A tale about a book
I returned to fiction writing after many years, driven by having almost become redundant in my then paid employment. My first novel, “Reversal Point”, was the result. The initial manuscript had enough pages for two novels. After twice re-writing it, and many self-edits, I got the manuscript down to the length of one modest novel. I published it in 2007 at the invitation of CreateSpace.com after the manuscript became a semi-finalist in the original Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA).
My writing in the book was kindly described by another author, through Authonomy.com, as having “a very sophisticated voice” and the Amazon top reviewer for the ABNA said the book as a whole was “well-crafted”. My brother, Frank Devine, a renowned international journalist and not one who was quick with compliments, summed it up as “terrific”.
You might wonder, then, why I did not leave well alone but decided, this year, to re-write “Reversal Point” and bring out a new version at minimal expense.
The fact is, after writing three more novels I thought my “voice” had become smoother – well, to my ear at least. I wanted “Reversal Point” – as a legacy – to be the best that I could make it, so I did a partial re-write and produced a second edition proof copy through CreateSpace.
There were a few hitches in that process. The text on the cover pages came out off centre in the proof – a technical hitch that CreateSpace then kindly fixed. And the title page came out on the left side instead of the right. Then, when I did a manual proof-reading, I decided I hadn’t done enough work on getting it “perfect”. I carried out a hand-written self-edit of the proof copy then converted the editorial changes into type and am now doing what I hope will be a final edit and proof-reading of the manuscript.
It’s been an interesting experience, with times when I got disheartened and wished I hadn’t had the idea of bringing out a second edition. And it’s all meant that I’ve had to put on hold giving the finishing touches to my next novel “Island of Regrets”.
My writing in the book was kindly described by another author, through Authonomy.com, as having “a very sophisticated voice” and the Amazon top reviewer for the ABNA said the book as a whole was “well-crafted”. My brother, Frank Devine, a renowned international journalist and not one who was quick with compliments, summed it up as “terrific”.
You might wonder, then, why I did not leave well alone but decided, this year, to re-write “Reversal Point” and bring out a new version at minimal expense.
The fact is, after writing three more novels I thought my “voice” had become smoother – well, to my ear at least. I wanted “Reversal Point” – as a legacy – to be the best that I could make it, so I did a partial re-write and produced a second edition proof copy through CreateSpace.
There were a few hitches in that process. The text on the cover pages came out off centre in the proof – a technical hitch that CreateSpace then kindly fixed. And the title page came out on the left side instead of the right. Then, when I did a manual proof-reading, I decided I hadn’t done enough work on getting it “perfect”. I carried out a hand-written self-edit of the proof copy then converted the editorial changes into type and am now doing what I hope will be a final edit and proof-reading of the manuscript.
It’s been an interesting experience, with times when I got disheartened and wished I hadn’t had the idea of bringing out a second edition. And it’s all meant that I’ve had to put on hold giving the finishing touches to my next novel “Island of Regrets”.
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