Karen GoatKeeper's Blog - Posts Tagged "finishing-a-book"
The Strange Feeling of Being Done
The Pumpkin Project is done.
This sounds so simple. After months of work devising puzzles, editing, rewriting and more, it's over. Just. Like. That.
Surely there must be more to do. It can't be done yet.
There is this strange feeling of loss. A feeling of 'what do I do now?'
I suppose I should savor this tiny gap, this bit of vacation. It just feels so strange, as though a good friend has moved away.
Now comes time to form a new relationship. What project is next on the list?
Three come to mind.
Capri Capers awaits a major rewrite. Maybe the rewrite doesn't need to be that drastic. Perhaps I should read through the draft and find out.
November and NaNo is a few short weeks away. I have a novel idea bouncing around in my head trying to coalesce. The outline is short. Can I turn it into 50,000 words? I will try.
Science is a love of mine. How can I not do another little science book? The Water Project is in planning stages.
So much for savoring the completion of The Pumpkin Project.
This sounds so simple. After months of work devising puzzles, editing, rewriting and more, it's over. Just. Like. That.
Surely there must be more to do. It can't be done yet.
There is this strange feeling of loss. A feeling of 'what do I do now?'
I suppose I should savor this tiny gap, this bit of vacation. It just feels so strange, as though a good friend has moved away.
Now comes time to form a new relationship. What project is next on the list?
Three come to mind.
Capri Capers awaits a major rewrite. Maybe the rewrite doesn't need to be that drastic. Perhaps I should read through the draft and find out.
November and NaNo is a few short weeks away. I have a novel idea bouncing around in my head trying to coalesce. The outline is short. Can I turn it into 50,000 words? I will try.
Science is a love of mine. How can I not do another little science book? The Water Project is in planning stages.
So much for savoring the completion of The Pumpkin Project.
Book Add Ons
The book is written. The author can sit back and relax.
Big joke.
The text may be done but the book isn't. The author better keep the computer up and running. It is add on time.
When a reader opens a book, there is a title page. This page doesn't appear by magic. It takes planning. What font fits the story? How big? Is there a graphic to add? How does the title fit along with the author's name on the page?
Turn the page over and all this information is there about the book. Copyright dates, ISBN numbers, publishing rights and other author information like website address.
Is there a dedication? What about a Table of Contents? Ebooks definitely need this along with internal links so the reader can move around in the book easily. Print books need the page numbers.
Then come sections for acknowledgements, author's notes and biography. Each of these must be for this particular book. Even the biography should be gone over and adjusted for the book.
The people in the acknowledgements may want to read this over before it appears in print. Be sure to spell all the names correctly.
One other add on is popular with readers. There should be a list of other books written by the author. If the reader likes this book, another one may appear on the reading list. Should this just list the titles? Perhaps each book should have a short description. Are the titles of a series in order?
Sometimes I think writing the novel is the easy part.
Big joke.
The text may be done but the book isn't. The author better keep the computer up and running. It is add on time.
When a reader opens a book, there is a title page. This page doesn't appear by magic. It takes planning. What font fits the story? How big? Is there a graphic to add? How does the title fit along with the author's name on the page?
Turn the page over and all this information is there about the book. Copyright dates, ISBN numbers, publishing rights and other author information like website address.
Is there a dedication? What about a Table of Contents? Ebooks definitely need this along with internal links so the reader can move around in the book easily. Print books need the page numbers.
Then come sections for acknowledgements, author's notes and biography. Each of these must be for this particular book. Even the biography should be gone over and adjusted for the book.
The people in the acknowledgements may want to read this over before it appears in print. Be sure to spell all the names correctly.
One other add on is popular with readers. There should be a list of other books written by the author. If the reader likes this book, another one may appear on the reading list. Should this just list the titles? Perhaps each book should have a short description. Are the titles of a series in order?
Sometimes I think writing the novel is the easy part.
