Lots of the indie writer blogs and pages go on, at some length, about the need for an editor. Get an editor, get an editor, GET AN EDITOR!!
OK. But there are two sorts of editing. The first is the grammar police, the deep blue detail freak who makes sure that the apostrophes are appropriate, the commas in the right place, the spelling correct.
I hold up my hand and admit that Echo is full of typos. At some point I'll go back and republish a less embarrassing version. I'm hopeful that there are far fewer in Outcast.
Ian Rankin was on the radio a couple of weeks ago. He mentioned that, after submitting his latest book to the publisher, an editor came back and asked for changes. One of them involved a character being completely erased. He says that the editor makes his book better.
That might be true. It's well known that the original cut of Star Wars was a complete disaster at the screenings and it took some serious editing to make it the version that we know and love (or, at least I do). A film is always a team effort but a book is, usually, solo work. I would argue that, once an editor makes major changes, it stops being the author's work.
Would Echo and Outcast have been better books if I had got an editor (type 2). Possibly. Those of you that have read previous posts will know that I'm not creating the best book that I can. I'm writing the book I want to read. If you like my stuff, that's really great, but it's not about you, it's about me.
Would I sell more copies if it was a "better" book? Who cares? The income from Echo covered the costs of the cover art and paid for a couple of nice meals out for us both. I'm hopeful that Outcast will do the same.
It's just as well that I enjoy the day job.
Showing posts with label Avalon Graphics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Avalon Graphics. Show all posts
Friday, 4 October 2013
Tuesday, 12 March 2013
Too much information
Looking at a few of the blogs I follow, the last couple of months seems to have been a bit of a desert, so I don't feel so bad that I haven't written anything online for quite some time either.
The excuses are mostly around work - the current NHS reorganisation is coming to an end and, this time, the blood on the carpet isn't mine but there are less people and more work. And then there's the fact we weren't able to do anything to the house last year so we've started at the top and we're working our way down.
But you don't want to hear about any of that, so I'll talk about the real reason I've not been blogging. I've been writing! E2 didn't get finished while we were in Lanzarote but it moved on a long way and the end is very much in sight. I've struggled a lot with how E2 is going to end and how it would lead into E3. And then, today, it came to me, in a flash (actually in the shower, but that's probably too much information). I know the rest of E2 and what E3 is about.
I'm not far from needing Cathy Helms at Avalon Graphic to do me a cover, which is very exciting, and from handing over the draft to my first readers, which is less so. Echo was very well received and I'm a bit nervous that E2 will be a disappointment. I don't really know what it was in Echo that people liked and whether I've managed to keep it. No pressure.
On a completely unrelated note, Ashley McCook suggested a book to me. If you liked Echo, you'll like Shadow of the Wraith by Ross Harrison. Check it out.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shadow-Wraith-Ross-Harrison/dp/B009AOS252/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1362781213&sr=1-1
The excuses are mostly around work - the current NHS reorganisation is coming to an end and, this time, the blood on the carpet isn't mine but there are less people and more work. And then there's the fact we weren't able to do anything to the house last year so we've started at the top and we're working our way down.
But you don't want to hear about any of that, so I'll talk about the real reason I've not been blogging. I've been writing! E2 didn't get finished while we were in Lanzarote but it moved on a long way and the end is very much in sight. I've struggled a lot with how E2 is going to end and how it would lead into E3. And then, today, it came to me, in a flash (actually in the shower, but that's probably too much information). I know the rest of E2 and what E3 is about.
I'm not far from needing Cathy Helms at Avalon Graphic to do me a cover, which is very exciting, and from handing over the draft to my first readers, which is less so. Echo was very well received and I'm a bit nervous that E2 will be a disappointment. I don't really know what it was in Echo that people liked and whether I've managed to keep it. No pressure.
On a completely unrelated note, Ashley McCook suggested a book to me. If you liked Echo, you'll like Shadow of the Wraith by Ross Harrison. Check it out.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shadow-Wraith-Ross-Harrison/dp/B009AOS252/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1362781213&sr=1-1
Thursday, 19 January 2012
I'm a writer, not an artist
Which is why i engaged Cathy Helms of Avalon Graphics to do the cover art rather than making a complete mess of it myself.
There are hundreds of graphic artists out there offering to do ebooks. Some were seriously up their own behind (my children may read this), some could Do Some Stuff, one had a site that gave my computer a nasty virus. And then there was Avalon Graphics.
I picked Avalon because i got a clear feeling that here is somebody who gives a toss about giving me what i want. It wasn't just a job.
I've never met her, don't know what she sounds like, haven't a clue what she looks like, and she hasn't paid me, but i'm more than happy to put all her contact details at the bottom of this post because she totally gets what i was trying to do.
Having said that, i was probably clueless at the start about what i wanted. The book has two main characters. He's an ex military officer, has shaved his head and grown a goatee beard which makes him look dangerous. She has green eyes and hair in a jaw length bob. They have a spaceship. And some soldiers hang about with them. There will be action and violence. This is what i got.
There are five elements to this picture. I asked for changes to four of them. That's the danger of giving me what i asked for. Now i want more!
So, back goes an email
She's too pretty, he's not old enough and doesn't have a beard, the title isn't chunky enough
And i hate the font used for my name. It looks like somebody in the 1970s trying to do futuristic and reminded me of the set of the Goodies - apologies to anybody outside of the UK or who is younger than 35 who won't have a clue.
And where are the soldiers?
24 hours later
Soldiers - tick
Him - big tick. Scares the life out of me.
Fonts - tick
Her - striking but not pretty. That's good. There's nothing in the book that says she's pretty and the First Readers were divided on the subject.
But those lips! You could lick them and then stick her to the windscreen of your car and she'd still be there next day (you'd need to move the sat nav first, of course), dangling about like one of those Elvis figures
Other than that, i'm well pleased with the result. I think it tells the story of the book and stands out and hopefully shouts BUY ME! (on Amazon, from the 20 somethingth of February).
Theoretically that's all that matters. BUY ME! Well, no. Actually Cathy has brought my characters to life and that's tremendously exciting.
So, I'm their parent, but i think of Cathy as their Godmother. (She also fancies Clive Owen, but don't tell anybody)
Main Website: http://www.avalongraphics.org
On Live Journal: avalongraphics
On Facebook: Avalon-Graphics
On Twitter: Avalon_Graphics
Blog: http://avalon-graphics.blogspot.com/
Direct Email: cathelms@charter.net
There are hundreds of graphic artists out there offering to do ebooks. Some were seriously up their own behind (my children may read this), some could Do Some Stuff, one had a site that gave my computer a nasty virus. And then there was Avalon Graphics.
I picked Avalon because i got a clear feeling that here is somebody who gives a toss about giving me what i want. It wasn't just a job.
I've never met her, don't know what she sounds like, haven't a clue what she looks like, and she hasn't paid me, but i'm more than happy to put all her contact details at the bottom of this post because she totally gets what i was trying to do.
Having said that, i was probably clueless at the start about what i wanted. The book has two main characters. He's an ex military officer, has shaved his head and grown a goatee beard which makes him look dangerous. She has green eyes and hair in a jaw length bob. They have a spaceship. And some soldiers hang about with them. There will be action and violence. This is what i got.
There are five elements to this picture. I asked for changes to four of them. That's the danger of giving me what i asked for. Now i want more!
So, back goes an email
She's too pretty, he's not old enough and doesn't have a beard, the title isn't chunky enough
And i hate the font used for my name. It looks like somebody in the 1970s trying to do futuristic and reminded me of the set of the Goodies - apologies to anybody outside of the UK or who is younger than 35 who won't have a clue.
And where are the soldiers?
24 hours later
Him - big tick. Scares the life out of me.
Fonts - tick
Her - striking but not pretty. That's good. There's nothing in the book that says she's pretty and the First Readers were divided on the subject.
But those lips! You could lick them and then stick her to the windscreen of your car and she'd still be there next day (you'd need to move the sat nav first, of course), dangling about like one of those Elvis figures
Other than that, i'm well pleased with the result. I think it tells the story of the book and stands out and hopefully shouts BUY ME! (on Amazon, from the 20 somethingth of February).
Theoretically that's all that matters. BUY ME! Well, no. Actually Cathy has brought my characters to life and that's tremendously exciting.
So, I'm their parent, but i think of Cathy as their Godmother. (She also fancies Clive Owen, but don't tell anybody)
Main Website: http://www.avalongraphics.org
On Live Journal: avalongraphics
On Facebook: Avalon-Graphics
On Twitter: Avalon_Graphics
Blog: http://avalon-graphics.blogspot.com/
Direct Email: cathelms@charter.net
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