coworkers came to work sick and I'm pretty sure he's the one who gave it to me. Started on the anti-flu homeopathic cures we keep in the house this time of year. Unfortunately, this is one of the weeks I absolutely cannot take off from work. Mondays I run a report for my manager. I am one of only two people at my site who have the security to log into the server that holds the data needed for this report. The other person is gone on maternity leave. I also must complete a monthly report that is viewed by corporate. I am the only one who knows how to gather this data. Luckily, I've automated the process as best as possible so now instead of taking 4 days to finish it, I can have it done in 3 hours.

If you follow me on Twitter, you might have seen a tweet a few days ago concerning Scorpion. The show had potential but they blew it in the science department--so bad in fact that I've cancelled all future recordings and will no longer watch the show. This is a very good example of very bad science in the media and there are people out there who actually believe some of the stuff that appeared in the show. The episode that put me over the edge involved a nuclear power plant. Okay, I have an advantage because I work at one, but they were so far off into left field that they couldn't even see the stadium anymore. Here are some examples of what this show has portrayed:


Commercial aircraft would not be able to land because someone uploaded a flawed version of the flight software into a terminal and this software then automatically uploads to the aircraft. Even if the software was faulty, the pilots can still land the plane. One of the planes in the show was able to buzz the airport, clipping the tower with a wing in the process. Should have crashed because of that but of course it didn't. They flew to within 25 feet of the ground, wheels down. So why didn't they just land?It is possible to  drop a network cable from an airborne jetliner through the wheel-well to a moving car below and in seconds download the software. Come on! This isn't even close to being possible. Nothing in that scene is even remotely possible.You can prevent a bomb capable of bringing down a building from doing its job by encasing it in quick-hardening epoxy. I'm no bomb expert, but the amount of epoxy used in the program would probably not have had much of an effect on a bomb of that size. In fact, the configuration of the epoxy and the bomb would most likely have focused the blast upwards causing even more damage. These guys are supposed to be super-geniuses, you can see the detonator caps sticking into the C4. Couldn't they just pull them out?Nuclear power plants that are to be decommissioned are left unattended. The only people around in this episode was a military guard. Nobody left to maintain the equipment that was keeping the core cool. Nobody in the control room. Sorry, I hope the public doesn't believe that one.An ancient computer can be overloaded by running a 'circuit check'. According to the show, the overload triggered a fire. I hope the next time I try to run to many things on my computer that it doesn't explode on my desk.A computer is the sole device keeping the core from melting and this computer suddenly stops working because the software is out of date. What? Better keep up with all those security updates on your home PC or it will suddenly stop working. Nuclear power plants have multiple backups--equipment that will fire off and run without any human interaction. These systems do not rely on a single computer to operate properly.The core temperature suddenly went from 'green' to 'red' (over 2,000 degrees if I remember right) when one of the geniuses pulled a box full of wires from inside a control panel and announced he had found a blown fuse. Absolutely everything about this is wrong and I won't bother to explain any further.Computer geniuses can hack into virtually any network, gain control of the internal camera system, and read encrypted data files within a few minutes of connecting to the system. No, no, no. Yes there are hackers out there who are very good at breaking into systems but it takes time and effort. Most internal camera systems are on a separate network. Planting a trojan requires intimate knowledge of the type of operating system and security measures in place. Enough said.I don't mind a few blunders in the entertainment industry but I will no longer continue to watch a show that is filled with errors so bad that the entire episode or the entire premise of the movie is impossible. Edgy science is okay because one never knows what we humans will develop in the future. But doing the impossible, especially in a show that's supposedly based on today's technology, and doing it all the time and in such a bad manner is something I will no longer stand for. I just can't enjoy a show with such bad science. The writers could have made Scorpion a very good program because they also had the human element woven into the plot but the extremely poor science has turned me away. When will the entertainment industry learn?
Finally, I bought my membership for the 2015 WorldCon. I learned that one of the member of my writers group will be going as well. Many of the people I've met at Launch Pad will also be there. I'm looking forward to seeing them again.

PK2 Proofing is Complete!

The proofing of Peacekeeper 2 is now complete. The book will get printed and mailed to a final proof reader to catch anything that may have been missed. This round of proofing will not take very long. In the meantime, I will be formatting the book in preparation for publication. I will send out a special announcement to everyone on my mailing list when the book is available. Please tell your friends.

I have also made very good progress on my Self-Publishing Guide - An Indie Point of View. This will be a short, free guide to help a new author get started at self-publishing their book. It's not meant to be a tutorial on how to work your way through the various screens on Amazon or CreateSpace to get your book published. It's more of a starting point in learning the basics of self-publishing. I will also happily answer any questions people may have in getting started toward publishing your novel. Although I am totally self-published, I am not against getting an agent and shooting for a contract with a large publishing house.

I'm going to keep this entry short as I have a ton of things to do the rest of the day.

Self-Publishing

My wife (my proofreader) is nearing the end of her job. There are only a few chapters of Peacekeeper 2 remaining for her to review. She hoped to finish it yesterday while we were at B&N but her sister popped in and that meant socializing and not proofing. Family does come first though and I am not complaining. She should be done very soon and the manuscript will be sent off to one more person to read--maybe. I say maybe because this last person is currently in the hospital after falling at home. She's okay but they are working on a possible heart issue which might delay her return home. The plan is to prep the book for publication while she takes a look at it. I'm still hoping for a release by the end of the month. Cross your fingers!

My free time has been split between reading several books and writing a small guide to self-publishing. An acquaintance of mine, Christie Yant (@christieyant on Twitter), guest-edited a special edition of Lightspeed magazine titled Women Destroy Science Fiction. This book has been receiving considerable praise from around the world. I've only read the first 5 or 6 stories so far but all have been quite good. I've also been working on a guide to self-publishing.

I was surprised when I started work on Self-Publishing from an Indie Point of View to learn that I seem to know quite a bit about this aspect of the industry--more than I realized. Figuring out how to put everything I know into a handbook and in what order to put it has been a challenge. My plans are to make it available for free if possible. That might be a challenge because you can't give anything away for free on Amazon. I might be forced to sell it for $0.99 which is the lowest price Amazon allows. I will send it out free to everyone on my mailing list when it's done. If you're interested, get on that list!

Nobody correctly guessed the origin of the photo that was used to create the cover for Peacekeeper 2. It's a photo of Mars taken by one of the orbiters. My friend Heather Zak did her magic to add the massive beam of destruction and exploding lava to the photo.

Those of you who have been reading my blog for some time may recall that I have been against purchasing Microsoft Office. Well ... that changed yesterday. I have LibreOffice, OpenOffice, and Microsoft Office 2003 all installed on my systems. The first two are free. Why pay to upgrade when you can use a free program? The answer--compatibility. My niece-in-law came over the other day with a school project she needed to print (their printer was broke). It was created in Word. I opened it in both LibreOffice and OpenOffice and she said the formatting was incorrect. Opening it up in Word produced a correct document. Amazon and Smashwords use the Word format for uploading. I normally use Word anyway to create the final output just to avoid any formatting issues like I saw above. Word 2003 has security issues and is no longer supported. So, I dropped the money and purchased Microsoft Office 365 yesterday. I use it at work which is also another reason to upgrade.

Finally, yesterday, I received an email from Jody Lynn Nye concerning the status of Launch Pad - the Anthology. The original publisher had issues with getting it into print and has transferred it to WordFire Press. It will soon be available in both ebook and print format in the very near future. They will also be promoting this book which will not only help boost sales but it will help Launch Pad obtain the funding it needs to continue its mission. I will let you know when the book is available.

Strange Coincidence

After posting my blog entry last week, I received an e-mail from my copy-editor. He suggested working on Dragonverse 3. He also indicated he had some ideas. Never one to turn down a possible plot, I asked him to send me what he had. I about fell out of my chair when I read his idea because it was a near duplicate of what I had been thinking about! It was just too strange to be true--but there it was in black and white staring at me on the computer screen. I have never written down my own idea nor have I told anyone else. So I guess, Dragonverse 3 will be next. Well--almost.

I've been gathering thoughts in my head about a short manual on self-publishing. I think I'll be putting that together first. My best friend in Minnesota should be getting close to finishing his novel and I have other friends who've never self-published before but are interested, so writing this will benefit people. It will also be something I can present/use/hand out at WorldCon 2015. This will be my next project and I'm going to begin work on it today.

My wife has made significant progress toward proofing Peacekeeper 2. As proof that I do listen to my readers--I no longer bother (i.e. nag) her about getting the proofing done. It takes what it takes. She is well-aware of the fact that I'm waiting on her before I can format and publish. There is one more final reader involved but she is quick and I should have her feedback quickly. In the meantime, I can work on formatting the book for final publication. I can enter her feedback in the final version just before I send it off to the virtual press.

I will also be copyrighting the manuscript after I have a near final format. It's the words that count when you copyright a novel. This is something I've talked about in the past and highly recommend copyrighting your work. Click here to see the start of a short chain of posts about my copyrighting experience or just do a search for 'copyright'.

Yesterday, at the writer's meeting at B&N I read a chapter from PK2. The feedback was positive and I got some good ideas on some minor changes. I can easily make those changes without impacting the publication schedule because my wife has not yet reached that point in the book. I will be working on that right after posting and sending this out.

Only one other person had something to read and it was so good I told the group that she should collect the posts into a book and publish them at a later date. She is taking care of her mom who has Alzheimer's disease. If you're interested in reading her blog you can find it at: http://rbnrob6.wordpress.com/.

I also wanted to remind those who are interested about my mailing list. Instead of having to remember to go to my blog to read it, you can sign up to receive a very short reminder each week when I post. If you're not interested that week, just kill the email. To sign up, follow this link: http://eepurl.com/VYmMD

The Next Project

My wife is now about 3/4's of the way done with her proofing of Peacekeeper 2. I think I remind her at least 3 times a day to please try to work on proofing. We have had a very busy week and she has been quite busy. Next week looks to be a bit better. I do tend to get very impatient around this stage of the writing process because I know there are people out there who are waiting to read the book. Naturally, I also want to see it published. But, I need to learn how to have patience. Perhaps next time I will not be so revealing as to how far along my next project is and then I won't get myself into this situation.

I have several ideas bouncing around in my head for what my next project is going to be. I have been working on a YA story involving a disfigured boy and a dragon but I have not yet figured out what the middle of the book is going to be like. I've already come up with some great stuff but right now it's all in my head. I will have to put it into writing soon before it fades into oblivion.

Another possibility is a third Dragonverse. There are some very good possibilities there but I think I would have to go back and clean up the existing novels first. I've learned a lot about writing since then and I can see where the books need improvement. Since they're in electronic format, I can easily make changes and republish.

I've had a number of people ask me to write a sequel to Off Course and I have some interesting ideas there as well. I haven't given it much thought while writing PK2. but I've thought about it in the past.

Finally, I've been giving some serious thought to writing a short guide to self-publishing. Since I'll be sitting on a self-publishing panel at next year's WorldCon I'll be doing some additional research into the subject. I've been doing self-publishing since 2009 and I think I have a good enough background to put together something that other aspiring writers will find useful. I used to be against signing on with a major publisher but today's contracts are actually pretty good for writers - as long as you get one of these contracts. There's also the issue with the SFWA and its treatment of self-published authors. They have their reasons, but I think it's high time they realized not all self-published authors write sub-standard novels.

PK2 Cover and News

This has been an exciting week. First, I would like to share some very exciting news (to me anyway) concerning WorldCon 2015. I have been asked to be on a self-publishing panel at WorldCon 2015. This is not a 100% confirmed deal but it looks like this is going to happen. The director of programming for next year's WorldCon not only likes the idea but is open to more than one panel and possibly a workshop. This is a big deal for me as an indie author.

I did not ask nor did I suggest this idea to anyone. The email came out of the blue. It's a big deal because it means I've been recognized. It's one of those little things that carries a lot of weight. At my day job, I try my best to recognize those who do a good job. It's a form of positive feedback which research has shown has a greater affect than negative feedback. I've already booked my hotel and as soon as I can do so I will be booking the flight. If you're thinking of going to WorldCon - GET YOUR ROOM NOW! Many of the hotels are already sold out and rooms are going fast.

The panel invite brings to mind another point--if you're a serious writer you need to form contacts with other writers. Had I just been satisfied with publishing my books and never attended Launch Pad the invite would never have happened. Going to Launch Pad brought me into contact with other writers. Staying in touch with them and getting together with some of them at DragonCon most likely led to the invite. If you are serious about writing, start forming a network of relationships with other writers. If it's within your financial means, expand your relationships outside of your local area. I know people scattered all over the world.

My wife has been having to spend more time than usual over at the nursing home attending to her mom. She has lost her ability to stand even with a walker and now needs more care. This has impacted the time she has for proofing Peacekeeper 2. She's hoping to be finished by the end of next week but that's an aggressive schedule. This delay has allowed me to get a good cover for the book as well as finish the prologue. If all goes well, Peacekeeper 2 will be available before the end of next month. I want to thank everyone for their patience. Writing, editing, copyediting, proofing, finding a cover, and formatting the final product all takes time. I promise you - PK2 will be worth the wait.

Speaking of the cover: Here it is--

This is almost how it will appear when the book is released. I've requested the font of the main title to be changed. Comments from my blog readers are welcome. It's not too late to make additional tweaks. I have to thank Heather Zak, the wife of my best friend from high school, for the work she's put into the cover. AJ (Arnold J. Zak) found the background image which she then modified. I'll give a free book to the first person who can identify the background picture.
There have been some other exciting developments at my day job as well. I very much enjoy my new job and (once again) the recognition I've been receiving from upper management and the corporate home office have made it even more enjoyable. I won't bore you with the details especially since this post has now gone on for too long.
I will continue to post updates on Twitter. If you don't follow me and you would like to my Twitter username is: author_farren

Are Writer Groups Necessary?

Yesterday, I attended (for the second time) a writer's group. Prior to the meeting, the group's leader handed out a prompted writing assignment. I did not do it because I was finishing up with Peacekeeper 2. At the meeting each of the attendees who did the writing prompt read their work and received feedback. I then handed out the final chapter of Peacekeeper 2 for feedback. Some of it was quite good. I got my papers back and when I got home I flipped through them to see what people had said. A couple had taken the time to make punctuation changes. My wife is my grammarian. She worked at a newspaper for 27 years and has a good grasp of how things should be written. I showed her the one copy with a bunch of suggested punctuation changes and she disagreed with quite a number of them. So did I.

It was interesting to compare the notes from all the other attendees with one another. A couple simply wrote 'Nice article' or 'Good world-building' at the top with little to no comments in the body. Others wrote great feedback while another attempted to proof the entire handout for punctuation.

So here's the point. I attend two writer's groups mainly so I can interact with other writers and be exposed to different styles of writing as well as receive feedback and suggestions on my own works. But you must also consider who is providing the feedback. One member of both groups holds a master's degree in creative writing. Her feedback carries more weight than the others. I am unsure of the background of the other members and so I listen to their feedback but I don't always necessarily follow their advice. Each writer has a style of their own and one person may not agree with how a paragraph is written or even if it needs to be there.

I also pay particular attention to how the group reacts to someone's comment. If the entire group seems to agree to a particular statement then it carries more weight. If there's a discussion or a disagreement, I'll listen and then chose what I feel is correct. Even something as mundane as punctuation has some leeway in how it is used. Do I put a comma here or not? Do I use a colon or a semicolon? Long sentence or short? Obvious errors in the use of punctuation are easy to spot. The more subtle ways of using a comma are a matter of personal choice. Some strict grammarians may disagree with me on this but English is a flexible and changing language. Writers can shape it to produce anything they want as long as the readers enjoy the story.

Bottom line: Yes -- I strongly believe writer groups are something every writer should be a part of. Don't think you are an expert on every subject and your writing is the best in the world. Listen to what others have to say and accept their comments as a way to improve your writing.

I am working on a prologue for Peacekeeper 2. My wife is making good progress and is about 50% complete. I hope to have the prologue done today and then I start putting her changes into the book. The cover is nearing completion. Looks like I am all systems go for a publication launch next month. I will post the cover on Google+, Facebook, my website, and on Twitter as soon as it is complete.

So what's next? I haven't decided for sure yet. As always, I'm going to take some time off writing before starting my next project. I have books to read and other things to do that get put aside while I'm working on a project. I'm leaning toward a YA novel about a boy and a dragon. I know this sort of thing has been done before but I think my take on it is unique. I also have a desire to do a third Dragonverse book. It will require making some minor changes to the first two in the series. Dragonverse needs a bit of a rewrite to stretch out the timeline or at least better identify how long it takes for the main character to develop his powers (feedback from a reader). I have possible stories for a sequel to Off Course as well. At the moment, I do not have any ideas for a sequel to When Ships Mutiny which is also a reader request. I am open to ideas from my readers though.

PK2 - Final rewrite complete

At long last, the final rewrite of Peacekeeper 2 is complete. I am now waiting on my wife to complete her grammatical review, then it's on to a final review by another grammarian, and then the book will be published. There is a cover in the works but it's far from being close to a reveal. I am also working on a line to gain access to another photo that would be perfect for the book's background but so far I've not heard back from the photo's owner.

Readers of the GA series will remember the race called the Kyrra. The Kyrra first appeared in my mind back in 1977 when I was drawing science-fiction scenes and pretending I could be a writer. Recently, I picked up a book by Stanley Schmidt titled 'Aliens and Alien Societies'. My jaw threatened to disengage from my face when I read a passage where he mentions an alien race he created called--of all things--the Kyyra. The spelling is different, but the name of the race is the same. As best as I can determine, the book this is from (The Sins of the Fathers) was published in 2009. What are the odds of two authors creating an alien race with nearly the same name? I know there's no possibility he heard it from me and I've never read any of his books. Now that's a head scratcher.

A friend of mine, author Linda Nagata, has been working on a sequel to her award-nominated book The Red: First Light. I've been waiting for it for quite some time and assumed she was having a problem finding the time to finish it. I patiently waited. In a recent announcement she explained the delay. Her books are going to be picked up by a major publisher. I must admit, I am a bit jealous but I'm also a little concerned. Linda has been with a publisher in the past and some time ago decided to go indie. She's familiar with how publishers work and she's also familiar with the indie side of publishing. She's also a very smart person. If she believes going with a publisher is a good thing then I can only conclude that it is indeed the right thing to do. Only time will tell.

How would I react if an agent asked to promote my books to a publisher? I honestly don't know. I would most likely give Linda Nagata a call and ask her opinion. I have mixed feelings about going with a publisher which I've voiced in this blog in the past. Right now, sales are doing okay and I get a good royalty from them. If the books continue to sell then I might have a steady income for decades. Book rights are also a property and can be passed on to my kids. A publisher might sound like a wonderful idea especially when they dangle a large advance in front of you and make promises that the book will be well promoted. Most will follow through. But after a few years when sales begin to slump, then what? I have another friend who sold two books to a very large publisher. He received a good advance and then nothing - that was 10 years ago. He has tried and failed to get the digital rights for these books. Retaining ownership is very important because steady low sales will bring in a nice steady (although low) additional income. Once sales fall below a certain number with a large publisher, your book is shelved. The only way to make a living writing for a large publisher is to crank out more books. I've been averaging one a year so I could do that: it would be a tough choice. I do wish Linda all the luck in the world and I will stay in touch with her to see how this pans out.

That's it from my little world. Time to start putting some grammar changes in Peacekeeper 2.