Being an author is easy right?
Being an author wasn’t as easy as I first thought. When I landed my first publishing contract, the editing process was a lot simpler and everything seemed to flow right into place. Granted, some of the decisions made were taken out of my hands, like the less than average cover, but mostly I had a say in what I did. This time, I still have my own say, absolutely I do; but wow, I have a lot to learn about being an author and being a good one at that.
When Grimbold Books came along and snapped up my talents I was over the moon. Their catalogue has come a long way since I originally submitted “James Knight and the Orb of Ziarn” to them and my book fits nicely into their list like it always belonged there.
When my edits came back, I was hoping that I wouldn’t have much to do at all, I mean it was edited before right and it was good enough right? WRONG, oh so wrong. One of the questions my editor asked was,
“Is this a first draft?” Ouch.
No, it wasn’t. It was a third draft! I read the editor notes and my heart instantly shattered into tiny fragments. She’d ripped my pride and joy apart, and I felt like my world had crashed down around me as two whole years of blood, sweat and tears was regarded as basic work.
I closed the email and left the edited manuscript in a folder to stagnate. I didn’t want to touch it. I was horrified by some of the questions asked and the changes suggested. No one was going to tell me what to do.
Months passed and it suddenly struck me in a book shop that I was being a complete tool. The vast volume of Paranormal romance glared at me from the shelves and I remembered why I’d written the book in the first place – So that I could bring something fresh and exciting to the Young Adult market.
My “Big boy” pants were ripped from the wardrobe and slung on, I had work to do.
As it stands, I’m about halfway through the edits, and I won’t lie, some I agree with, some I don’t, some I’ve reluctantly changed and gone with. Part of being a “professional” is to decide when you need to let your pride go and take advice from someone who’s been doing this long before you even considered it and who’s edited some of the best books you’ve read. One of which is now up for a Gemmell award!
My aim is to have the whole thing done by the end of June and sent back to the editor for her to sob uncontrollably into a glass of wine as she realises I’ve made it even worse.
As updated go, I know it’s been a long time coming, but that’s mainly where we are with the re-publish of “James Knight and the Orb of Ziarn.”
The sequel – it has a title now, but I’m not revealing it yet, is 80% done. I’m on the home straight, but there’s a chance that it won’t quite be finished anytime soon. I have a novella that I’m working on which focuses on Valeria’s origins, which is something I’m finding very exciting! However, with the addition of that back story and some of the re-writes for book one, it seems the sequel will need a complete re-write itself.
The new cover for “Orb of Ziarn” has been discussed and I have an artist working on that for me. She’s absolutely amazing, so expect the cover to reflect her skills. I also commissioned another artist to do some sketches to add to a project the publisher and I have come up with and they are sublime. I want to share them with you, but my publisher will literally take a finger/hand/arm. So you’ll have to wait a bit longer for them.
Hopefully by the end of June, a huge leap in progress would have been made. I’ll try to be more on top of things, and this blog.
-Allan
