No Longer a Decoy

So While I goofed on Monday... thought I was visiting... TODAY, I really am...

Why else would the fabulous writer's of Unicorn Bell interview me? Oh, okay, maybe because they're fabulous and Marcy is a blog buddy... but anyway, I am there so you should go over and see me!!!

As for HERE... My work schedule is terrible until Oct 15, so I think twice a week is as much as I might manage blogging...

But if you visit me over at Unicorn Bell, I will do my best to get back to you!!!

I'm a Fire Horse... why NOT a fire unicorn?

This is the Week!!!

I can't believe I'm doing this, but here goes nothing, eh?

Want some of what I've learned? And perhaps more importantly what I've failed to learn but know I need to? I know some of you are eagerly watching, as you have serial plans of your own. I think the serial conversion will be MUCH easier for those of you who've self published before and I will just say, if I were a thinking gal... which I apparently am not... I'd self publish a stand-alone and learn the ropes before committing to this level of chaos.

Then again it is the serials that convinced me I wanted to dive in at all. I will keep publishing mysteries traditionally and haven't decided on my YA stuff. May continue trying that traditionally as well. Or not... See how redundant this is making me? *cough*

Formatting.

Okay, can I just die a little now?

See, uploading to CreateSpace isn't hard, but then figuring out what exactly they've done without pushing publish? Yeah, I don't know how to do that.

So I downloaded Calibre to convert for these early distribution things I've done... and it converts to Kindle pretty easily (once I realized I had to save my Word doc as rtf). But the ePub (for Nook) is a little wonky--page breaks don't read and the acknowledgements did weird things with my apostrophes and quotes... and the PDF is a mess on the iPad, or so I hear. I don't HAVE an iPad.

And if you're a writer, you should probably proof your emails before sending *rolls eyes* luckily the 50 copies I sent all went to people who KNOW me and know how I am.


So what I've done in the last few days:

*  Edited book 2 for my copy editor, Leanne
*  Edited book 3 for 2nd readers.
*  Incorprated changes FROM my copy editor to Book 1

*  Figured out how to upload portions of it, along with cover and description to Goodreads.
(here's a hint--even though I actually have no real intentions of selling paper copies of this, I had to upload and push publish and get my ISB and all to do this... not because it's probably necessary, but because I couldn't figure it out otherwise)

*  Formatted for Kindle and ePub (which covers the rest except iTunes--need a Mac to format for iTunes, it will have to wait) and sent it to about 50 early readers (if you want it, you can have it, too--just shout--I need an email)

* Wrote my acknowledgements and cover copy
*  Wrote the email to go with my sent books (this is the one where about half of you got a few typos)
*  Sent my blogfest info out (it is Thursday by the way, and you still have time to enter. Here are details.).

*  And then last night (which is tonight in my world) I hope I finished the first draft of Book 4

Are you tired yet? I know I am. Thank goodness I have an extra day this weekend!!! I will be around, but maybe not until noon or so...

Why Do I Do This?

So remember how I said I was going to release A Shot in the Light serially? I proceeded to make myself a CALENDAR and some DEADLINES... and I started to research everything I need to do.

Man, this is HUGE!

But I will do it.

My first deadline is TODAY. I need to have the first book first draft READY. And by first draft, this is not really typical... this is the first draft of the BIGGER thing, but the original thing had a first draft last summer. So SOME chapters, this is a first draft... for 7 of 12 chapters, this is NEW (as of the road trip). For 2, I have changed PoV and added some, but taken from the original. And for three, I have just changed from first to third person.

It's invigorating to do.

The overwhelming part was looking into the TOTAL timeline. Because not only do I need to plot MY deadlines, I needed to build in appropriate time for the myriad fantasticos who are helping me. First readers, second readers, and my editor.

So each book has not ONE but SIX deadlines I marked on a calendar, and SOMETIMES, one deadline for one book is the same as a different deadline for a different book... BUT when I broke it into 4 calendars for the different tasks, it isn't quite so much to think about. Everyone but ME really only needs to be on top of their own tasks, after all.

SUSAN KAYE QUINN is a GODDESS

That just needed to be said. Because the OTHER thing I did last week was immerse myself in her very helpful and amazingly organized list of blogs to help self-publishers. Man, she has laid it ALL out there. I am currently in AWE. Though I still feel overwhelmed, I ALSO feel like I have a very good set of guidelines there. Anybody considering self-publishing should GO HERE and you can learn everything you need to know.

I spent MUCH of the day Friday there and I'm only through about half of what I am trying to learn.

Wait... Now How Do I Blog Again?

Halo, fine friends!!! Back from a three week break—the first of that length in my four years of blogging. And I've realized I don't feel like I know what I'm doing anymore. Erm... not that I claim to have ever had full competence...

My trip was GREAT and I will have pictures to share...
I had some experiences, and I have some wisdom to share (stop laughing)...

And I have rejuvenated a project like you would not believe and I am UBER excited about it. So maybe THAT is where I'll start.

A Shot in the Light was mostly written last summer—two months of PACKED writing and my final count was some 127,000 words.

So Ima make it longer...

*cough*

You think I'm kidding? Lemme e'splain... no. Is too much. Lemme sum up...


See, I had a young freelance reporter from Portland, Oregon (Sidney Knight) whose brother works at the CDC... She notices all these dead birds when she is at the beach trying to get a few projects done (Ew, right?) and calls him...

He warns her not to get a flu shot... she gets HOME and realizes this flu thing is much worse than she thought... within days she's lost a friend and lost contact with her brother so she decides she needs to go to Atlanta to figure out what's what...

THAT was the original story...

Working Title is Ill Omens, details in progress

Now I am ADDING:

*  Her nurse friend who flees to avoid the (work required)  flu shot
*  A public health PhD student who is planning the Zombie Apocalypse (seriously... well, sort of)
*  A mercenary who suddenly finds all his buddies are dead...
*  And a senator's daughter/law student who hears some things that make her really uncomfortable.


All these people are 20-somethings... Some of them will have sex. *cough* (is that TMI?) Is it better or worse if I disclose whether it is with each other or not?  These things are so confusing!

Does this make it new adult? I don't know the answer to that... not worrying about it. They are interesting young professionals, mostly... I will call it good.

What I DO know, and what I am SUPER excited about is this serial release thing.

To my original first three chapters I've added seven (and will tease out an 8th—pulling from Sidney, my original MC and giving some of the meat to Sarah, my nurse--for balance mostly--there is an important scene they are both in)--what WAS 46 pages is now 100ish.

I know Susan Kaye Quinn, who I've admitted to stalking, likes each to have a conclusion, and I WILL... but maybe not as solid a conclusion as she does. I am really doing these in the spirit of serials... there is a conclusion--or rather a large theme tied up--but there is ALSO a 'the story continues'. And most of my PoVs will continue into each next segment... except when people die... erm... It IS an epidemic! And WAR!


So do you want to know my PLAN? *BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHA*

Come on. You have to cackle with me if you want to know...

*BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA*

I need to do a couple things this summer:


1) OUTLINE to the end... you know I can't abide pants... But seriously. If I am going to start publishing this, I need to know it is really manageable and I am not going to end up written into a corner. What I mean by outlining is a sentence or two about what each section that the ENTIRE FREAKING THING will have.

2) Have a clean draft of the first six sections written by the end of August. My feedback loop requires I work this far ahead.

3) Through book three peer reviewed and formally edited. (I am actually going to finally PAY Leanne for copy editing and Joris for covers!!! Both have been amazing all this time, helping me for free, but I am going to be asking them to drop everything and help out, and both deserve to finally get the professional recognition they deserve.)

4) I will work up a formal calendar with all my deadlines, as I dig that stuff.

5) I will get an author profile up at Facebook and Goodreads

6) I will do a crash course in self-published formatting and stuff (and stuff to include all the STUFF I need to know--any experts in stuff, give a shout, I need you)

7) I will push PUBLISH for the first of these the first week in September—isn't there a day of the week for new releases? THAT day...

8) The first FOUR will be two weeks apart.

9) The pacing of the rest will be either a month gap, then two weeks apart for three more, month off, two weeks apart (you see what I'm getting at) or three weeks for all...I sort of like the 3X2 with a month break but I can't really explain it to you logically expect I plan to make PoD available for these in a clustered way (first 4, then 3 at a time) and at least for HALF there are thematic splits at these breaks. I am not in enough detail yet in the second half to know if that is still true.


I also need to look at Christmas and stuff... see what paces best if it is 10, they could ALL be ready by then and I could sett sets, but I have my doubts 10 is enough.

I really want to be done at least a month before the release of Keeping Mum so I can concentrate on that in February. I'm not sure right now whether I want 10 total or 13... I'd like ONE freebie, then clusters of three, but I get that it may not work out that way. THIS is part of what the outlining is about.

It's been a while since I was this jacked up about revising... Maybe because part of this process is writing. And MAYBE, just MAYBE part of it is that I wrote all those extra chapters longhand in the car... I need to get my notebook back to the bathtub... I was typing last night and made myself CRY when I'd WRITTEN the bloody thing I was typing. It should NOT have been new information, but it was a heartstring-tugger.

Gratuitous llama kiss because that's how I roll

So now that I am back, I am going to make a better effort as a blog READER... I try to get to people who comment first... and it seems like for AGES that is all I've managed (and that not well)... But work is picking up the pace (on top of having been gone 2.5 weeks)... hopefully it really will be better. Kick me if you feel neglected. I totally don't mean to do that. If you comment, I swear I mean to get to you within the week...

HEY: Question for you savvy folks... especially self-publishers: Are you incorporated? Or have you formed a separate entity for your writing endeavors? That is something I'm considering. I'm thinking if I plan to pay people, it will make this all smoother. Can someone give me a primer on the advantages? Or point to a blog that does it for them?

Insane Thoughts I Have

I maybe ought to just make this a feature, eh?

But this insanity might have some (or at least one) coherent utility point... So see that... I might be insane, but I'm USEFUL!

*cough*

Wool

Have you heard of this series/book? (a video from him)

I believe it is post-apocalyptic, they are claiming 'the next Hunger Games'...

This guy wrote a novelette... didn't promote, but found sort of a cult following... so in NaNoWriMo wrote MORE of them... and Kristen Nelson approached him about foreign rights, movie rights... He'd turned down other agents, but she was saying stuff he didn't think he could do on his own, so he signed with her.

Now he has a movie deal with Ridley Scott... foreign rights up the gazoo, and Simon and Schuster has bought his PRINT rights while letting him keep his digital rights (dream, right?)

I listened to a Simon & Schuster rep, and SHE SAID (cue BIG IDEA) one of the tricks to his success was publishing serially.

Say what?

He has 5 novelettes out, all of them were up for $.99. Except the first... it's free

Now to do novelettes, or as I call them, novellas *rolls eyes* (though it looks like a novelette is shorter than a novella) you need to have full stories in each... but the idea of say... doing a play in 3 acts and having each wind up... that's reasonable, right? So instead of ONE book for $2.99, you sell 3 (totaling $2.97)--so for the READER it is a deal... and as a promoter, you can offer the first free... Now for the AUTHOR, you have to look at this as an investment... the percentage you get too keep of each $.99 book is smaller than for $2.99 books (less than half)... but THINK how many more will try if the first in a series is free and then they can buy... or think about 5 or 7 or 10 books at $.99, instead of stopping your story...

Now not all stories merit that many parts, but when I recently did my list of 'potential works' SEVERAL were apocalypse books. I LOVE the theme... (his are POST-apocalypse... but if it is interesting AFTER the world ends, why not during the end, eh?)

So I am toying with the idea now that 1) Shot in the Light could be published this way... it would work well. It is more than 500 pages, so... in 4 novellas maybe? I already SEE a solid break that I suppose is closer to the 1/3 mark... I can come up with another break... in fact I know where that is, too, when I think on it... okay, it would be in 3...

But the system also fits really well with the one I'm writing, which I am far more inclined to see going on quite a while.

I may not... but I may...

And if I do, it doesn't mean giving up on doing some stuff traditionally at all. I still want to. I just think for THIS kind of thing, the serial format might really rock.


In other news. WANTED: Australian YA Romance Writers!!!!

I neither write romance, nor am in Australia, but it seemed to me I had a number of friends who might be interested in this:

"Random House Australia is launching HOOKED, a hot new digital-first romance imprint for readers aged 15+.

AND WE WANT TO PUBLISH YOUR STORIES."

http://www.randomhouse.com.au/blog/hooked-calling-all-writers-1688.aspx