John R. Phythyon Jr.'s Blog, page 11

Speed of NaNoWriMo Causing a Few Problems

Here’s a little problem I’ve discovered with NaNoWriMo this year. Writing fast is making me sloppy.

Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised. There’s an old freelancers’ proverb for clients that goes, “Good, fast, cheap. Pick two.” The idea being that you can have any combination of two of those qualities on the work you hire, but you cannot have all three. If you want it fast and cheap, don’t expect it to be good.

We’ve been in the read-aloud process for Little Red Riding Hoodie — my major project during this NaNoWriMo. I was hoping to have the final draft completed Friday, so I could submit to Kindle Scout.

But there’s been a little snag.

We keep finding continuity errors. One of them is going to require me to rewrite a scene and then go through the whole manuscript and make sure all other references to it are accurate.

That’s not what this stage of the edit is supposed to be about. We should be working on finding any glaring typos and getting the language just right, not finding major problems.

Since this has never happened before, I can only attribute it to the accelerated pace of the writing. I wrote the first draft in two weeks and all subsequent drafts in a week or less. Up until this point, I was kind of proud of myself.

Ordinarily, speed wouldn’t be a problem for NaNoWriMo. The idea is to just get the words down. You fix problems in the subsequent drafts.

But since I’m trying to get a book all the way from start to finish in a month, it’s a bit more of an issue.

So I’m going to need to take a little more time  with this book to make sure I get it right. Because publishing a good manuscript is more important to me than getting it done fast.

Of course, I’ll be trying to fix these problems as quickly as possible.

Filed under: e-Publishing, NaNoWriMo, Writing Tagged: John Phythyon, Little Red Riding Hoodie, NaNoWriMo

Late November NaNoWriMo Update

As you know if you read this blog regularly, I’ve taken a slightly unusual approach to National Novel Writing Month. Rather than trying to pen a 50,000-word novel in 30 days, I am writing multiple books that are in various stages of completion through my five-draft process. Here’s an update on where I am.

“Naughty & Nice: My True-Life Adventure with Santa Claus”

The second installment in my mini-memoir series, detailing my childhood obsession with catching Santa in our house on Christmas Eve, is finished and available for preorder. I’ve sent advance copies to reviewers to generate a good showing early to help push sales during December. (If you’d like to review it, leave a comment below, and I’ll set you up with an advance reader edition.) To have it automatically delivered to your Kindle on the first, place your preorder here. It’s only a buck!

“Domestic Disturbance: My True-Life Adventure in Sibling Rivalry”

The third book in the mini-memoir series is scheduled for January 5. I began the first draft this week and should have it done by Friday next. I’m going to have to put it in high gear to get this done on time, but given that these books are 10,000 to 15,000 words in length, I’m confident I can stay on schedule.

Little Red Riding Hoodie: A Modern Fairy Tale

This novel, which I’m developing for the Kindle Scout program, is near completion. I just got the edits on the third draft back yesterday, and I am hoping to make changes for a fourth draft today. The book is roughly 72,500 words. I didn’t make a lot of significant change notes in my read-through, but I haven’t seen what my editor said yet, so I don’t know how much work will be involved. Still, my goal is to have this one finished and submitted by the end of next week.

“An Unexpected Blessing”

The short story I wrote for Five59 Publishing’s Winter Tales has been submitted and, I believe, accepted. I’ll know for sure by Monday. Regardless, I managed to get that 2500-word piece finished and sent off while I was getting all this other material written.

The Secret Thief: A Modern Fairy Tale

This novella, which I pushed into February after deciding to move the memoirs up in the schedule, is the next project on my plate. I expect I won’t get to it until Monday, December 1, which will technically move it out of NaNoWriMo, but just because November ends, doesn’t mean my schedule won’t need to remain furious.

The best part of this whole experience has been demonstrating to myself that I can produce a lot of words in a short period of time. I used to have to write 4000 words a day when I was in the hobby games industry, and I’ve redeveloped that skill with this exercise. By writing like The Flash this past month, I’ve put myself in good position for consistent solid releases during the remainder of fourth and the entirety of first quarter — the two best periods for book sales.

How’s your NaNo going? Leave me a comment below and let me know!

Filed under: e-Publishing, Memoir, NaNoWriMo, Writing Tagged: indie publishing, John Phythyon, memoirs, NaNoWriMo

2015 Publishing Schedule Announced

We haven’t quite hit Thanksgiving yet, and I’ve got my plan for next year. Boy, is it aggressive.

I sort of wish I’d come up with this idea in 2012 when the field was a little friendlier to independent authors. I bet I’d be a lot more successful now.

But there’s little to be done about that. I had to spend time learning and growing, and frankly, I expect I’ll look at this plan a year from now and decide there were things I could have done better. If only foresight were as accurate as hindsight.

Regardless, here’s my plan to attack 2015:

January — “Domestic Disturbance: My True-Life Adventure with Sibling Rivalry”

I continue my full-frontal assault on the memoir market with a third consecutive installment of my series of minis that humorously looks back on my childhood. This time, I reflect on the intense battles my brother Dave and I had to demonstrate who was the superior brother.

February — The Secret Thief: A Modern Fairy Tale

This book was originally scheduled to land in late 2014, but I rescheduled it to move the first installments of the memoir to November and December of this year. The Secret Thief is a novella that tells the story of a 10-year-old boy, who becomes haunted by a monster disguised as a girl. She steals his darkest secrets and reveals them wherever they will do the most damage.

March — “Swing and a Miss: My True-Life Adventure in Baseball”

This will land in late March to capitalize on Major League Baseball’s opening day on April 5. It’s a fourth mini-memoir, wherein I muse on the sinister nature of America’s national pastime and how it served to frustrate a young boy.

April — open

I have not scheduled anything for this month so that I can adapt to what happens with Little Red Riding Hoodie. If it is not accepted into the Kindle Scout program, this may be the landing place for it, although I may shift a few things around so that I don’t have two fairy tales in a three-month stretch. If the book is accepted, I’ll either add something to this slot or leave it open to give myself a breather.

May — “Rocketed to Earth: My True-Life Adventure as a Space Alien”

In 1978, no one was more obsessed with Star Wars in De Pere, Wisconsin than I. I lived and breathed that film, and I took it totally over the deep end. May 4 is Star Wars Day, and I will try to coincide with a release date near it.

June — Short Story Collection

I have a number of fantasy short stories floating around in various collections or available for sale singly through Amazon. In June, I’ll collect a number of them into a single volume, including a new story I’ve not published anywhere else before.

July — “Road Trip: My True-Life Adventure with Summer Vacation”

The memoir blitz continues this month as I release one recounting tens of hours spent in the back of a station wagon traveling to Dayton, Ohio; Front Royal, Virginia; or Kennebunkport, Maine to visit grandparents. Dave and I in the back a station wagon with little to do? What could possibly go wrong?

August — The Sword and the Sorcerer Sequel

I don’t have a title for this book yet, but I’ve gotten some requests to make this original into a series, and I sort of left that possibility open by including a map that defined more of the world than Calibot and his friends occupied. In 2015, I ‘ll start exploring that.

September — “Teacher’s Pet: My True-Life Adventure in School”

I was that kid everyone hated — really smart, breaking the curve, kissing up to the teacher, and acting all smug. As the new school year starts I’ll reflect on being a know-it-all, collecting football cards, getting bullied, and other assorted facets of being the smarty-pants kid.

October — “Inglorious Gridiron: My True-Life Adventure in Football”

Football will be in full swing by the time October rolls around, and I was as obsessed with it as a kid as I am today. I’ll reflect on getting everyone in the neighborhood to buy helmets and jerseys from the Sears catalog, starting a league in the backyard, and totally blowing the Super Bowl with my attitude and temper.

November — Twice in a Lifetime

The new James Bond movie releases in the U.S. the first week in November, and I’ll time the publication of the fifth Wolf Dasher novel to coincide. Wolf pursues Paasdemini across the Gleaming Sea in a vengeance-driven attempt to permanently destroy the corruptive demon.

December — Collected True-Life Adventures

I don’t have a title for this book yet, but it will collect all eight of the previously released mini-memoirs into one volume plus add material to make it worthwhile to those who have been buying the singles. More than an omnibus edition, this book will have a ton of extras to make it fun for those who have been following from the start.

As you can see, I’ve got plans to publish a minimum of 11 books next year. Most of them are short, which will make it easier, and I’ve been keeping pace with writing multiple books at once for the past six weeks or so, making me believe I can do it.

This schedule also allows me to publish a diversified catalog. There are six mini-memoirs plus the collected volume, two fantasies (the short story collection and the SatS sequel), two modern fairy tales, and a Wolf Dasher novel. Thus, I’ll be developing my backlist in each of my lines, so anyone who finds one thing they like from me should be able to get another book in the same style.

Finally, I’ll be churning out new product every four to six weeks, which will hopefully keep my sales momentum going. By the end of 2015, I should have a broad and deep backlist, I can use to promote my lines and new releases going into 2016.

Filed under: e-Publishing Tagged: indie publishing, John Phythyon

Christmas Memoir Available for Pre-Order

And now for something new . . .

A few months ago, Amazon made pre-ordering available for everyone, not just the major publishing houses and the super-successful indies. So I’m giving it a try.

“Naughty & Nice: My True-Life Adventure with Santa Claus” lands December 1. But you can order the second installment in my serialized mini-memoir series in advance. Place your order now, and the book will be automatically delivered to your Kindle on the first.

This short piece tells the story of my childhood with Santa Claus and how I was desperate to catch him, possibly going for a ride in his sleigh. You’ll get to see what it was like for me growing up as a kid in the 1970′s and why it’s miracle I’m alive today to be telling you about it. Plus, you’ll have lots of opportunities to laugh at me.

Click this link to pre-order “Naughty & Nice: My True-Life Adventure with Santa Claus” for only 99 cents. It’s the cheapest present you’ll buy this holiday season (probably)!

And while you’re there, pick up a copy of “Secret Identity: My True-Life Adventure as a Superhero” — the first installment of the series. It’s also only a buck, and you get to read about how I was crazed enough to sneak out of my house wearing a mask and a cape to fight crime when I was only eight years old. Once again, you’ll wonder how I lived long enough to write it all down.

Click this link to buy “Secret Identity: My True-Life Adventure as a Superhero.”

 

Filed under: e-Publishing, Memoir Tagged: Amazon, John Phythyon, Kindle, Naughty and Nice, Santa Claus

Christmas Memoir Cover Reveal

I’ve got another fantastic, Jill Jess cover to unveil! “Naughty & Nice: My True-Life Adventure with Santa Claus” is the second installment in my serialized memoir. In this “chapter” I tell the story of Christmas as a kid in 1970’s Wisconsin, of my frequent falls from Santa’s Nice List to the Naughty one, and of my annual obsession with catching the One, True St. Nick in my living room on Christmas Eve. Here’s the cover:

The book releases December 1, 2014. I’ll be utilizing Amazon’s prerelease program for the first time. As soon as It’s live, I’ll post an announcement, and you’ll be able to place your advance order. Amazon will deliver the book automatically on the first.

Here’s the blurb:

Holiday Hilarity!

Every child adores Santa Claus. Every child dreams of catching Santa in front of their Christmas tree on Christmas Eve, watching him work his magic, and maybe even taking a ride in that famous sleigh.

John Phythyon was not every child.

While every kid dreams of meeting Kris Kringle, John was obsessed. Every year on Thanksgiving Day, he would begin planning mad schemes to catch Santa Claus in the act, determined he would at last meet that jolly, old elf in person. And on December 24, 1977, this annual ritual would finally pay off.

In this laugh-out-loud mini-memoir, John tells the story of Christmas as a Midwestern kid in the 1970’s. He recounts his adventures surviving Wisconsin winters, battling with his brother over who got to look at the Sears Wish Book, of how, despite his best efforts, he kept slipping off Santa’s Nice List and onto the Naughty one, and of his burning desire to meet the One, True Santa Claus in action. If you liked Jean Shepherd’s A Christmas Story, you’ll love this quick, hilarious read about a child who took meeting Santa way too far. Funny, charming, and sentimental, “Naughty & Nice: My True-Life Adventure with Santa Claus” is a perfect holiday treat that conjures up the spirit of Christmases past.

Filed under: Memoir Tagged: Christmas, John Phythyon, memoirs, Naughty and Nice, Santa Claus

NaNoWriMo Means Lots of Projects

It’s National Novel Writing Month! Across the globe, amateur and professional authors alike are attempting to write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days.

I’m not officially participating this year. I don’t have a book on the burner I’m trying to get written by November 30.

However, that isn’t stopping me from capitalizing on the spirit of NaNoWriMo to get a lot done. Here’s an update on the irons I’ve got in the fire and how they’re progressing.

“Secret Identity: My True-Life Adventure as a Superhero”

I kicked off NaNoWriMo by publishing my first memoir. This 12,000-word short tells the story of my obsession with superheroes as a kid and how I took it to its logical extreme by dressing up in cape and mask and sneaking out of the house one night when I was eight years old.

It’s been out less than a week and has already garnered four reviews — three of them five-star. It’s only going for 99 cents, and you can probably read it in only one or two sittings. Get it here.

“Naughty & Nice: My True-Life Adventure with Santa Claus”

The second installment in my mini-memoir series covers my obsession (I had a lot of them as a kid) with catching Santa Claus as a child. On December 24, 1977, Claus was in our house, and I was there to spring the trap!

I’ve completed three drafts of this book and will begin work on the fourth draft today. It is scheduled for a December 1 release, and I am on track to make that happen. I would like to offer it for pre-sales through Amazon’s new prerelease program, and I hope to have it up by the beginning of next week to make that happen.

Little Red Riding Hoodie: A Modern Fairy Tale

My quest to capitalize on the early development of Amazon’s Kindle Scout program continues apace. I just finished the second draft of this novel yesterday. I’ve now penned two complete drafts in just 21 days. Take that, NaNoWriMo! I’ve sent the book to editing, and I am hoping I can have it edited, rewritten, and polished by the end of next week. That’s a really ambitious schedule, but nothing about my plans for this book has been unambitious, so I may as well keep my feet to the fire.

“An Unexpected Blessing”

This 2400-word short story is a for a collection by Five59 Publishing. They’re the same folks who so kindly published my creepy piece, “Closet Fears” in 13 Bites, Volume II (get it here). The next book, Winter Tales, is holiday themed, and I’m hoping to have “An Unexpected Blessing” included.

I’ve gotten through three drafts and have it in editing for a fourth. Deadline is November 21, so I’m on schedule for that to happen too.

Early 2015

I have releases planned for January (“Domestic Disturbance: My True-Life Adventure with Sibling Rivalry”) and February (The Secret Thief: A Modern Fairy Tale), but I haven’t yet begun serious work on those projects yet. The good news is both have earlier drafts from a few years ago, so I’m not starting from scratch. H0wever, I’ll need to get going quickly on them if I want to make my planned schedule. More news on those as they develop.

That’s how I’ve been spending my NaNoWriMo thus far. How about you?

Filed under: Little Red Riding Hoodie, Memoir, NaNoWriMo, Writing Tagged: John Phythyon, memoirs, NaNoWriMo, Secret Identity

Now that Memoir is Out, the Panic Begins

And now it’s time to start panicking.

After months of writing, rewriting, and dealing with a minor technical glitch with Amazon’s publishing platform, the first installment in my new mini-memoir series, “Secret Identity: My True-Life Adventure as a Superhero,” is finally available! At last everyone will be able to read what sort of idiot I was as an eight-year-old boy growing up in Northeast Wisconsin. (Answer: The kind who snuck out of the house to fight crime as a masked hero like Batman.)

So why the panic? It’s pretty simple.

What if people think I’m weird?

Well, I guess that would be normal. People have thought I was weird my whole life.

What I mean is, what if people read this thing and look at me like maybe I shouldn’t be allowed to walk around in public without a doctor’s supervision? What if they think I’m crazy?

I’m a first-time memoirist, so this is all new to me, but I’m told by friends of mine who’ve been doing it longer that this is not an unusual sensation. After all, this is the story of my life. I don’t always look good in it.

It’s one thing to put a work of fiction out there. If people don’t like it, they can insult my skill as a storyteller or my creativity, but there’s a level of distance there.

But this is my life. If people don’t like it, they’re judging me not as a writer but as a person. That’s scary!

On top of that, I’ve deliberately written this memoir as a series of comic essays. They’re supposed to make the reader laugh.

So what if they’re not actually funny? Does that mean I’m a poor comedian? Does it mean my life wasn’t actually funny — that something is wrong with me for thinking so?

Life as a creative person is a constant battle against crushing self-doubt. Writing a memoir is inviting even more of those sinister demons out to play.

But in the end, I thought there was something to this. People like reading memoirs and people like reading comedy. So maybe some of those people will like reading mine. And there is the always interesting exercise of trying to put past events into some sort of perspective.

So I’m releasing my true-life adventures into the world. People may judge me, but they always have.

Hopefully, a few of those verdicts will be positive.

You can get “Secret Identity: My True-Life Adventure as a Superhero” for your Kindle here. It’s only 99 cents!

Filed under: Memoir Tagged: John Phythyon, memoirs, superheroes

How I Write a Book — Final Draft

As promised, I’ve one final installment in my series of getting idea from brain to book. Now that I’ve gotten through five drafts and have the manuscript polished and ready, there’s a couple more steps.

Layout

Because I’m an indie author I have to do more than write and rewrite my manuscripts. I have to handle all the production too.

So once I’ve got a final draft it’s time to go into layout mode. I start with the print edition, which is a little backwards, since the vast majority of my sales come from eBook versions, but there is a method here. Print has a longer lead time on production, and I want to release the electronic and print editions simultaneously, so I have to start with the dead-tree version.

I set my type to Times New Roman. Yes, I know that’s generic and unimaginative, but I do it for several reasons. TNR is clear and easy to read. That’s the first and most important consideration. I could use Georgia or another standard font, but TNR is clean, it reads easily, and it’s economical in terms of space used. I prefer serifed fonts, which is why I choose it over Arial or Helvetica.

There are those who feel anyone who uses TNR is lazy and shouldn’t be read. Maybe. But the funkier you get with fonts, the harder the book can be to read. If a snooty designer-type doesn’t want to read my book because the font is boring, I’m okay with that. If an average reader puts the book down because the frilly font is too hard read, that’s not okay at all. The KISS Principle applies here.

I set my point size for 11, my spacing for 1.5 lines, and I justify the text. I have the chapter headings match whatever font was used for the title on the cover, and I do give a nod to frilly design by drop-capping the first letter of each chapter in the same font as the cover.

I don’t put a lot of frontmatter in my books, but there is the frontispage, copyright page, an “Also by John R. Phythyon, Jr.” page, and a dedication.

The backmatter has an “About the Author” page, acknowledgements, and a back page ad for some of my other books.

The vast majority of my time in layout is spent jacking around with MS Word trying to get the headers correct (my name on left-facing pages, book title on right-facing pages, and no header or page number on the first page of a new chapter), and aligning pages that must be on the right (frontispage, first page of the narrative, “About the Author,” etc.)

Once I’ve got it the way I want it, I upload it to CreateSpace, which converts it to .pdf, and spits it into book format. Then I flip through the electronic preview to make sure any pages that must face right have not somehow switched to the left. (It happens.)

I choose the cream interior instead of white, because I think it’s easier on the eyes. That paper is a little thicker, but I’m all about making the book as easy to read as possible.

With all that done, I’ve got a page count, which allows me to set a spine width for my cover designer. When I’ve got a cover and interior uploaded and approved, I order a physical proof, which takes three to five days to get to me. More on why I do that later.

Layout Again

With the print edition ordered, I turn to the eBook version. Electronic books are pretty easy, but there are a few special considerations to make it read cleanly.

I remove all tabs and set the text to have an automatic indent when a new paragraph starts. The narrative is set at 12-point TNR and the chapter headings are in 14-point TNR bold. Which font I choose is less important here, because the reader is going to set his or her device to display the book in the font and point-size of his or her choice. Thus, I just make sure I have something formatted well, so Kindle doesn’t do something funky with it.

Because eBooks are sold and read differently than print books, I have almost no front matter. Amazon lets you look inside a book to see if you like it, so I make sure you can start reading almost right away. It’s not like at a bookstore, where you can flip through as many pages as you like. There is only a certain amount you can read on Amazon’s free sample. So I cut out most of that extra stuff up front.

Most of my eBooks start on the dedication page. I’m sentimental, so I want people to know to whom I dedicated the book. As soon as you turn the page, though, you’re into the action. (I begin most of my stories in media res for this same reason. I want to hook people in as quickly as possible.) The Wolf Dasher novels are inspired by James Bond films, so I begin them with a prologue, and then you get the title page before diving into Chapter 1. I do that to make them feel like a Bond film.

All of the extra material goes into the backmatter. Because you can click hyperlinks in eBooks, I put in links to my mailing list, requests for reviews, and links to buy the next book in the series in the back. I also include several ads (with clickable links) and opportunities to follow me on Twitter, go to my website, and check out my Facebook page.

Pre-Selling

With the electronic version laid out, I upload it to Amazon’s KDP platform. When the conversion is successful, I page through an electronic preview to make sure nothing weird has happened to the text. The main narrative is usually fine, but things can get tricky with the backmatter.

When I’m satisfied with how it looks, I download a preview version in .mobi format to my computer. I use this as an electronic Advance Reader Copy I can send to reviewers so I can get reviews quickly upon the book’s eventual release.

Proofreading

Before I publish anything, though, I need that print proof I ordered. When it arrives, I sit down and for about the seventh or eighth time, I read the entire book from start to finish.

I’m looking for typos — missing words, misspellings, wrong versions of homonyms, anything we somehow missed in the editing process — and coding errors that may have escaped my attention when I was putting it all together. I make marks in the proof. I could do this with the e-version, but I find I see things better in print. So going through a laid-out print edition one more time allows me to be more accurate in my proofreading.

Then I go through each manuscript — print and electronic — and make those corrections. When they’re finished, I upload new versions and check the electronic previews just to make sure nothing has changed.

Finally — Finally! — it’s time to publish.I click the publish buttons on KDP and CreateSpace, and I’ve got a book for sale within 12 hours.

This is a meticulous and sometimes grueling means of publishing a book. But I demand excellence. I may be an indie author, but I want my books to look and read every bit as well as one from a big, New York publishing house. I’m a professional. I’m asking people to pay for my work, so they deserve something that’s done right.

That’s my process. That’s how I get an idea for a story out of my brain and into a reader’s hands. I keep modifying as I go to improve both my efficiency and the quality of the work. But this complicated, multi-part process is how I write a book.

Filed under: e-Publishing Tagged: ePublishing, indie publishing, John Phythyon

“Secret Identity” Cover Reveal

I’m a little late getting here this time around, but I finally have a cover to unveil for “Secret Identity: My True-Life Adventure as a Superhero.” The first installment of my serialized memoir about childhood in the 1970’s lands on Monday, November 3. (Just six days away!)

Here’s a look at the latest awesome cover by award-winning designer, Jill Jess:

Want to know more about the book? Here’s the blurb:

What happens when an eight-year-old boy decides he wants to be a superhero like the ones he sees on TV? Hilarity!

John Phythyon was not an ordinary kid. Growing up in De Pere, Wisconsin in the 1970’s, he was obsessed with superheroes and adventure. And after reading Alvin Fernald, Superweasel by Clifford B. Hicks in third grade, he was certain he too could become a caped crusader.

In this sidesplitting mini-memoir, the author of The Sword and the Sorcerer , Beauty & the Beast: A Modern Fairy Tale , and the Wolf Dasher series explains his childhood obsession with masked defenders of All That Is Good and True and how he was determined to sneak out of the house one October night in 1976 to join their ranks.

Funny, charming, and sentimental, “Secret Identity: My True-Life Adventure as a Superhero” is a quick read that will have you laughing at the outrageous and totally true adventures of a ’70’s kid whose imagination far outran common sense.

Remember, the book’s out Monday. Make sure you get a copy, so you can laugh at me just like my friends in school did!

Filed under: e-Publishing, Memoir Tagged: John Phythyon, memoirs, superheroes

How I Write a Book — Fifth Draft

Continuing my ongoing series on how I get a book out of my head and on sale, I’ll examine today my fifth draft process.

By now the book has been read twice by my editor and five or six times by me. I’ve massaged the text at least three times and made whatever structural changes were necessary. We’re ready for final polishing.

Read Aloud

To accomplish that, we sit down, and I read the book to her. I read from the fourth draft with my computer open, and she’s got it up on her machine so she can follow along visually while she listens.

The aim here is not so much to find structural problems. We should have gotten those in previous drafts. Here, we’re looking for little things — words that are repeated too often, typos, missing words, awkward phrases. These bugbears are much more obvious when the book is read aloud.

She learned this tactic from a Pulitzer Prize-winner, so I figure there’s something to it.

After having published nine books this way, if there were a part of the process I was going to omit, it would not be this one. Listening to the story, hearing it in my voice, really helps me know if I got it right. I know if something doesn’t sound right. I can tell if the writing is clumsy or unclear. It’s just obvious. This one tactic alone has made me a much better writer since I began indie publishing in 2011.

It also catches things I wouldn’t have seen without the read-aloud. When I was writing the second Wolf Dasher thriller, Red Dragon Five, I found a pretty big logic error. There is a sequence in the novel, where Wolf kills a Phrygian agent and takes his place, so he can infiltrate the bad guy operation.

If you’re not familiar with the series, Phrygia is a fantasy-world version of the Cold War-era Soviet Union. Thus, Phrygians have Russian accents. I write dialogue that is spoken with a foreign accent phonetically. So Wolf imitated a Phrygian (Russian) accent when he posed as the agent he’d killed.

As we were reading those scenes and I was doing my best Ivan Drago accent, I realized something very important. This agent Wolf had killed had himself been infiltrating Wolf’s home country of Urland (essentially Britain and the U.S. mashed together). If he were a Phrygian spy working in Urland, he would be discovered quickly if he spoke accented Urlish. Therefore, he had to sound like he himself was Urlish, speaking with no foreign accent at all. To pass as him, Wolf would have to use his natural accent, not a phony one.

Wolf spends several chapters posing as this character. That meant I had to go back and change a lot of dialogue to read as unaccented. And I wouldn’t have made that catch if we hadn’t been reading the book aloud. Hearing it come out of my mouth made me realize it was wrong.

The read-aloud is sometimes a frustrating process. I’ll get into a flow, and suddenly, she interrupts me, wanting me to go back two paragraphs.

Or she’ll find fault with something that I don’t think is a problem. So then we have to discuss whether and how to change it.

Or we’ll agree there is a problem, but I can’t figure out how to fix it. We sit there, trying to come up with a way to rephrase an awkward clause or come up with an appropriate synonym for a word that’s been repeated too many times.

But my prose is much stronger this way. I write better books. They read well, and we catch the typos, because my editor insists we read them aloud and is unafraid to call out anything with which she has a problem.

Obviously, not every author has this kind of access to his or her editor. You might only see a manuscript once from yours if you have to hire someone freelance you don’t really know.

You don’t have to skip the read-aloud, though. Sit down with a friend, a loved one, or someone who is willing to give you several hours of their time and honest criticism. Read your book to this person, asking them to stop you any time something doesn’t sound right, is confusing, or they notice a typo. The more you hear the narrative, the better you’ll be able to fine tune it.

Moving On

When we’ve finally finished the read-aloud, I’m still not done with a book. It’s now made it through five drafts. Mentally, I’m ready to publish it. By this point, I’ve been living with it for months, and I’m ready to move on — hit publish and focus on the next book on my schedule.

But there are important steps to take to make sure I’m putting a quality product in the marketplace. I’ll look at those next week.

Filed under: Writing Tagged: indie, indie publishing, John Phythyon, read aloud, writing