Doug Farren's Blog, page 3
February 25, 2018
Feelings
The editing of Collision Course is slowly proceeding. I'm making some minor plot changes and a few corrections to how my characters are developed. The ending will also need to be revised. These changes will result in a slightly longer book which is fine by me. I have also received the first pieces of possible artwork to be used for the cover. My cover artist has given me a tough choice this time and once I have a few minor changes made I'm going to be shopping the pictures around to see which one people like the best.
I will be going to the Cleveland Concoction Convention which runs from March 9th until March 11th. All of my books will be on sale and I will be sitting on three panels (all on Friday). When I'm not sitting on a panel, I will be found either wandering around the rest of the convention or parked in the hotel bar getting some writing and editing done. I decided to get a room for the first night since my last panel ends at 9:00 PM and it's about an hour drive home. Now, if someone wants to chat after the last panel, I can do so and not have to worry about the long drive home.
Sales have been okay. Back in 2009, when I self-published my first book, I was thrilled when I sold my first book. That thrill continued for every sale especially when I had more than one in a week. As you can see, I set my expectations pretty low back then. Sales began to pick up until a miracle happened in 2011/2012 and I was selling books so fast I could have updated the counts every hour and seen a change. Sales then began to slowly drop until they've steadied out at their current levels.
When you've had a run where you were selling tens of books an hour, you tend to raise your expectations and lowering them is very difficult. Book sales are what authors live for. It's why we sacrifice the things that others take for granted and spend all our free time writing. It's a rare author who can say they make a living writing. Most of us have other jobs that provide our main family income. When the sales began to drop, so did the thrill of writing. But, for most writers, sales don't always remain high. So, I've lowered my expectations to more realistic numbers and I'm happy again.
Last year at Launch Pad, I met an author who has become very successful in the romance field. She has made enough in her sales to afford to pay for a professional translation of her books into German. I am human and, of course, I envy her sales. But, I am also truly happy for her success. Not everyone can have such success. Ann Leckie, an award-winning science fiction author whom I've also met, recently posted a series of tweets concerning how authors feel about their fellow authors. I can't quote the entire text here (mostly because I can't find it) but the gist is that authors must acknowledge they have feelings and will feel things like envy towards their fellow writers when they are nominated for awards and you are not. It's perfectly natural and part of what it is to be human. But being envious should not prevent one writer from also feeling good about another writer's success. We are complex beings and often have to deal with complex and conflicting emotions. How we deal with them is a reflection of who we are as a person.
I will be going to the Cleveland Concoction Convention which runs from March 9th until March 11th. All of my books will be on sale and I will be sitting on three panels (all on Friday). When I'm not sitting on a panel, I will be found either wandering around the rest of the convention or parked in the hotel bar getting some writing and editing done. I decided to get a room for the first night since my last panel ends at 9:00 PM and it's about an hour drive home. Now, if someone wants to chat after the last panel, I can do so and not have to worry about the long drive home.
Sales have been okay. Back in 2009, when I self-published my first book, I was thrilled when I sold my first book. That thrill continued for every sale especially when I had more than one in a week. As you can see, I set my expectations pretty low back then. Sales began to pick up until a miracle happened in 2011/2012 and I was selling books so fast I could have updated the counts every hour and seen a change. Sales then began to slowly drop until they've steadied out at their current levels.
When you've had a run where you were selling tens of books an hour, you tend to raise your expectations and lowering them is very difficult. Book sales are what authors live for. It's why we sacrifice the things that others take for granted and spend all our free time writing. It's a rare author who can say they make a living writing. Most of us have other jobs that provide our main family income. When the sales began to drop, so did the thrill of writing. But, for most writers, sales don't always remain high. So, I've lowered my expectations to more realistic numbers and I'm happy again.
Last year at Launch Pad, I met an author who has become very successful in the romance field. She has made enough in her sales to afford to pay for a professional translation of her books into German. I am human and, of course, I envy her sales. But, I am also truly happy for her success. Not everyone can have such success. Ann Leckie, an award-winning science fiction author whom I've also met, recently posted a series of tweets concerning how authors feel about their fellow authors. I can't quote the entire text here (mostly because I can't find it) but the gist is that authors must acknowledge they have feelings and will feel things like envy towards their fellow writers when they are nominated for awards and you are not. It's perfectly natural and part of what it is to be human. But being envious should not prevent one writer from also feeling good about another writer's success. We are complex beings and often have to deal with complex and conflicting emotions. How we deal with them is a reflection of who we are as a person.
February 18, 2018
Editing and revising
I have started another editing pass on Collision Course and I believe I have a plan to address some of the issues identified by Lee Dilkie, my content editor. I might not be able to address all of his concerns, but I can at least fix a few of them. Collision Course is a unique book as it's a mixture of science fiction with a hefty splash of fantasy. The fusion is hard to do correctly. After this second editing pass, the book will be in the hands of my wife who will check it for grammatical errors. If all goes well, it will be available for publication sometime in May.
While I was thinking about how to fix the story, I was continuing my studies of JavaScript. I've been reading a massive book titled JavaScript: The Definitive Reference. I've finally gotten to the point in the book where the author is talking about JQuery. I've known for some time that JQuery is a powerful library for JavaScript and I've always planned on making use of it. I now know just how useful it can be and I will most definitely be re-writing my website using this powerful tool.
As a long-time professional programmer, I also realize there are standards and best practices that have become part of the language. Even though it is possible to write code that works, that does not necessarily mean you've written the most professional looking code possible. I reached out to a JavaScript programmer and received some good feedback on my coding. As in my writing, I have no problem with receiving constructive feedback from people concerning how I do things. That's how people learn.
There's a huge difference though between constructive feedback that's meant to teach and destructive feedback which is little more than ranting and raving. For example; Say a reader believes an author's character development is a bit weak. The overall story, though, is a good one. A proper feedback would point this out and provide some constructive feedback such as "I would have liked to have gotten to know Mary a bit better". Another reader might just say "The character development in this novel is terrible". A writer can learn from the first but will disregard the second as being offensive.
This sort of constructive feedback applies to all aspects of our lives as well. The problem is, people become offended and their first reaction is to lash out at the person who offended them because they feel that person is being deliberately offensive. In some cases, this is probably true and such people should be ignored. They are doing it to provoke a fight and will not listen to constructive feedback. In many cases, however, the person might not realize he or she is being offensive. This can be due to the person's cultural background or simply a lack of knowledge.
A recent example was the use of a Christian cross to honor the students killed in the recent Florida school shooting. Many of the students were Jewish and the use of the cross is considered offensive in the Jewish community. I'm sure the people who placed those crosses were not trying to be offensive. The reactions from some members of the Jewish community, however, were swift and damning. They blasted the crosses and condemned those who placed them there. This doesn't help solve the problem!
The correct response would be to point out that the use of a cross was offensive and politely ask that they be removed. Those who placed the crosses should apologize and then immediately respond to correct their error. They should then take the opportunity to understand why the cross is considered offensive so they don't repeat their error. Ignorance can't be helped because nobody can know everything. But when ignorance is pointed out, it should be taken as an opportunity to learn. Ignorance has become a bad word and it should probably be replaced with something with fewer negative emotions attached to it such as "lack of knowledge".
Humans are a diverse people with thousands of different cultures. It is not possible for a single person to know everything that everyone will consider as being offensive. If you're visiting China and someone gives you the middle finger, don't explode and start flinging a string of four-letter words back at them. In China, the middle finger is used to point because pointing with your index finger is highly offensive.
Humans need to become more aware of the fact that not everything everyone does that's offensive to one person is done in an effort to actually cause offense. They might just not know any better. Politely correct them. If they refuse to learn, then they are being offensive on purpose and then it's okay to lambast them. Tollerance should be practiced first.
While I was thinking about how to fix the story, I was continuing my studies of JavaScript. I've been reading a massive book titled JavaScript: The Definitive Reference. I've finally gotten to the point in the book where the author is talking about JQuery. I've known for some time that JQuery is a powerful library for JavaScript and I've always planned on making use of it. I now know just how useful it can be and I will most definitely be re-writing my website using this powerful tool.
As a long-time professional programmer, I also realize there are standards and best practices that have become part of the language. Even though it is possible to write code that works, that does not necessarily mean you've written the most professional looking code possible. I reached out to a JavaScript programmer and received some good feedback on my coding. As in my writing, I have no problem with receiving constructive feedback from people concerning how I do things. That's how people learn.
There's a huge difference though between constructive feedback that's meant to teach and destructive feedback which is little more than ranting and raving. For example; Say a reader believes an author's character development is a bit weak. The overall story, though, is a good one. A proper feedback would point this out and provide some constructive feedback such as "I would have liked to have gotten to know Mary a bit better". Another reader might just say "The character development in this novel is terrible". A writer can learn from the first but will disregard the second as being offensive.
This sort of constructive feedback applies to all aspects of our lives as well. The problem is, people become offended and their first reaction is to lash out at the person who offended them because they feel that person is being deliberately offensive. In some cases, this is probably true and such people should be ignored. They are doing it to provoke a fight and will not listen to constructive feedback. In many cases, however, the person might not realize he or she is being offensive. This can be due to the person's cultural background or simply a lack of knowledge.
A recent example was the use of a Christian cross to honor the students killed in the recent Florida school shooting. Many of the students were Jewish and the use of the cross is considered offensive in the Jewish community. I'm sure the people who placed those crosses were not trying to be offensive. The reactions from some members of the Jewish community, however, were swift and damning. They blasted the crosses and condemned those who placed them there. This doesn't help solve the problem!
The correct response would be to point out that the use of a cross was offensive and politely ask that they be removed. Those who placed the crosses should apologize and then immediately respond to correct their error. They should then take the opportunity to understand why the cross is considered offensive so they don't repeat their error. Ignorance can't be helped because nobody can know everything. But when ignorance is pointed out, it should be taken as an opportunity to learn. Ignorance has become a bad word and it should probably be replaced with something with fewer negative emotions attached to it such as "lack of knowledge".
Humans are a diverse people with thousands of different cultures. It is not possible for a single person to know everything that everyone will consider as being offensive. If you're visiting China and someone gives you the middle finger, don't explode and start flinging a string of four-letter words back at them. In China, the middle finger is used to point because pointing with your index finger is highly offensive.
Humans need to become more aware of the fact that not everything everyone does that's offensive to one person is done in an effort to actually cause offense. They might just not know any better. Politely correct them. If they refuse to learn, then they are being offensive on purpose and then it's okay to lambast them. Tollerance should be practiced first.
February 4, 2018
Collision Course Feedback
The person who creates my cover art reported she very much enjoyed reading Collision Course. My content editor had a slightly different take on the book. He enjoyed it, but he wanted more. So, I'm going to spend a few days (or maybe a few weeks) trying to come up with some ideas on how to improve the story. As of this moment, I'm coming up blank. I know what he's after--I just don't know how to get there. But, I've been in this situation before and just letting things simmer in the old gray matter for awhile usually produces unexpected results. In the meantime, I'm hitting the JavaScript hard.
There is a huge difference between knowing and understanding a complex computer language. I started off programming using the original BASIC in high school. I eventually learned Z80 assembler. Neither of these was much of a challenge because of their simplicity. I then learned C back when DOS 3.2 was king. C was a bit of a challenge but because I had started with assembler it wasn't long before I was writing complex code in the new language.
My next language (if you can call it that) was a database programming language called DB2. I developed all sorts of applications while in the Navy and was involved in modifying and upgrading a DB2 program that was used to manage a group of retirement community apartments. When I started work at my current place of employment, programming was set aside as I had nothing to program. But, the itch to write code is just as bad as the itch to write and I found myself learning VBA in an ancient version of Microsoft Access (2.0 if I recall). After many years, I've become very good at VBA programming.
Now, I'm trying to learn JavaScript. The problem with this language is you need to have a very good knowledge of HTML and a lot of CSS in order to make sense out of it. Compared to the other languages I've learned, JavaScript is a very different sort of beast. I'm nearing the end of a massive book on JavaScript and I can now read a lot of the code I see. But actually understanding how the code functions is something I'm finding difficult. JavaScript is nothing like any other language I've ever used before. I have the book knowledge, but translating that into actually understanding what the code is doing is proving to be a challenge.
I have hand-coded my website and it does have a chunk of JavaScript powering the equations. But I'm sure a professional JavaScript programmer would have some unkind words to say about how I wrote the code. The transition from novice to professional programmer is going to take a lot of work. It's sort of like reading a book on how to drive a car. If you've never driven a car you can have all the knowledge possible but I would not recommend getting behind the wheel unless you have someone else there to guide you. There is a difference between knowing and understanding. Understanding comes with experience. When you can do something, or look at a piece of code and understand at a glance how it all works, then you can say you understand. That's where I want to be.
There is a huge difference between knowing and understanding a complex computer language. I started off programming using the original BASIC in high school. I eventually learned Z80 assembler. Neither of these was much of a challenge because of their simplicity. I then learned C back when DOS 3.2 was king. C was a bit of a challenge but because I had started with assembler it wasn't long before I was writing complex code in the new language.
My next language (if you can call it that) was a database programming language called DB2. I developed all sorts of applications while in the Navy and was involved in modifying and upgrading a DB2 program that was used to manage a group of retirement community apartments. When I started work at my current place of employment, programming was set aside as I had nothing to program. But, the itch to write code is just as bad as the itch to write and I found myself learning VBA in an ancient version of Microsoft Access (2.0 if I recall). After many years, I've become very good at VBA programming.
Now, I'm trying to learn JavaScript. The problem with this language is you need to have a very good knowledge of HTML and a lot of CSS in order to make sense out of it. Compared to the other languages I've learned, JavaScript is a very different sort of beast. I'm nearing the end of a massive book on JavaScript and I can now read a lot of the code I see. But actually understanding how the code functions is something I'm finding difficult. JavaScript is nothing like any other language I've ever used before. I have the book knowledge, but translating that into actually understanding what the code is doing is proving to be a challenge.
I have hand-coded my website and it does have a chunk of JavaScript powering the equations. But I'm sure a professional JavaScript programmer would have some unkind words to say about how I wrote the code. The transition from novice to professional programmer is going to take a lot of work. It's sort of like reading a book on how to drive a car. If you've never driven a car you can have all the knowledge possible but I would not recommend getting behind the wheel unless you have someone else there to guide you. There is a difference between knowing and understanding. Understanding comes with experience. When you can do something, or look at a piece of code and understand at a glance how it all works, then you can say you understand. That's where I want to be.
January 28, 2018
Tax time
As anticipated, I finished my first round of editing of Collision Course. The initial feedback from the those who have been allowed to read the novel so far have been positive. My content editor did a quick read-through and enjoyed the book. Now, he's going to take another pass through it to see it the plot holds water. My cover artist also enjoyed it and is now working on a cover. I will wait until I hear back from my content editor (Lee Dilkie) before starting on my second editing pass. After that, the book goes to my wife for proofing.
Tax Time
For those of you who are self-published, you should have received a notification that your 1099s are ready to be printed through Amazon's website. If you opted for paper copies, they're either in the mail or have already arrived. So now what? If this is the first time you've done taxes for your writing business you should do some reading up on the tax laws concerning what you can and cannot deduct. Hopefully, you've been maintaining a detailed set of records for your new business. If you've done this before, then it's just a re-hash of last year.
Writers should realize that the IRS does allow you to consider your writing as a business. But, you must treat it as such. If you don't, then it's considered a hobby and you don't get to deduct anything. You will, however, need to pay taxes on your writing income. So what's the difference? Mostly, it's how you maintain your records. Having a separate bank account, separate credit card, and an office dedicated to writing is pretty much proof that your writing business is a business. If you're ever audited and your writing income and expenses are mixed in with your personal accounts, you're going to have a harder time convincing the agent that your writing is a business.
One sure way to ensure your writing is considered a business is to register it with an EIN. Since most writers are a sole proprietor, this EIN will be linked to your social security number. If you've gone the route of incorporating (as some writers I know have done) then you're all set--you have a business. An EIN is not absolutely required though and you can still claim your writing as a business as long as you can prove it is a legitimate business entity. How? Documentation!
Having a separate bank account is an enormous help. It also helps tremendously when tax time comes as all of your writing finances are contained in a single source. If you use Quicken or other software to track your finances, then getting the data you need to file your taxes is even easier. So what are the advantages of claiming your writing as a business? Deductions for one.
You can deduct travel costs, meals eaten during travel, meals eaten where business is discussed, and mileage for all business-related trips. The cost of paper, computers, printers, and other office supplies and equipment are also deductible. A portion of the cost of the internet service, as well as the cost of maintaining an author website, is also a deduction. Magazine subscriptions, writing software, membership fees, and virtually any other cost associated with your writing are deductible. If you meet the strict requirements of a home office, you can deduct that as well.
If you write as a hobby, you get none of these deductions. The key to surviving an audit though is meticulous documentation. Detailed financial records specific to your writing activities, mileage logs, a business log, and other detailed documentation is proof that you treat your writing as a business.
Filling out the forms is not difficult. I used to use one of the online programs to do my taxes. The cost is minimal. Nowadays, I do my taxes by hand. I don't mind reading the IRS publications and I prefer to know exactly how my taxes are prepared. The publications produced by the IRS are actually quite clear. If you want to be assured that your taxes are done right, read the publications yourself and then do your taxes by hand. After finding a $650.00 mistake a few years ago by a tax professional, I have always done my taxes myself.
Tax Time
For those of you who are self-published, you should have received a notification that your 1099s are ready to be printed through Amazon's website. If you opted for paper copies, they're either in the mail or have already arrived. So now what? If this is the first time you've done taxes for your writing business you should do some reading up on the tax laws concerning what you can and cannot deduct. Hopefully, you've been maintaining a detailed set of records for your new business. If you've done this before, then it's just a re-hash of last year.
Writers should realize that the IRS does allow you to consider your writing as a business. But, you must treat it as such. If you don't, then it's considered a hobby and you don't get to deduct anything. You will, however, need to pay taxes on your writing income. So what's the difference? Mostly, it's how you maintain your records. Having a separate bank account, separate credit card, and an office dedicated to writing is pretty much proof that your writing business is a business. If you're ever audited and your writing income and expenses are mixed in with your personal accounts, you're going to have a harder time convincing the agent that your writing is a business.
One sure way to ensure your writing is considered a business is to register it with an EIN. Since most writers are a sole proprietor, this EIN will be linked to your social security number. If you've gone the route of incorporating (as some writers I know have done) then you're all set--you have a business. An EIN is not absolutely required though and you can still claim your writing as a business as long as you can prove it is a legitimate business entity. How? Documentation!
Having a separate bank account is an enormous help. It also helps tremendously when tax time comes as all of your writing finances are contained in a single source. If you use Quicken or other software to track your finances, then getting the data you need to file your taxes is even easier. So what are the advantages of claiming your writing as a business? Deductions for one.
You can deduct travel costs, meals eaten during travel, meals eaten where business is discussed, and mileage for all business-related trips. The cost of paper, computers, printers, and other office supplies and equipment are also deductible. A portion of the cost of the internet service, as well as the cost of maintaining an author website, is also a deduction. Magazine subscriptions, writing software, membership fees, and virtually any other cost associated with your writing are deductible. If you meet the strict requirements of a home office, you can deduct that as well.
If you write as a hobby, you get none of these deductions. The key to surviving an audit though is meticulous documentation. Detailed financial records specific to your writing activities, mileage logs, a business log, and other detailed documentation is proof that you treat your writing as a business.
Filling out the forms is not difficult. I used to use one of the online programs to do my taxes. The cost is minimal. Nowadays, I do my taxes by hand. I don't mind reading the IRS publications and I prefer to know exactly how my taxes are prepared. The publications produced by the IRS are actually quite clear. If you want to be assured that your taxes are done right, read the publications yourself and then do your taxes by hand. After finding a $650.00 mistake a few years ago by a tax professional, I have always done my taxes myself.
January 21, 2018
Editing
The first round of editing for Collision Course has begun. I have been off since Friday and have had a lot of time to edit. As such, I am about halfway through the first editing pass.
About 2 years ago, I had an idea for a short story. I started it, then set it aside because I really didn't know what to do with it. Last year, I caved in to the requests from my writers group and finished it. I still don't know what to do with it. My wife suggested I make it publicly available. Since I have no clue where I would even start to sell this story, I agreed. It's very short and will take about 10 or 15 minutes to read. Please feel free to distribute this story to anyone.
This is normally the time of year when I begin my series on how a writer should be treating their writing as a business. I'm going to defer this until next week. This post is being kept short because I really need to get back to editing. I prefer to do the first editing pass as quickly as possible so the entire story can be processed without delay. That's how I manage to find some of the biggest plot blunders. I've already found a few.
Back to editing.
About 2 years ago, I had an idea for a short story. I started it, then set it aside because I really didn't know what to do with it. Last year, I caved in to the requests from my writers group and finished it. I still don't know what to do with it. My wife suggested I make it publicly available. Since I have no clue where I would even start to sell this story, I agreed. It's very short and will take about 10 or 15 minutes to read. Please feel free to distribute this story to anyone.
This is normally the time of year when I begin my series on how a writer should be treating their writing as a business. I'm going to defer this until next week. This post is being kept short because I really need to get back to editing. I prefer to do the first editing pass as quickly as possible so the entire story can be processed without delay. That's how I manage to find some of the biggest plot blunders. I've already found a few.
Back to editing.
January 14, 2018
Editing to Begin soon
Collision Course has now sat idle for a couple of weeks and I've been focusing on all sorts of non-writing related activities. The urge to dive into the editing is growing which means I will be starting that process next weekend. I actually wanted to begin editing this weekend but the weather made it impossible. Last Thursday, our 18 inches of snow was nearly gone. The temperature was hovering around 50 and it was raining making a big mess of things. But that was about to change--quickly!
I took Friday off expecting bad weather. The day started off around 50 with rain and then the temperature began to drop. By noon, we saw our first sleet. By one o'clock, things were starting to be coated with a thin layer of ice. Luckily, the temperature continued to drop and by 3:00 it was snowing. My wife and I made an early trip out and then stayed inside. Instead of editing, I took care of cleaning up a lot of computer-related things I'd been putting off.
Saturday morning, I woke up to find the back door frozen shut (the handle won't even turn) and a drift blocking the front door. It took some effort to get it open. As soon as it was light enough outside, I began the process of clearing the driveway. The snow I was dealing with was the consistency of lightly packed sugar sitting on top of a layer of harder packed sugar on top of a coating of rough ice. The drifts were enough to cause my blower to chug forcing me to take smaller bites. I did my driveway as well as two of my neighbors. It was 12 degrees outside so I came in for a break. Later that day, after the sun had come out, I deiced the cars and thawed out the back door. No writing or editing got done as I spent more time outside than in.
Now, it's Sunday and I'm debating if I should start editing or wait until next weekend. I do have a considerable amount of Java reading I need to do and my website still needs to be finished. I won't be making up my mind until after I finish this post.
My wife and I Skyped with our friends in Minnesota. Heather (my best friend's wife) is my cover artist and she's been reading the first draft so she can come up with an appropriate cover. She told me she loved the book so far and was laughing her ass off in certain places. I was so glad to hear this as this particular book was a difficult to write and I wanted to try to give it a bit of humor as well as structure it to keep the reader wanting more. Based on her feedback, I succeeded.
In other news, I will be returning to Launch Pad again this year. I originally attended Launch Pad in 2012 and I've been going back ever since. It is an experience you will never forget. If you are an author, editor, illustrator, script-writer, movie producer, or anyone who creates material for the public, you should seriously consider applying for Launch Pad. If you know of anyone who might be interested, please pass this on to them. The only out of pocket expense is your round-trip ticket to Denver and Launch Pad might be able to help cover this cost. This year's workshop runs from May 28th to June 3rd. I've already booked my flight.
I will also be attending the Cleveland Concoction science fiction convention from March 9th to March 11th. I will be on several panels and my books will be available for sale in the convention's bookstore.
I took Friday off expecting bad weather. The day started off around 50 with rain and then the temperature began to drop. By noon, we saw our first sleet. By one o'clock, things were starting to be coated with a thin layer of ice. Luckily, the temperature continued to drop and by 3:00 it was snowing. My wife and I made an early trip out and then stayed inside. Instead of editing, I took care of cleaning up a lot of computer-related things I'd been putting off.
Saturday morning, I woke up to find the back door frozen shut (the handle won't even turn) and a drift blocking the front door. It took some effort to get it open. As soon as it was light enough outside, I began the process of clearing the driveway. The snow I was dealing with was the consistency of lightly packed sugar sitting on top of a layer of harder packed sugar on top of a coating of rough ice. The drifts were enough to cause my blower to chug forcing me to take smaller bites. I did my driveway as well as two of my neighbors. It was 12 degrees outside so I came in for a break. Later that day, after the sun had come out, I deiced the cars and thawed out the back door. No writing or editing got done as I spent more time outside than in.
Now, it's Sunday and I'm debating if I should start editing or wait until next weekend. I do have a considerable amount of Java reading I need to do and my website still needs to be finished. I won't be making up my mind until after I finish this post.
My wife and I Skyped with our friends in Minnesota. Heather (my best friend's wife) is my cover artist and she's been reading the first draft so she can come up with an appropriate cover. She told me she loved the book so far and was laughing her ass off in certain places. I was so glad to hear this as this particular book was a difficult to write and I wanted to try to give it a bit of humor as well as structure it to keep the reader wanting more. Based on her feedback, I succeeded.
In other news, I will be returning to Launch Pad again this year. I originally attended Launch Pad in 2012 and I've been going back ever since. It is an experience you will never forget. If you are an author, editor, illustrator, script-writer, movie producer, or anyone who creates material for the public, you should seriously consider applying for Launch Pad. If you know of anyone who might be interested, please pass this on to them. The only out of pocket expense is your round-trip ticket to Denver and Launch Pad might be able to help cover this cost. This year's workshop runs from May 28th to June 3rd. I've already booked my flight.
I will also be attending the Cleveland Concoction science fiction convention from March 9th to March 11th. I will be on several panels and my books will be available for sale in the convention's bookstore.
January 1, 2018
Welcome to 2018
2017 is now history and 2018 has arrived. I finished last year by finishing the first draft of my next novel Collision Course. The final word count is a bit less than my normal target but that's fine. When a book is finished, it's finished. I will be letting the book rest for a few weeks and before starting the editing process. The manuscript will also go out to my content editor in Canada as well as my cover artist in Minnesota. The content editor will let me know if I've screwed up the overall plot. He gets a very early draft so I don't have to do multiple massive edits. My cover artist needs to have a copy as soon as possible so she can begin work on another of her fantastic covers. The process takes almost as long as it takes me to do my editing passes.
The process of getting a novel ready for publication is a long one. Rushing it will result in the release of a bad final product. I will be making several editing passes before the manuscript is ready. The first pass is fairly high level and I do it over a short period of time. This lets me clean up the overall plot. I might rearrange chapters, add a chapter, or on a rare occasion delete one. By the time this is finished I usually have my content editor's input. I will use his feedback to go back and make any large-scale changes that are required. At the end of this process, the manuscript's chapters are in their correct order and the general plot is in good shape.
All of the preceding work is done in Scrivener. I like to use it because I can keep two documents open at the same time and moving chapters around is a piece of cake. I realize this can be done just as easily in Microsoft Word, but Scrivener is designed for writers and it just works better in my opinion. When I'm doing my detailed editing though, I prefer Word. At the end of the rough editing process, I transfer the manuscript to Word.
The next editing pass is far more detailed and takes place after allowing some time to pass giving me a fresh look at things. Here, I add descriptions and make subtle changes to sentence structure to allow the story to flow as smoothly as possible and to bring the story to life in the reader's imagination. There is a fine art to doing this that I have yet to master. Add too much description and your reader's imagination is constrained to what the author sees in their mind. Add too little and the reader might imagine something that clashes with what the author needs them to visualize. It's during this pass that I also find a lot of strange grammatical errors as I look to give each sentence a proper place in the overall manuscript.
Sometimes, I will go through the manuscript one more time making sure that all the sentences work together to move the story along. If the detailed editing pass was done properly, this is nothing more than a quick read. After I'm satisfied with the finished product, I print it out and give it to my wife who is my grammarian. She is not a fan of science fiction and it typically takes her many weeks to review a novel. I take her comments and enter them into the manuscript. This is also usually when I begin working on my next novel.
When all the grammatical errors have been corrected, the manuscript is sent off to a reader in Germany for a final check. Having a second proofreader ensures I have the best possible product for release to the public. While the novel is getting its final review, I register for my copyright and begin the process of creating the print version. The interior is formatted to the proper size, page numbers are added, headers are created, and chapter page breaks are defined.
Usually, by this point in time, I have a final version of my cover art. If I get this sooner, I can build a cover while my wife is doing her editing. I create the cover by downloading a template from CreateSpace and building the cover in Photoshop Elements by merging in the artwork and adding all the other stuff that's on a cover (title, author name, back cover description, author photo, etc.). I use an estimate of the page count for this process. Once the cover is done, I generate a JPG and let the world see it for the first time. This is also when I plan for a release date and begin promoting the book on social media. I can also upload a preliminary copy to Amazon and allow pre-release orders to begin.
The final step is to upload the Kindle version of the book to Amazon. I then generate a PDF of the print version and then look at it as if I was looking at a book. The problem here is that the book is actually shown as a mirror image of how it's going to be printed with the left page appearing on the right-side of the screen. This is an artifact of how the book is printed and I've gotten used to it. When I'm satisfied the PDF is 100% correct, I check the page counts and if needed download a new template and rebuild the cover. If the page count was accurate, I can skip this step. Finally, after everything is done, the book is uploaded to CreateSpace and the process is complete.
As you can see, a lot goes into publishing a novel and if you're a self-published author it all falls on you to make it happen. I will let you know here as this long process works its way to completion.
The process of getting a novel ready for publication is a long one. Rushing it will result in the release of a bad final product. I will be making several editing passes before the manuscript is ready. The first pass is fairly high level and I do it over a short period of time. This lets me clean up the overall plot. I might rearrange chapters, add a chapter, or on a rare occasion delete one. By the time this is finished I usually have my content editor's input. I will use his feedback to go back and make any large-scale changes that are required. At the end of this process, the manuscript's chapters are in their correct order and the general plot is in good shape.
All of the preceding work is done in Scrivener. I like to use it because I can keep two documents open at the same time and moving chapters around is a piece of cake. I realize this can be done just as easily in Microsoft Word, but Scrivener is designed for writers and it just works better in my opinion. When I'm doing my detailed editing though, I prefer Word. At the end of the rough editing process, I transfer the manuscript to Word.
The next editing pass is far more detailed and takes place after allowing some time to pass giving me a fresh look at things. Here, I add descriptions and make subtle changes to sentence structure to allow the story to flow as smoothly as possible and to bring the story to life in the reader's imagination. There is a fine art to doing this that I have yet to master. Add too much description and your reader's imagination is constrained to what the author sees in their mind. Add too little and the reader might imagine something that clashes with what the author needs them to visualize. It's during this pass that I also find a lot of strange grammatical errors as I look to give each sentence a proper place in the overall manuscript.
Sometimes, I will go through the manuscript one more time making sure that all the sentences work together to move the story along. If the detailed editing pass was done properly, this is nothing more than a quick read. After I'm satisfied with the finished product, I print it out and give it to my wife who is my grammarian. She is not a fan of science fiction and it typically takes her many weeks to review a novel. I take her comments and enter them into the manuscript. This is also usually when I begin working on my next novel.
When all the grammatical errors have been corrected, the manuscript is sent off to a reader in Germany for a final check. Having a second proofreader ensures I have the best possible product for release to the public. While the novel is getting its final review, I register for my copyright and begin the process of creating the print version. The interior is formatted to the proper size, page numbers are added, headers are created, and chapter page breaks are defined.
Usually, by this point in time, I have a final version of my cover art. If I get this sooner, I can build a cover while my wife is doing her editing. I create the cover by downloading a template from CreateSpace and building the cover in Photoshop Elements by merging in the artwork and adding all the other stuff that's on a cover (title, author name, back cover description, author photo, etc.). I use an estimate of the page count for this process. Once the cover is done, I generate a JPG and let the world see it for the first time. This is also when I plan for a release date and begin promoting the book on social media. I can also upload a preliminary copy to Amazon and allow pre-release orders to begin.
The final step is to upload the Kindle version of the book to Amazon. I then generate a PDF of the print version and then look at it as if I was looking at a book. The problem here is that the book is actually shown as a mirror image of how it's going to be printed with the left page appearing on the right-side of the screen. This is an artifact of how the book is printed and I've gotten used to it. When I'm satisfied the PDF is 100% correct, I check the page counts and if needed download a new template and rebuild the cover. If the page count was accurate, I can skip this step. Finally, after everything is done, the book is uploaded to CreateSpace and the process is complete.
As you can see, a lot goes into publishing a novel and if you're a self-published author it all falls on you to make it happen. I will let you know here as this long process works its way to completion.
December 24, 2017
Happy Holidays
Collision Course now stands at just over 60,000 words and the ending is in sight. I have the grand finale to write as well as cleaning up a couple of loose ends afterward. I don't think I will meet my goal of having the first draft completed by the end of the year but I am going to come close. Once the first draft is complete, I will go back and do an editing pass to clean up some of the plot lines as well as rearrange a few of the out of place chapters. The novel will then to go my content editor as well as my cover artist for their input.
This will most likely be the last post of 2017 and I would like to leave you with something to think about. Imagine yourself as an observer from an advanced space fairing people sent here to determine if humans are ready to be admitted to the galactic community. When you first arrive, you pick up the news of a massive earthquake in a remote area. Upon arriving on the scene you see humans from every cultural background working together to help those in need. "This is a very good sign," you say to yourself.
But your opinion of the sentient race of this planet changes drastically when you visit another city. There, you find people of great wealth living in luxury while others are starving only a few miles away. The more you look around, the more you begin to doubt that the people you are observing are anything more than just savages. Perhaps, you think, this is not the norm. Maybe, you've been seeing only those who are breaking the law instead of following it. You dig deeper.
To your utter horror, you discover that the behaviors you've witnessed are actually promoted by the very governments that should be working to give their people a better life. Nuclear weapons stand at the ready to annihilate all life on the planet. People kill other people simply because of the color of their skin or what they believe in. Governments and those in a position of power are poisoning the very world they live in without any regard to the future they will be leaving their own children. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
You return to your homeworld and present your report: Earth is driven by greed and the lust for power. The people are savages inflicting cruelty upon their fellow humans. Although there are instances of great good among some of them, the majority behave as if they are a primitive people, unable to see beyond their own petty desires. Earth is not a civilized world and is not fit to be admitted into the galactic community. But, there is hope.
The second half of your report documents the good you've witnessed. You point out that humans have the potential to turn their world into a self-made paradise. If they chose, they can achieve a greatness the likes of which no other race in the galaxy could match. But they will have to learn how to rise above their own self-centered desires before they drive themselves into extinction.
How much money does a person need? How much profit does a company need to make? Why can't we learn to work together for the benefit of all? Why must children starve because a rich man desires more of what he already has? Why must a person walk in fear because of the color of their skin or because of the faith they believe? We -- humans -- are better than this. If we don't change we will drive ourselves into extinction and the universe will not notice.
Let's make 2018 a better year than all the years before. We can do this. We must do this.
This will most likely be the last post of 2017 and I would like to leave you with something to think about. Imagine yourself as an observer from an advanced space fairing people sent here to determine if humans are ready to be admitted to the galactic community. When you first arrive, you pick up the news of a massive earthquake in a remote area. Upon arriving on the scene you see humans from every cultural background working together to help those in need. "This is a very good sign," you say to yourself.
But your opinion of the sentient race of this planet changes drastically when you visit another city. There, you find people of great wealth living in luxury while others are starving only a few miles away. The more you look around, the more you begin to doubt that the people you are observing are anything more than just savages. Perhaps, you think, this is not the norm. Maybe, you've been seeing only those who are breaking the law instead of following it. You dig deeper.
To your utter horror, you discover that the behaviors you've witnessed are actually promoted by the very governments that should be working to give their people a better life. Nuclear weapons stand at the ready to annihilate all life on the planet. People kill other people simply because of the color of their skin or what they believe in. Governments and those in a position of power are poisoning the very world they live in without any regard to the future they will be leaving their own children. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
You return to your homeworld and present your report: Earth is driven by greed and the lust for power. The people are savages inflicting cruelty upon their fellow humans. Although there are instances of great good among some of them, the majority behave as if they are a primitive people, unable to see beyond their own petty desires. Earth is not a civilized world and is not fit to be admitted into the galactic community. But, there is hope.
The second half of your report documents the good you've witnessed. You point out that humans have the potential to turn their world into a self-made paradise. If they chose, they can achieve a greatness the likes of which no other race in the galaxy could match. But they will have to learn how to rise above their own self-centered desires before they drive themselves into extinction.
How much money does a person need? How much profit does a company need to make? Why can't we learn to work together for the benefit of all? Why must children starve because a rich man desires more of what he already has? Why must a person walk in fear because of the color of their skin or because of the faith they believe? We -- humans -- are better than this. If we don't change we will drive ourselves into extinction and the universe will not notice.
Let's make 2018 a better year than all the years before. We can do this. We must do this.
December 18, 2017
Keeping Your Data Safe
Update
Collision Course now stands at 55,740 words. I have a good ending in my head and the path to get there is relatively clear. If all goes well, the first draft of this new novel will be done by the end of the year (I hope).
Keeping Your Data Safe
You just finished typing "The End" on your latest 121,000 word novel you've been working on for the past five years. This major accomplishment calls for a celebration. Closing the lid on your laptop, you set it aside and head for the kitchen to open that bottle of bubbly you've been saving. After a steak dinner and a few glasses of celebratory drink, you head back to the laptop to share the news with your friends.
When you open the screen, you are greeted with a blue screen with white letters saying the computer has encountered an unrecoverable error. When you reboot, the system calmly explains that it cannot find the boot disk. After a sleepless night, you drive 30 miles to the nearest computer shop and hand your machine to the kind young adult behind the counter. She disappears into the back and a few minutes later tells you that your hard drive has crashed and all of the data it once held is now lost forever.
The above is a very possible reality--but it can be prevented. "Well, I use a memory stick," you say. Although that's a better solution, you're still not protected against the stick failing. Using a solid state drive? Same issue. Even though these devices are far more reliable than mechanical hard drives, they can still fail and when they do everything on them is forever lost. So how can you protect yourself?
My preferred method is to use a cloud-based storage solution. I'm a fan of DropBox. For the fair price of absolutely nothing (i.e. FREE) you can store up to 1 gigabyte of data. DropBox (and other similar cloud-based storage solutions) synchronize with a local copy of the data. This means that when Microsoft Word or Scrivener saves a file to your hard drive, DropBox quickly sends that same change to the cloud. If you are working offline, the program syncs as soon as the computer reconnects to the internet.
One popular non-cloud-based solution is to make a daily copy of important files to a second hard drive or a memory stick. This is good, but what happens if disaster strikes and your house burns to the ground? The fire will destroy your master copy as well as all backup copies you have in the house. The only sure-fire way to protect your work is to keep an up-to-date copy in the cloud.
Do you pay for the right to use Microsoft Word? As part of your annual subscription, you get access to a really good cloud-based storage solution called OneDrive. If you set this up right, all of your important data (pictures, videos, financial records, novels, etc.) will be securely stored in the cloud. The initial upload will take a long time but eventually, you will be protected against even the worst possible disaster. If you have more than one computer, you can create multiple accounts to back them up in the same way or you can just combine them all in the same account and they will automatically synchronize themselves with the same information.
The OneDrive solution works very well if you have a Microsoft subscription. But what if you don't and you have a lot of information to store? There are other services out there such. Carbonite and Crashplan are two of the largest. These cloud-based storage solutions are designed specifically for backing up your data and they cost about as much as a subscription to Microsoft. The cost, however, is well worth it.
One word of caution though. Never rely on the cloud-based service as the sole storage of any important documents. Why? What happens if the company goes bankrupt? This has happened and people using their servers were out of luck. You should always have a copy on your local system. If your cloud-based storage company closes its doors, find another one and upload again.
If you have extremely important data to store, make a couple of copies on memory sticks and get them out of your house. Take one to work, put one in your safe deposit box, put it in your car, give it to a trusted friend (you might want to encrypt it), or store it in a fireproof lockbox. The cloud is a great place to store your data, but sometimes you want to be extra paranoid.
Finally, it's always a good idea to make a system backup of each of your computers. This is different than just backing up your data. This process makes a copy of your operating system so it can be restored if your hard drive crashes. Hard drives are inexpensive these days--far cheaper than replacing the entire computer. If your hard drive crashes, you buy another drive, restore your operating system, and then wait while your data is recovered from the cloud. If you don't have a system backup, you have to go out and buy a copy of the operating system--might as well just buy another computer at that point.
System backups are relatively easy to do and I don't have the space here to explain how. You can store the backup in the cloud (if you have the room) or offsite as suggested above. Onsite storage is okay as well since if your computer is lost in a fire the system backup won't do you any good anyway.
Key points: Computers can and do fail. Memory sticks go bad. Your data is often irreplaceable. Treat it like a precious commodity. Back it up. Put the backup where a disaster can't touch it. If you don't, one of these days you're going to regret it.
Collision Course now stands at 55,740 words. I have a good ending in my head and the path to get there is relatively clear. If all goes well, the first draft of this new novel will be done by the end of the year (I hope).
Keeping Your Data Safe
You just finished typing "The End" on your latest 121,000 word novel you've been working on for the past five years. This major accomplishment calls for a celebration. Closing the lid on your laptop, you set it aside and head for the kitchen to open that bottle of bubbly you've been saving. After a steak dinner and a few glasses of celebratory drink, you head back to the laptop to share the news with your friends.
When you open the screen, you are greeted with a blue screen with white letters saying the computer has encountered an unrecoverable error. When you reboot, the system calmly explains that it cannot find the boot disk. After a sleepless night, you drive 30 miles to the nearest computer shop and hand your machine to the kind young adult behind the counter. She disappears into the back and a few minutes later tells you that your hard drive has crashed and all of the data it once held is now lost forever.
The above is a very possible reality--but it can be prevented. "Well, I use a memory stick," you say. Although that's a better solution, you're still not protected against the stick failing. Using a solid state drive? Same issue. Even though these devices are far more reliable than mechanical hard drives, they can still fail and when they do everything on them is forever lost. So how can you protect yourself?
My preferred method is to use a cloud-based storage solution. I'm a fan of DropBox. For the fair price of absolutely nothing (i.e. FREE) you can store up to 1 gigabyte of data. DropBox (and other similar cloud-based storage solutions) synchronize with a local copy of the data. This means that when Microsoft Word or Scrivener saves a file to your hard drive, DropBox quickly sends that same change to the cloud. If you are working offline, the program syncs as soon as the computer reconnects to the internet.
One popular non-cloud-based solution is to make a daily copy of important files to a second hard drive or a memory stick. This is good, but what happens if disaster strikes and your house burns to the ground? The fire will destroy your master copy as well as all backup copies you have in the house. The only sure-fire way to protect your work is to keep an up-to-date copy in the cloud.
Do you pay for the right to use Microsoft Word? As part of your annual subscription, you get access to a really good cloud-based storage solution called OneDrive. If you set this up right, all of your important data (pictures, videos, financial records, novels, etc.) will be securely stored in the cloud. The initial upload will take a long time but eventually, you will be protected against even the worst possible disaster. If you have more than one computer, you can create multiple accounts to back them up in the same way or you can just combine them all in the same account and they will automatically synchronize themselves with the same information.
The OneDrive solution works very well if you have a Microsoft subscription. But what if you don't and you have a lot of information to store? There are other services out there such. Carbonite and Crashplan are two of the largest. These cloud-based storage solutions are designed specifically for backing up your data and they cost about as much as a subscription to Microsoft. The cost, however, is well worth it.
One word of caution though. Never rely on the cloud-based service as the sole storage of any important documents. Why? What happens if the company goes bankrupt? This has happened and people using their servers were out of luck. You should always have a copy on your local system. If your cloud-based storage company closes its doors, find another one and upload again.
If you have extremely important data to store, make a couple of copies on memory sticks and get them out of your house. Take one to work, put one in your safe deposit box, put it in your car, give it to a trusted friend (you might want to encrypt it), or store it in a fireproof lockbox. The cloud is a great place to store your data, but sometimes you want to be extra paranoid.
Finally, it's always a good idea to make a system backup of each of your computers. This is different than just backing up your data. This process makes a copy of your operating system so it can be restored if your hard drive crashes. Hard drives are inexpensive these days--far cheaper than replacing the entire computer. If your hard drive crashes, you buy another drive, restore your operating system, and then wait while your data is recovered from the cloud. If you don't have a system backup, you have to go out and buy a copy of the operating system--might as well just buy another computer at that point.
System backups are relatively easy to do and I don't have the space here to explain how. You can store the backup in the cloud (if you have the room) or offsite as suggested above. Onsite storage is okay as well since if your computer is lost in a fire the system backup won't do you any good anyway.
Key points: Computers can and do fail. Memory sticks go bad. Your data is often irreplaceable. Treat it like a precious commodity. Back it up. Put the backup where a disaster can't touch it. If you don't, one of these days you're going to regret it.
December 10, 2017
New leader
The writers group I regularly attend met yesterday at the usual place and time. What was different was a change in command. The health of the person who originally created the group has been an issue and she has not shown up for several meetings. Another author who also happens to have an MBA took it upon herself to take the helm. She has a knack for very quickly recognizing where a story needs to be tweaked and can pick out areas that need discussion far faster than I can. I think the group is in good hands. Thank you Andi!
One of the things that Andi has done differently with the group is to institute a short discussion at the start or end of the meeting on writing-related topics. Yesterday's meeting focused on point of view. The topic for the next meeting will be on backing up your work--a subject near and dear to me. I will be leading that discussion as well as writing a short article for the group's discussion board that Andi has established. I will post it here when it is finished.
Collision Course now stands at 53,601 words. I was on a roll yesterday but had to stop so I could attend the meeting. My original intention was to set writing aside today and continue learning JavaScript. Instead, I will be writing. When the words are there, I need to get them out and into the computer.
Sales have been pathetic of late and that does tend to have a discouraging effect on my desire to write. I do enjoy writing but there are so many other things I want to do as well (such as learning JavaScript). With sales trending down, I'm giving serious consideration to making Collision Course my last novel. I do have other potential novels in my head but there are other things I want to do. I will be taking a hiatus after this next book just to catch up on things. We will see what happens next.
Due to the slump in sales, I have also decided not to return to Launch Pad next year. I was also tentatively planning on attending the 2018 Nebula Conference which is being held only two hours from my home. But unless sales take a drastic change in the next week, those plans will also be scrapped. These are business decisions based on treating my writing as a business. If the money is not there, then it can't be spent no matter how much I would like to go. The IRS will accept a business running at a loss for only so long. After that, they expect the business to be closed.
There is still a small chance I will be going to the Nebula Conference perhaps as a last hurrah and because it is something I've always wanted to do. I have until December 15th to decide which is the last day for discounted tickets. If I do decide to go, I will let you know.
One of the things that Andi has done differently with the group is to institute a short discussion at the start or end of the meeting on writing-related topics. Yesterday's meeting focused on point of view. The topic for the next meeting will be on backing up your work--a subject near and dear to me. I will be leading that discussion as well as writing a short article for the group's discussion board that Andi has established. I will post it here when it is finished.
Collision Course now stands at 53,601 words. I was on a roll yesterday but had to stop so I could attend the meeting. My original intention was to set writing aside today and continue learning JavaScript. Instead, I will be writing. When the words are there, I need to get them out and into the computer.
Sales have been pathetic of late and that does tend to have a discouraging effect on my desire to write. I do enjoy writing but there are so many other things I want to do as well (such as learning JavaScript). With sales trending down, I'm giving serious consideration to making Collision Course my last novel. I do have other potential novels in my head but there are other things I want to do. I will be taking a hiatus after this next book just to catch up on things. We will see what happens next.
Due to the slump in sales, I have also decided not to return to Launch Pad next year. I was also tentatively planning on attending the 2018 Nebula Conference which is being held only two hours from my home. But unless sales take a drastic change in the next week, those plans will also be scrapped. These are business decisions based on treating my writing as a business. If the money is not there, then it can't be spent no matter how much I would like to go. The IRS will accept a business running at a loss for only so long. After that, they expect the business to be closed.
There is still a small chance I will be going to the Nebula Conference perhaps as a last hurrah and because it is something I've always wanted to do. I have until December 15th to decide which is the last day for discounted tickets. If I do decide to go, I will let you know.
