How e-Publishing Saved Me

On October 3, 2012October 3, 2012 By Dan HarrisIn Self-Publishing, WritingLeave a comment

An inspiring piece from Kealan Patrick Burke on how self-publishing kickstarted a writing career he’d thought dead.

“In September of 2010, I put The Turtle Boy and some short stories up for sale. I followed it with The Hides, and eventually the other books in the Timmy Quinn series. By the end of the year, I’d managed to sell a grand total of 101 books, and made $134.00. And I was pleased. My expectations going into it had been grounded and realistic, because if my almost a decade in the small press had taught me anything, it was that lightning in a bottle is usually something that happens to other people. Try to duplicate it and you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. And this was alien territory for me. So when I started, I expected nothing to happen, that my books would remain just as forgotten in their digital box as their physical counterparts had. When the books started to sell a copy here and there, I was delighted. The sales were just enough to cover the gas bill every month, and I thought that was pretty damn cool.”

Super Monday Morale Boost: Activate

On October 1, 2012October 24, 2012 By Dan HarrisIn Writing3 Comments

Got a wonderful bit of feedback from Misti this morning. When I fired off my edited MS to her on Saturday night, I mentioned how baffled I was that she hadn’t given me any notes on the storyline, or characterisation–you know, the broader strokes of the novel. I was a bit worried that I’d accidentally bought the wrong editing service, and got just copyediting instead of developmental/structural/content editing.

Instead, I received this gem in Misti’s reply, which has absolutely made my day.

“As for the content question, you might remember me commenting on your outlining during your phone call, and asking about your reading habits. I didn’t notice any issues with the storyline, and the only character issues I noticed were the speech patterns. You’re quite right that so few content issues is unusual for first books.”

And… Send

On September 29, 2012September 29, 2012 By Dan HarrisIn Sci-Fi and Fantasy, WritingLeave a comment

Twenty-three chapters edited. 618 comments addressed. Several thousand words rearranged, deleted or replaced with better words. A manuscript that’s never been slimmer or more beach-beautiful.

Back to Misti it goes.

We’re getting close, people.

Ascension Point Edit Update: Editing is Super-Satisfying

On September 27, 2012October 24, 2012 By Dan HarrisIn Sci-Fi and Fantasy, WritingLeave a comment

I’m ten chapters of twenty-three through Misti’s edit of ASCENSION POINT, and loving it. Every comment and suggestion makes sentences, scenes, chapters just so much… tighter. The story is getting leaner and meaner by the minute.

Less:

(Caveat: Book is not as funny as Jonah Hill.)

I’m super-excited about getting the edits finished this week, and I’ve got plenty of time on my hands to do it as lovely wife is in New York for a conference. Once I’m done, it’s back to Misti for an edit of my changes, then back to me, back to her, etc. until THE CHANGES ARE NO MORE. And then, oh boy.

Publishing time.

The Importance of Cover Art

On September 25, 2012September 25, 2012 By Dan HarrisIn Self-Publishing, Writing4 Comments

‘Never judge a book by its cover’ goes the old proverb. Which is frankly ridiculous, because how else is a book going to attract a reader?

“Oooh, shiny,” says the potential reader, his mouse cursor speeding towards the ‘Buy with 1-Click’ button.

It’s been a long-held adage in the self-publishing world–well, as long as that’s been around, so about 5 years–that having a professional-quality cover for your work is an absolute must. In case you were doubtful, this article has some industry professionals backing up that advice, along with some interesting observations on reader psychology.

I’m not sure why the title of the article says 2013, though. Did I miss the last few months of 2012 somehow?

(Via Passive Voice.)

‘Envisioning Technology’ Predicts Tech Developments to 2040

On September 23, 2012 By Dan HarrisIn WritingLeave a comment

Fascinating, inspiring stuff. Personally, I’m looking forward to moving into an arcology in 2039 and dosing up on anti-aging drugs.

Best viewed here.

Delightful Interview with China Mieville

On September 20, 2012September 20, 2012 By Dan HarrisIn Sci-Fi and Fantasy, WritingLeave a comment

At the Guardian, here. He’s one of my absolute favourite authors, a really wonderful storyteller.

I’m also super-impressed and delighted that the 12-year-old interviewer asked this question:

‘On a recent visit to a 16th century house called East Riddlesdon Hall, I found an early Victorian child’s sampler that used the ampersand (&) as a full stop. Have you ever come across this before and do you have any idea why they might have done this?

I have never heard of this, and I am quite fascinated. And troubled: my typographical philosophy is being shaken.’

Perfect.

Pro Editors: They Tell You Things You Didn’t Know

On September 20, 2012October 24, 2012 By Dan HarrisIn Writing8 Comments

‘Dictionary counts “then” as a subordinating conjunction itself, so it can be used without “and” to form a dependent clause.’

This is one of the 619 (!) comments which the lovely Misti from RedAdept gave me on ASCENSION POINT. Over the course of our hour-and-forty-five-minute chat yesterday–now that’s value for money!–I got the most concentrated lesson in grammar that I’ve ever had, as well as a ton of other excellent feedback. Phenomenal.

I’m still processing everything, but here are some snippets:

I really like using dashes. Like, all the time. Even when I should be using ellipses, or colons, or periods.
I’m far too busy and important to spell words consistently. See: light-year, lightyear, light year.
I’m generally good at POV! Yay for me! But not so good at maintaining a single POV in scenes with several of my POV characters: it sometimes gets a bit muddled.
Authorial intrusion FTW. Or: I’m not always great at keeping the narrative sections of a scene in keeping with the POV character’s voice. A key lesson.
Scene transitions need some work. Too often it takes a few paragraphs before it becomes clear to the reader where the story is, and who the POV character is. Or as Misti put it, “Who? What? Where?” 🙂
Dashes vs. ellipses. Phrases vs. clauses. Independent clauses vs. dependent clauses. Commas with modifiers. Commas with conjunctions. Phew!
Unnecessary verbiage, e.g. ‘Emitting a yowl.’ Yowl is already a verb, Dan. Tut tut.
Pacing needs some work. More shorter sentences in dramatic sections to build tension, keep the longer ones for more mellow stretches to diffuse it.
And last, my personal favourite. I’ll let Misti’s example show this one: “His eyes followed them.”
- Interpretation #1: He watched them, following them with his gaze.
- Interpretation #2: His eyeballs popped out of his skull and trailed after them while he did something else.

Ahem… Yeah, the first one.

As I skimmed the edited doc I was pleased to see fewer and fewer comments in later chapters. No surprise, the first chapter, or 4% of the book, has 15% of the comments! Good to get confirmation from a professional that my writing really did improve as the book progressed.

I’ll probably post some more editing bits and pieces in the coming week or two as I beaver away at the changes. Having addressed the 92 comments in chapter one, I can already tell that enlisting a professional editor was absolutely money well spent.

But we already knew that, didn’t we?