Camp NaNoWriMo ~ The Spider Catcher

After receiving some encouragement, I have now signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo to finish the prequel for the Redemption series.  I have tentatively titled this book "The Spider Catcher," and had a little fun throwing a cover together to give it a face on my Camper page.  I haven't decided if this will be a published work yet.

My Camp 'WriMo page: http://www.campnanowrimo.org/campers/altyler/novels/the-spider-catcher

Checking in

Just popping in to say that I'm not dead, just avoiding digital life for a while.  I'm updating a few links and such, and experimenting with a few other marketing tools online.

Also, writing another book.  An editor wanted a prequel, so I am writing it.  I will probably put the prequel out as a free ebook to introduce the new series, but we'll see when we get there.  :)

Latest LibraryThing Giveaway:  Meh.  I'm glad that I did it for the genuine readers I reached, and even the ones who disliked the book.  The feedback is valuable.  I'm finding that many who receive the book won't review it (which is fine, their decision--and I personally hate commenting on books that I may have nothing to say about, so it is fine with me if that is the case).  Unfortunately, it leaves me waiting and wondering if people read the book and just didn't like it, or didn't read the book, or are the guy requesting the book as a kindle gift who then never cashes it in and I talk to my author friends and find out that the guy is signing up for as many ebook giveaways as possible and requesting kindle gifts to cash in on something that isn't the giveaway book...

'Til next time,
Al

Smashwords and the .epub format

Tonight, I came within sneezing distance of publishing the second two books of the Waldgrave Series on Smashwords.  I didn't do it.  There were a few reasons, all related to my long and tortured love-hate relationship with Smashwords.

First, I want to make it clear that I love Smashwords.  I love what they have done for indie authors, and I love what they have done for readers.  I like that they give a good royalty to authors, and I like that they provide so many formatting options for download to buyers.

Now, why I hate Smashwords.

In a word: Meatgrinder.

The Meatgrinder is the Smashwords method for providing so many formats to buyers; it's an ingenious way to do it.  I suppose my qualm isn't so much with Meatgrinder as it with what an author has to do to make an ebook "Meatgrinder ready."  I spent a good deal of time converting my Word .doc books into .epubs so that they could go on to Nook and Kindle.  To get the books on to Smashwords, one must backtrack from an .epub to a complex series of rules and formatting requirements in Word before uploading to the Meatgrinder.

I can say it easily took me twice as long to make my Meatgrinder .doc as it did to make my .epub, and I am not nearly as satisfied with the Meatgrinder .epub generated from the .doc.

Then, around the end of 2011, a light at the end of the tunnel: Smashwords announced an effort called Smashwords Direct, where authors would be able to upload their own .epubs instead of Meatgrinder Word .docs.

This feature is now in beta; it's the feature I *almost* used tonight.  The reason I didn't is that I finally read the fine print: if you upload an .epub, that's the only format that will be available to buyers.  They won't Meatgrind-er it; this is a good thing, because they won't butcher my formatting.  This is a bad thing, because all the folks who go to Smashwords to get a .mobi, a .pdf, or an HTML version of the book won't be able to get it.

Sigh.  There is no option to upload customized versions for these other formats.  So my option is to deal with Meatgrinder, or .epub only.

One can upload both a Meatgrinder-ready .doc and a custom .epub, but anyone who selects a format other than .epub will still get the stripped and possibly low-grade Meatgrinder experience.  The reason I wanted to wait for the .epub upload was that I somehow believed they would be able to make better quality .mobi, .pdf, etc. files if I upload my own coded digital format--as an .epub--but this is apparently not the case.  Also, I was sincerely hoping that I would no longer have to deal with the Meatgrinder requirements.

<End rant.>

I am sure I will get over it.  I always do.  And I probably shouldn't be this wound up over the requirements for a service that has so much value; I do a lot of my giveaways through Smashwords, which is something it has over Pubit and KDP.

However, as I am making the decision about whether or not to spend another weekend going through the Smashwords Style Guide for Deception and Secrets, I would appreciate knowing if anyone has been dying to see these books on Smashwords, and what file format you usually use.

Thanks,
Al

The Return of Free Time

With the moving and unpacking mostly done, the home improvement projects dwindling, and a job switch in my nearer future, my free time is slowly returning to me. I've started doing thing thst I haven't done in a while--things like knitting, drawing, writing short stories, cooking dinner, and visiting with friends.

I put up a bird feeder in the backyard and watched the sparrows come and go for a bit today. I put away the holiday decorations, and cleaned up the storage room some (not a lot, but enough to make a difference). My large tom cat decided to pick fights all day with his undersized little sister, and they managed to topple my potted orange tree--even that was okay, because my huband helped to clean it up, and we had time. The cats got a time out, but seem to be doing better now.

We watched the movie Highlander, and it was okay--kind of cheesy, but hey, it was the '80s. Then we watched The Rescuers, and I had a total flashback to my youth. In the last two weeks we watched the entire first season of Once Upon a Time after a friend recommended it; I must say, I was impressed.

Even laundry is getting done again.

It's a good thing. I'm also hitting an upturn in the pace of my writing, which tends to happen sometimes (I'm never sure why), so hopefully more will be ready to publish soon. I added about twenty-five original pages to the start of Redemption, which I will probably send off to the editors some time this weekend. Sorry, editors--I know you want more than twenty-five pagses, and I know I swore I would stop writing and sending in a serialized fashion, but that's what's working for me right now. It worked for the Waldgrave series. ;)

And I just noticed it's after 11, and I have to be up early tomorrow.

Al

Somewhere in a Winter Wonderland...

I still haven't found my camera battery charger since our move, so this picture is from last year.  I'm not sure if there will be time for cookies this year for the same reason.

Mmmm....memories....

Hopefully I will find the charger today (pretty sure it's in one of two boxes), and then I'll post some pics of the snow in my new backyard, the Xmas tree devoted to science fiction television, and the brownies I'm hoping to bake this afternoon.

'Till then, Happy Holidays!

Al

Motherhood

Arrival of the Traveler is now back on Nook.  I apologize to anyone who was looking for it while it was down during the KDP Select enrollment.

Two of my editors for the Redemption series are pregnant right now.  The third is trying to get pregnant.  One of them is in labor today.  Me?  I'm still merrily typing along, hoping that the madness ends.

And by that, I mean the multiple drafts I've worked myself into.  Of course that's what I meant.

It's December, and it's cold out; walking through Denver and the auto-mosphere has my nose, throat, and lungs in knots, and I have a cold to boot.  This has led to the prescribed consumption of cold medication, which has a tendency to bring out the hypergraphia and lower inhibitions.

Enjoy the posts this winter, readers.

I am currently restructuring Redemption to remove most flashbacks in favor of a linear timeline (two editors complained of this feature of the book, and it never sat right with me to begin with).  Yes, this is making an already long book longer.

Arrival of the Traveler was right around 90,000 words.  Redemption now sits at 137,000 words, and counting.  Too long.  Something is getting the ax, or I will have to cut it in to two books.  Problematically, I had envisioned this book as one solid episode in the overarching Redemption plot line, so it will be difficult to split in half if need be.

I could just release it as is--one big chunk of story.  But then, the rest of the novels are going to seem off balance being of normal length compared to this monster.  But then, I don't know why I worry about this stuff, because it will all depend on how sick I am of working through the edits once they are done.  When I have the green light from the editors, this baby will probably fly regardless of length.

Which brings me back to my editor in labor.  Kudos, sister.  You have made an actual human being in less time than it has taken me to edit this novel.  Kudos, good luck, and may motherhood bring you all the happiness you have dreamed.

Al

Kindle Giveaway Follow-Up

Over the last 3 months, I've had Arrival of the Traveler in the KDP Select program.  For those who are curious (I know I was before doing this), here is what's happened so far.

I gave away a goodly number of books--enough to raise Arrival to #40 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Fantasy > Contemporary.  The KDP contract asks that authors not reveal specific sales figures, so that will have to do.

Since the end of the promotion, as other authors have reported, I have seen an uptick in the sales of the following two books in the series.  For me, this has been the most exciting part; people out there have actually read the first book, and enjoyed it enough to come back for the second book.  They enjoyed that one enough that they came back for the third book.  

Having now completed it's KDP Select tour, Arrival will be returning to Nook tomorrow, so watch for it.  :)

People who are reading my books, thank you!  You are awesome!

Al