David R. Michael's Blog, page 34

Writing Progress Report

 
Writing progress report for the week starting Monday, February 28, 2011.
 








Writing Project


Words




Monday


Edited "Encounter".
Line edited "Encounter".







Tuesday


Line edited Door Sky chapter 1.







Wednesday


Line edited Door Sky chapter 2, 3, 4, 5.







Thursday


Proofed Door Sky chapters 1-5.







Friday


GoSH1


311




Saturday


Adjusted my daily writing production goals.







Sunday


Line edited Door Sky chapter 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

















Total



311




 








Marketing/Submission




Monday


Updated DC promo threads on KB, NB, and MR.
Sent "Encounter" to first readers.




Tuesday


Updated TSF promo threads on KB, NB, and MR.




Wednesday


Updated HG promo threads on KB, NB, and MR.
Added "Free Ebooks" page to the blog.




Thursday


Added MOBI and EPUB versions of NBSS to Free Ebooks page.




Friday





Saturday





Sunday





 
Reading List

The Torment of Others by Val McDermid.

 

Publishing Seemed Less Work When I Didn't Know Any Better

 
Now I know better. Or I think I do.
 
Let's just say I'm learning on the job and (hopefully) improving as I go.
 
Every story, novel, or collection I release, I learn something new. Which means I see how I could have done a better job after I release the work. Then I try to remember that for the next work. Which means, so far, every new publication requires the same or more time and energy than the one before it.
 
Here are the tasks I've learned/added as I've gone along:

Simplify the formatting in the base Word doc, including the front matter and back matter. Most such formatting is wasted in ebook form, anyway, and too much formatting (different font sizes, font faces, etc) confuses the conversion software.
Line edit/copy edit. I do a reasonably good job editing, but I don't always see the less obvious things. I use Serenity Software's Editor, and that catches most mechanical issues as well as helps me tighten the copy (e.g., just use "She stood" instead of the slightly redundant "She stood up").
Proof read. After I line edit, I have to go back and make sure that everything still makes sense. Many of the line edits are done with a tight focus on one sentence. A proof read helps me see the changes in the larger context.

 
Those are just the editing/document preparation tasks. If I'm going to put out the story as a print-on-demand paperback, I've learned to:

Verify page numbers (even on the left, odd on the right).
Maximize word count on the page (minimize margins).
Calculate the exact spine width for the cover.
Check the printed proof before approving the project for sale.

 
I didn't really believe it before, but now I know it to be true: There really such a thing as "book design".
 
Covers have actually been the source of least issues (except for when me and CreateSpace have disagreed about the spine width; and that was my fault). I pay Don to take care of the covers, ebook and POD. I provide some initial comments and concepts, he applies artistic skill, and my covers magically appear. It's wonderful.
 
In addition to all the above, there are also the chores of paying bills (proof copies, cover art, etc), tracking expenses (usually per project, but there are some expenses that are general purpose), recording royalty payments (from 4 separate sources), and the myriad little tasks that afflict any business.
 
As much as I can, I automate the tasks, or create templates that simplify things. Some tasks, though, like line editing, can't be automated, but that's OK. Overall, I enjoy what I'm doing.
 
I would say the biggest lesson I've learned since last September's release of "Nostalgia", my first ebook, is this: Writing ain't publishing.
 
But I think that's a subject for a future post.
 
Have a good weekend!
 
-David
 

Doubling Down

 
My February book sales were lackluster. Approaching dismal. Perhaps even a touch depressing.
 
On the bright side, though, I did sell copies of almost everything in my oeuvre.
 
I was already planning to release my short novel The Door to the Sky in March. That will keep The Summoning Fire and The Girl Who Ran With Horses company (as in, it's also a novel; it's not like either one of those books, though). Now, with an eye to adding still more titles to my growing list, I'm also pulling together six new short story ebooks. Four of these stories had early drafts posted here on the blog, but two of them have never been seen before (except by those lucky souls I call my "first readers").
 
Maybe March will be another slow sales month for me, but it won't be from lack of trying.
 
Because I've decided to only check my sales on the first of the month, I won't know how March is going until April 1 (which might be appropriate). Not checking but once a month is useful, really. Seeing a slow month happen (or not happen) in real time is a lot of emotional wear and tear that I just don't need.
 
In other news, I haven't worked on GoSH1 this week due to depressed (and depressing) February sales and a handful of Life's Little Surprises that cropped up all at once. Also, I'm trying to get The Door to the Sky edited and ebooked ASAP. I will be pushing forward on GoSH1, though, and still plan to be done with it before the end of March. (Which once again reminds me I need to figure out what I'm writing after GoSH1…)
 
Have fun!
 
-David
 

Book Giveaway Reminder

 
Just a quick reminder that I'm giving away 3 trade paperbacks this month. You have until next Monday (7 March) to sign up over at GoodReads.
 
Win a FREE Signed Copy of The Girl Who Ran With Horses!
 
Enter from now through Monday, March 7, to win a FREE copy of The Girl Who Ran With Horses !
 
1 FREE signed copy of The Girl Who Ran With Horses in trade paperback will be given away.
 
Click Here to Enter
 
It's summer vacation and all 13-year-old Stevie Buckbee wants is to be close to her family again and to ride her horses–especially Jack Rabbit, her first horse all her own. But past tragedies threaten her plans before the summer has a chance to begin. Even as she discovers that she is somehow able to communicate with Jack Rabbit and the other horses on the family ranch, she finds she can no longer get through to her Dad and brother Blake. And what good is it to be able to run with the horses if no matter how fast and how far she runs, everything she knows and loves is lost?
 
Click Here to Enter
 
Win a FREE Signed Copy of The Summoning Fire!
 
Enter from now through Monday, March 7, to win a FREE copy of The Summoning Fire!
 
1 FREE signed copy of The Summoning Fire in trade paperback will be given away.
 
Click Here to Enter
 
All Reese Howard has left is pain–and a pump-action shotgun. Sam is dead. The Old Man killed her right in front of Reese, a blood sacrifice to fuel his latest powerplay in Hell on Earth. Reese hopes the Old Man made a mistake, leaving her alive and armed. But she doubts it. He knows she's coming. The bastard has to know. Whatever. Reese plans to make him pay. And she plans to die trying.
 
Click Here to Enter
 
Win a FREE Signed Copy of Demon Candy!
 
Enter from now through Monday, March 7, to win a FREE copy of Demon Candy!
 
1 FREE signed copy of Demon Candy in trade paperback will be given away.
 
Click Here to Enter
 
Four linked stories of Hell, and Life, and Life in Hell. Illustrated with paintings by Don Michael, Jr.
 
"Summer Breeze" – The demon Jike decides he needs a change.
 
"Inferno" – Undead hellcat Canto gets a night out on campus of lust and gluttony and the other deadly sins.
 
"Sweet Tooth" – Donut baker Ted Millet, divorced and broke, has a new customer that makes his ex-wife seem almost human.
 
And in the novella "Afterimage" Emily M-Something March, dead and damned for thirty years, finds herself back in her home town with a fifty-foot demon looking for her.
 
Click Here to Enter
 
-David
 

Writing Progress Report

 
Writing progress report for the week starting Monday, February 21, 2011.
 








Writing Project


Words




Monday


GoSH1


3133




Tuesday


GoSH1


2298




Wednesday


GoSH1


2029




Thursday


GoSH1


1012




Friday


GoSH1


230




Saturday


Edited Door Sky.







Sunday


















Total



8702




 








Marketing/Submission




Monday





Tuesday





Wednesday





Thursday





Friday





Saturday





Sunday


Updated all Amazon links on G&M to have my associate ID.




 
Reading List

The Wire in the Blood by Val McDermid.

 

Cover Tease

 
New cover on the way. Here's a small part of the whole:
 

 
More to come.
 
-David
 

Do I Count Every Word? You Bet Your Sweet Bippy

 
Here is my word count tracking from today:
 
GoSH1 chapter 5 starting: 1675
Target: 4675 (or EOC)
Ending: 3942 (2267)
Chapter 3 starting: 3964
Ending: 3987 (23)
Chapter 1 starting: 2701
Ending: 2703 (2)
Chapter 4 starting: 3061
Ending: 3067 (6) [2298]
 
I'm writing in chapter 5, which is why that one is on top and has an actual target assigned. As I write, though, and think of changes/additions to chapters already written, I then record the starting and ending word count for those chapters too.
 
Because, yes, I count every word.
 
-David
 

Walking the Path

 
I outline my novels before I start writing. I've mentioned this before. I spent 2 weeks doing it recently. So I doubt this is news. I've also used the following quote many times:
 
"…there's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path." –Morpheus (The Matrix)
 
I love that quote because it neatly encapsulates my experience with outlining a novel, then writing the novel from the outline.
 
Sure, I know where I'm going, and I even have a plan for how to get there. But just like no battle plan survives contact with the enemy and just like tracing your finger on a map from Barstow, California, to Wilmington, North Carolina, in no way represents actually driving along I-40 and what you'll see along the way, having an outline and writing from it are two different things.
 
The past few days of writing I've been struggling with something that seemed easy when I planned it. I bring the three main characters of GoSH1 together with (what I hope is) a bang. And since all three characters are main characters, and don't know each other at the beginning of the novel, I thought it would be cool to write the introductory scene from all three viewpoints. Each character witnesses and responds to the event and the other characters individually before coming together later on. Each character ends up only seeing a part of what happened, and through their eyes one after the other the reader begins to realize what's going on in the bigger picture. The idea sounded good and that's what I plotted out. Even looked OK in outline form.
 
The obvious challenge with such a thing is keeping the actions and dialogue in sync. That's not too difficult, though, and even helps pad word count some as you reuse dialogue.
 
A bigger challenge is making all three versions of the event interesting. Not only do the characters need to be introduced, the overall plot needs to be moved forward and/or hinted at in a way that builds tension even though the reader already knows what's going to happen.
 
I expect the first 4-5 chapters of the book are going to require some editing and re-syncing before I'm done.
 
After the opening, the story follows a much more traditional, linear approach, as the characters have been brought together.
 
Or, at least, I that's what I have in my outline…
 
-David
 

Writing Progress Report

 
Writing progress report for the week starting Monday, February 14, 2011.
 








Writing Project


Words




Monday


GoSH1


3014




Tuesday


GoSH1


658




Wednesday


GoSH1


1749




Thursday


Junebug is a boy!







Friday


GoSH1
Responded to email interview questions.


705




Saturday








Sunday


















Total



6126




 








Marketing/Submission




Monday





Tuesday





Wednesday


Posted "Secondhand Coffin" to Guns & Magic. And to the SSC2011 review forum.




Thursday


Reviewed Door Sky cover concepts.




Friday


Reviewed more Door Sky cover concepts.




Saturday





Sunday





 
Reading List

Max Brand, Western Giant: The Life and Times of Frederick Schiller Faust by William F. Nolan.

 

A Week in Review; or "Oh, Look! Shiny!"

 
I'm up to chapter 4 in GoSH1. I didn't hit my word count goals this week. Next week, though, is a new week.
 
Don sent me the first concept pictures for the new cover art. They look really cool, I think. The cover for Door Sky will be more abstract than my other covers. I'm looking forward to how it comes out.
 
In news totally unrelated to writing, but that will have an impact on my writing for the foreseeable future: The family and I discovered yesterday that Junebug (the "project name" for the baby-on-the-way) is a boy. We're all very excited.
 
A short interview with me was just posted at FictionLovers.org:
Interview with David Michael
 
I've had some good responses to "Secondhand Coffin" over on the SSC2011 Review forums. I'm particularly fond of the phrase "taut, gripping story".
 
A few hundred people have signed up for each of the three book giveaways over on Goodreads. I've learned that if you put the end date of the giveaway further out, signups come in more slowly. Still, a few hundred each is good, and I'm sure as the end date (7 March) comes around things will pick up. Here are the giveaway signup links again:

Demon Candy
The Summoning Fire
The Girl Who Ran With Horses

 
Also, I have successfully *not* checked my reports at Amazon KDP, B&N PubIt, or Smashwords since 5 February. With minimal withdrawal symptoms. Just over two weeks to go. I'll make it. I might even be used to not checking by then.
 
So, some successes this week, and some sloughing off.
 
Have a great weekend!
 
-David