Richard Phillips's Blog, page 10

Signed Book Plates

I have had many people ask about the availability of signed books. Other than at book signings, this presents a variety of problems. The first is the additional cost to fans … not only the cost of the books but the additional cost of my repackaging and shipping the books to readers. One of my UK fans came up with a great solution which involved me signing book plates (think small cards that say something like From The Library Of … followed by my signature), which are then placed or taped inside the cover of the book the reader has already purchased.

If you are interested in getting a set of signed book-plates for my novels, I will be glad to provide those for free. All you need to do is send a request to my email account ( richard.phillips@secondship.net ) and I will sign and mail them to you at no charge. If you would like it to be personalized to someone, just let me know what you would like it to say.

It is my way of saying Thank You to all of you fans who make what I do possible.

Richard

Are You an Alpha?

Hello hardy adventurers.

As many of you know, I have offered my free Beta Reader program for the last several Rho Agenda novels. The gist being that my early readers get to read the draft that goes to my editors and give me feedback prior to going final on the novel. That said, I have recently begun an exciting experiment.  I have launched my Alpha Reader project.  Anyone who registers for my Alpha Reader program gets an episodic update of the first draft.  They get to see the sausage being made.

What happens is that I send out the rough draft, episode by episode.  The upside is that you get the very first take on everything. The downside is that I will change directions, add, change, or delete chapters midstream.  The second upside is that you get to be a part of it. I truly pay attention to my fans.  It doesn’t mean that I  take every suggestion, but I think about every suggestion. And even if I don’t use it, it becomes a part of the whole story … even if it is backstory.

If you are willing to take part in this experimental project that will become The Rho Agenda Assimilation trilogy, I welcome you.

Best,

Richard

Banned in China

Apparently Dead Shift was hitting a little too close to home for the Chinese Government censors.  Looks like that’s the only one of the six Rho Agenda novels to be banned from Amazon’s China site.

Banned in China

Bob Mayer’s Excellent Take on Theme and Intent

I saw this from my buddy, Bob Mayer, and wanted to share it.  Excellent stuff for all you aspiring writers out there.

Theme and Intent– Craft Tuesday at Write on the River.

Dead Shift ~ Rho Agenda Inception #3 #JackGregory #Thriller @RhoAgenda #wwwblogs

Originally posted on :

Author: Richard Phillips
Performed by MacLeod Andrews
Published: May 2015 by Brilliance Audio
Category: Crime/Thriller/Suspense, Supernatural, Sci-fi

In this page-turning sci-fi adventure, the NSA’s most brilliant hacker is abducted and the world stands on the brink of cyberwar. The Ripper and his ghost team commandos are called to action, battling a host of enemies ranging from a genius tech-billionaire and the Chinese government to an emerging superintelligence capable of bringing the world to its knees. With every threat in play, Jack must confront his alien passenger and regain some semblance of self-control. As the origins of the Rho Agenda come to light, Jack struggles to embrace his destiny. But how can even one such as he prevail against an existential threat to humanity?

Jamal Glover is the best of the NSA’s elite team of hackers, known as the Dirty Dozen, who work in the War Room at the NSA headquarters…

View original 677 more words

Beta Reader Signup

Hi all.  I know many of you are signed up for my free Beta Reader program.  For those other brave souls who are interested in reading the completed rough draft of Book One of The Rho Assimilation as soon as I have it ready to go, I’m taking sign-ups now.  If you are interested in being added to my Beta Readers list, send an email to me at Richard.Phillips@secondship.net

All I ask of my Beta Readers is to provide general feedback about what you thought of the draft and any egregious errors that really bugged you … my editor catches most but sometimes I make a mistake that only my Beta readers catch.  An example of this was my initial description of how the NSA’s quantum computer worked in DEAD WRONG, but I’ve also made significant changes to the initial draft based on general feedback.  It all helps.

By the way, anyone who is a past Beta Reader and would like to be removed from my list can also send me an email and I’ll remove you from my list.

Best

Richard

Dead Shift Audiobook Available 3 Days Before Release

Audible.com has made MacLeod Andrews’ magnificent performance of Dead Shift available for download 3 days prior to release.  Visit Audible.com and search for DEAD SHIFT.

Announcing New Alpha Reader Program

For a limited time, anyone interested in receiving periodic updates to my initial draft of Book One of The Rho Assimilation, can sign up for the program by sending an email to me at:

Richard.Phillips@SecondShip.net

requesting to be added to my Alpha Readers list.  I will also need your kindle’s email address (something@kindle.com) and you will need to add my email to your Amazon account’s approved document sender’s list.

All I ask is that you provide me your general impressions and thoughts on the draft and that you not share it outside of your immediate family.  A word of caution is in order … all first drafts are ugly babies that, once finished, undergo significant revision to turn them into wondrous things of beauty.

This warrants a short comment on my writing process and why such feedback is very valuable to me. When I first started writing, I got into a state where I would write a section of a novel and then go back and rework that, write another section and go back and rework all that had come before. You can see where this is going. It eventually brought me to a dead stop. That’s when my lovely wife, Carol, got frustrated and told me … “Just finish the damn thing. You can fix it later.” Best advice I ever got.

So now I start by putting together all the major plot points I want to hit for the main plot and major subplots, then charge straight on through to the end of the first draft. Then, I come back and take a hard look at sections that need more setup, or scenes later in the book that need to be foreshadowed earlier, or even significant areas that don’t quite make sense and need to be rewritten, and I add those things. I also look for scenes that don’t add much and merely slow the pacing and give them the ax.

In that regard, I’ve been using comments from my Beta readers (the readers of my second draft) for years, giving everything a hard second look. And while I don’t go with every idea or suggestion, I definitely give them a lot of thought.

With these novels, I want to get that feedback started earlier, saving the comments I receive to review prior to starting my second draft. This will help me improve the Beta Reader experience and speed the overall production of the finished novel.

Best,

Richard

New DEAD SHIFT Release Date

I’m happy to announce that my publisher has moved up the release of DEAD SHIFT from June 30th to May 19th.

Final Chance for my Free Beta Reader Draft of DEAD SHIFT.

I’m pleased to announce the last go-round of my free Beta Reader Program for DEAD SHIFT. I just need you to add my email address (Richard.phillips@secondship.net) to your Amazon account’s Approved Document Senders list and then email me with your kindle’s email address (something@kindle.com).  Then I will push the free Beta draft to your device.  All I ask is that you not share this draft beyond your immediate family and that you let me know your general impressions of the novel.

Best,

Richard Phillips