How to Self Publish Part 2: Revision

Part 1, Part 2

Revision is a crucial step in self publishing. Do not assume that your work is perfect. It isn't.

I revised the crap out my novel, but I didn't do as much as I should have.

I recommend AT LEAST EIGHT revision passes, probably more would be better. Each time you will look for errors, typos, and mistakes, cut out things that aren't working, add in better descriptions, remove passive voice and overuse of adverbs, and slash any cliches you find.

You need to revise until you don't want to read another word, until you are sick of your novel, hate it, want it dead. Your eyes will bleed with hours of staring at the computer screen or pages you printed out to mark up.

Are you done at this point? NO!!

Then you need to give it to someone you trust, someone who will be somewhat brutal with you and have them go through it a couple times. This also gives you a break from the manuscript so you can come back to it a few weeks later and go through it several more times.

You will reach a point where you want to take your book out back and set it on fire and then dance on the ashes, screaming at the gray sky in despair and agony. That is when you are close to done.

You should set it aside and wait a few more weeks before doing one final revision to the entire book.

Your next step? Make sure you have a thick skin because people are still going to find typos and mistakes. They will seize these typos like some hard won prize and then shove them in your face.

Why do people do this? I don't know.

Maybe people's expectations are skewed when it comes to books. They expect perfection, demand it, more than it seems any other industry.

I had a podcast review after I had fixed many typos that readers had found and I thought the book was close to perfect. The reviewers talked about how they loved the rich world I'd created, complete with mythology and back histories. They loved that every character felt unique and different as I hopped in and out of a dozen character's heads. They loved the story. Then they had to mention that it had an "unusually high amount of homophone mistakes." They went on to list them, totalling two. TWO!!

My jaw fell open as I listened. Seriously? Two?

All around it was a great review, but I wish they would have emailed me about the two typos they found rather than dump them on the public as some black stain I can never get rid of.

In any other industry with that kind of mistake average, I'd be freaking Employee of the Month!

So, the point of all this ranting is REVISIONS ARE IMPORTANT. Do them, do them until you bleed! You will thank me.

Review: Hunting the Five by Maria Violante

Maria Violante recently did a review for my novel and I am returning the favor on her short novella, Hunting the Five. It's a piece of a larger work and I'm excited to read the rest soon.

Maria's world building is exciting and engrossing. She creates characters I want to continue watching. The magic system is also very very cool. I spend a lot of time thinking about magic systems. I used two in my last book and I have a new one lined up for a fantasy series I'll be writing late next year. I should know when someone comes up with a golden magic system. Maria uses a dual magic system where each demon possesses minor powers, akras, along with one kernel of true power, their kevra.

De La Roca (as she calls herself) once was human and wound up in Hell. After an indefinite amount of time being tortured, she is offered a chance at freedom...with some catches. She must relinquish her memories, her name, her kevra, and become a sort of demon bounty hunter. She calls herself a mercenary, but that's not quite what she is. She and her horse, Alsvior, track and kill the nasties that shouldn't have ever found their way to Earth.

When Maria gets into De La Roca's head, it is compelling and well written stuff. I want to discover the secrets and get to know this character more and more. She does some dark and twisted stuff, sitting on the body of someone she killed as she smokes a cigarette, but then you get a back-story at the same time of her trying desperately to save a victim of one of the demons.

Alsvior is my favorite. He's loyal, clever, and able to change his shape to some degree, looking like any type of horse of any color. Who hasn't wanted a charcoal colored horse with flaming mane and tail?

She has some stunning descriptions. There's some dimensional travel, of which I'm a big fan, and she does some pretty imagery with it.

Maria's work isn't without flaws. She has some awkward sentences that I had to read over several times to understand her meaning. She doesn't use contractions as often as she should, especially in dialogue where people naturally use them without thinking. She also has some sudden jumps that I found annoying while reading. For the most part, she separates scene breaks with a little symbol, but now and again they show up from one paragraph to the next. It was distracting and disorienting. It also muddies up the plot, making the motivations of the other characters unclear when they shouldn't be.

She has some typos. Not a big deal. I can read over them easily and my own book still has several. Just things like "then" in place of "than", a missing "to" where one should be, a dangling "to" in another sentence where it should not be, "I" when it should be "It", and "her to knees" where it should have been "to her knees". Seriously, minimal problems.

The beginning feels out of line with the rest of the story though. I think it would have drawn me in more if Maria had dropped the first ten pages or so, but at least the first two. The character introduced there, Rico, doesn't seem to be important, doesn't show up again, and I dislike him. Not the best first impression of the story as Rico spouts clichéd sexist nonsense.

The story also uses profanity. I'm not the biggest fan of it, but I can ignore it most of the time when I read. I think sometimes it has a place, but it must be done well. Maria likes to use it in the same way, no matter what character is talking. Every single character uses "damn" the same exact way. People use profanity differently. I would have liked to see what kind of profanity some of the characters who are possibly thousands of years or more old might use...not just the same "damn".

All in all, a great read. I look forward to seeing what trouble De La Roca and Alsvior can get into as she explores this world of demonic magics and finds her way back to humanity...or not. It will also be a pleasure seeing Maria's natural talent develop and grow as she brings these things to vibrant life for us.

Reviews are Friends...Not Posts

I know pointing you to reviews of my books by other bloggety types is not a substitute for my own clever posts. I'm going to keep doing it now and again though.

My good friend and brother-in-law, Brent Wescott, over at Building Castles on the Beach just wrote a review for my book along with several others. He is apparently a slow reader (who knew?), but I'm glad he finally finished, liked the book, and got the surprise ending.

The Crystal Bridge also got reviewed at Word Spelunking. Isn't that the greatest name for a book blog? Strap on your headlamp and explore the beautiful mysteries that are hidden deep within the words. She also has a cool name. Aeicha. I have no idea how to pronounce it, but I have always liked different names. I want to name a child Tadlan or Linea...so there. I also let Aeicha give away a copy of Zombies at the Door, Planning for the Inevitable. She did more than that, she went and reviewed that book too. How awesome is that? I'll tell you how awesome...much!

I should have more reviews to share shortly. I have an interview for a podcast or two this week. I also plan on putting the velociraptor on youtube soon...against all my better judgement. I am also very close to starting book two of the Lost Shards series, the sequel to The Crystal Bridge, called The Glass Spiral. I'm getting excited to write it.

If you've read the first book, go ahead and keep reading. If you haven't...well, shame on you and don't keep reading until you have. Spoilers ahead!!

Book two begins where the last one left off. Here are some questions that will be answered:

Will they ever make it home? I don't know yet.

Will Rho make another appearance? Yes, of course.

Will Rho be the main villain this time? No.

Will Lyle find happiness and true love? Yes and yes, eventually.

Will more people die? Possibly...sorry.

Will we see Aren's and Kaden's powers evolve? Definitely a YES!! So Excited to push them further.

Who will be important? Aren and Kaden will be big as you expect. James will be there in the beginning and Lyle in the end. Dveldor, Hasla, and Taggers will show up for a bit too. But, look for Penny to play a large role along with a couple new god-like characters. I can't tell you any more without giving anything away. Oh, it's gonna be good!

Reviews and Craziness

This will just be a quick post.

I've been spending a large amount of time submitting my novel to book review blogs, hoping that more people will be exposed to my writing and decide to take a look. I've gotten a few people expressing interest, but most have such a huge stack of reading material that they either turn me away or tell me it will be months. I'm fine with the wait. I can be patient and am just happy that more people want to read it.

One person read it in like two days and posted a review. Some bad, but mostly good. I'm happy with having some issues to overcome and work to do. It is my first novel after all. Even the greatest authors have mistakes in their first. Here is a link to the review. And another link to a little interview with her. Thank you all for the support. I am nothing without my readers.

Things I Learned

I had my first public appearance as an author yesterday. I met with a high school book club that is about to read my novel, The Crystal Bridge. I'll be heading back in a month after they finish reading. There were a few surprises. I'll share some of those lessons learned from the experience.

1- I really can talk about my book, writing, and publishing intelligibly for a long time. I was super nervous that no one would have questions and we would just stare at one another. Maybe I'd get out ten or twenty minutes worth of stuff and then look dumb. That wasn't the case. They had questions and I filled most of an hour. I probably could have filled another hour, but they had to go to class.

2- Wearing a sweater is a good idea. I sweat more than any human should when I'm nervous. I changed shirts like four times and looked at a couple jackets before I left my house. I then threw on a sweater at the last minute. It was a great choice. They couldn't see how nervous I was, even if my shirt was sticking to me underneath it all. I looked calm and confident. I don't know what I'll do in the summer.

3- I should remove the bit about a velociraptor impression at the end of my book. Someone flipped to the back and read my About The Author section. She wanted to see the velociraptor. I was super embarrassed, but did it. It involves me loping across the room, screeching like a crazed lizard. I think the kids thought it was fun, but they may also think I'm a crazy person.

4- I like talking about writing. Not only did I find I had the words, I also didn't struggle with them. I didn't say "um" or "uh" or stutter a lot. The only time I stuttered for a bit was right after I did the velociraptor and I was also blushing. Then I warmed back to the subject at hand. I enjoyed discussing the writing process and the words flowed from me rather smoothly. This was a surprise. I haven't done public speaking in a long long time. I expected it to be harder, but I guess passion for the subject helps more than I imagined.

5- Sitting on a desk with your feet on a chair makes you look cool. At least I felt that way. I didn't have to stand awkwardly at the front of a classroom, unsure what to do with my hands. I didn't have to lean on a podium with a big block of wood between me and them. I didn't have to sit at a table on a stage feeling alone and isolated. I got to sit just slightly above everyone and talk to them like they were my friends. I felt awfully cool...I assume I looked the part too...even with the sweater.

Insecurity and Soup

I missed the Insecure Writer's Support Group post last week. Tuesday night my wife turned into a soup sandwich. I spent all night and part of the morning taking care of her. I was too exhausted the next day to do much of anything. I think we laid on the couch and watched a lot of tv.

My wife is feeling much better now, not so soupy. So, I'm moving on with the support post.

Despite not posting anything, there's still plenty of insecurity and support surrounding me and my writing. I've sold five copies of my book this month. Painful. I knew it would slow down before the holidays, but I wasn't expecting this. I hope that things pick up with all those new tablets and ereaders people will get in December.

I've submitted my novel to over thirty book review blogs this week. Many of these will choose not to read my book. Many will not get around to it for months. I'm okay with both of these. I know I don't have unlimited time. Neither do these kind folks out there who love to read and share what they like. I'm going to be patient. It gives these blogs more time to add followers and for readers to get used to their shiny new tablets anyway.

Being self published means I don't have to rush to sell all my copies in print so the publisher will print again. I can wait and let my audience grow bit by bit. I can fix typos. I can work on my next book. I'm thankful for my friends on here who have been crazy supportive. You are amazing human beings and I am humbled to know you, even if in just some weird digital sense of the word.

My Novel Is Done!

The Crystal Bridge, a sci-fi fantasy mix about wormholes, dimensions, nano-technology, genetics, dragons, elves, and magic, is done and will be online within a week or two. I'm super excited and freaked out. I wrote a novel, crazy stuff, people. The end result is 125,000 words and will be around 365 pages in print. Here's a teaser of the cover.

And here is the description on the back cover:

Kaden is a typical teenage boy, except he can open wormholes to far away worlds.

His first trip almost killed him. He’s been afraid to try another.

Aren is far from a typical teenage girl. She has the ultimate gift of empathy, seeing into the memories and souls of others.

Her gift makes her different and lonely despite how close it brings her to those she knows.

When these two meet, the existence of two worlds will be endangered as their abilities plunge them into a planet at war. Their adventure may tear apart multiple universes…or they may just save us all.

Some of you expressed interest in helping me market the thing on your blogs. If you are still interested, here are your options:

1- You send me a list of interview style questions. I'll send you the list back complete with answers. I'll also send the links to the novel.

2- You send me an email saying you can't come up with questions. I send you a list of interview questions made up by me with answers also made up by me. And links.

3- You send me an email saying you're sick of interviews. I will send you a bit about the book and characters with some touchy feely stuff on writing. And links.

4- You come up with an even better idea.

Thank you so much. I can never really thank you enough.

Charlie

Writing Updates and the Undead

So, I abandoned my blog for a while so I could focus on writing and growing an awesome beard. Don't ask me how blogging interfered with my beard growth...it just did. I'm now back to give you some updates of awesomitude.

I finished my first and second drafts of my novel. I am now tweaking it a bit, fixing some minor little mistakes, and adding in a few things that come to me in the middle of the night. I've woken up at 4am three or four nights in a row with some detail that would make the book just a touch better. It has been exhilarating and obnoxious.

Some of you know I've decided to self publish. I'm not even going to try the traditional publishing route. I think ebooks and indie publishers are the wave of the future. If you really want all my reasons, I'll do another post about it.

The major problem with epublishing is you need to completely reformat your book to make it work. This process is not simple, easy, or fun. I was a little overwhelmed by the whole concept of redoing my novel with html, so I thought I'd do a trial run first with some short stories.

But, as I focused on my novel, those short stories didn't get finished. I started to worry. I needed some practice before I did my novel. I dug through old folders and found what I needed.

A few Christmases ago I wrote a gag zombie guide for my friends and family. I still had it saved on my computer. All I needed to do was remove any reference to people I know directly and all the stuff about St George, Utah. I added a few more pictures, hand drawn of course. Then I started the reformat process.

Agony. That is the word. I formatted it and put it on the previewer. Nothing looked right. My pictures didn't appear. My fonts were too big or too small. Spaces popped up in the wrong places. I had nonsense bits of code that didn't translate into words. I formatted it again. Nope. My pictures all looked black. My font sizes still insisted on doing strange and forbidden things. I tried again. Better. Again. Better. One more time. Pretty good. I saved the whole thing as an epub file.

Then I made a cover.

I think it turned out pretty well considering I don't have much experience doing much more than my silly cartoons on here.

I am now proud to say my zombie guide is available online for real people to buy. Check it out now if you're interested, just 99 cents may save your life someday.

Here for Amazon's kindle.

Here for B&N's Nook.

Very soon, I'll have it available in print for $6.99 and I'll keep you updated.

I am now pretty much ready to get my novel out there. I figure about a month for me to reformat it, get a cover, and get it out there. I'm not above asking for help to spread the word. Please, my blogger friends, lend me your blogs. I am hoping to do a few interviews, guest posts, and talk a bit about the book or the characters for you. If you are interested, let me know.

I will be grateful forever and I'll work out some incentive as we get closer. I'm thinking a couple signed copies of Zombies at the Door and a couple of my novel, The Crystal Bridge that will go out to a randomized few people from those who help.