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 graphic artist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label graphic artist. Show all posts
Friday, 4 October 2013
Thursday, 2 August 2012
Doing the Tango with Brucie
I'm getting ahead of myself. Although I've just finished chapter 8, I'm starting to think about the end of the process. Book 1 only became "Echo" quite some time after it was finished. Echo herself only become Echo a day or two before hand. Prior to that she'd been called Chorus, after the narrator in some of Shakespeare's plays. At some point over tea one night, I was persuaded that it wasn't a great name and I changed the names of the three constructs around. Surprisingly I've thought of her as Echo rather than sticking with the name she'd had for the previous twelve months in my head. A day or two later I decided to name the book after my main protagonist.
Throughout the writing the working title of book 1 was Scenario Five.
'Five basic scenarios.’ She ticked them off on her fingers and I noticed that the tip of one was missing. ‘Guard, Hot insertion, Cold insertion, Pursuit and, number Five, everybody’s favourite, Lost contact. Whenever we find whatever it is we’re looking for there are inevitably dark corridors full of traps, xenomorphs, madmen. Danger and destruction.’
At that point the story was basically about the investigation into the loss of contact with a research station. However, as is their want, York's crew get themselves mixed up into a conspiracy that coulddisrobe stability of the Empire itself.
So, whilst book 2 is meant to be about the search for the lost Visionary Ship, the Arthur C Clarke, one of the five ships that carried humans from Old Erth to their new homes, who knows where the story is actually going to go, and I'd be a fool to try and predict it.
It's a bit too soon to start thinking about a title then, isn't it? The working title is "Clarke", but I've taken a fancy to "Outcast". I'm definitely going for a one word title as a theme through the series and currently Outcast is the word for book 2.
I have some concerns. First, that I'll end up tailoring the story around the title rather than the other way round. The other is that I came up with the title after hearing Hey Ya on the radio several times over the course of a couple of days. Not a good reason.
I'm also itching to start work on the cover. I love the work Cathy Helms did for Echo and I've no idea whether she's got any more pictures of Trout Pout and Slap Head or whether we'll have to go with something else as the part that we take through the series. I like themes and it would be good to have something that appears in all, in one form or another.
Of course, I could just write faster so that I can do the title and cover sooner rather than later. But, as a writer, it's as much about the journey as it is the end product. Oh no, I sound like I'm on Strictly (Dancing with the stars for you Yanks). I better stop there before I commit to giving 110%.
Throughout the writing the working title of book 1 was Scenario Five.
'Five basic scenarios.’ She ticked them off on her fingers and I noticed that the tip of one was missing. ‘Guard, Hot insertion, Cold insertion, Pursuit and, number Five, everybody’s favourite, Lost contact. Whenever we find whatever it is we’re looking for there are inevitably dark corridors full of traps, xenomorphs, madmen. Danger and destruction.’
At that point the story was basically about the investigation into the loss of contact with a research station. However, as is their want, York's crew get themselves mixed up into a conspiracy that coulddisrobe stability of the Empire itself.
So, whilst book 2 is meant to be about the search for the lost Visionary Ship, the Arthur C Clarke, one of the five ships that carried humans from Old Erth to their new homes, who knows where the story is actually going to go, and I'd be a fool to try and predict it.
It's a bit too soon to start thinking about a title then, isn't it? The working title is "Clarke", but I've taken a fancy to "Outcast". I'm definitely going for a one word title as a theme through the series and currently Outcast is the word for book 2.
I have some concerns. First, that I'll end up tailoring the story around the title rather than the other way round. The other is that I came up with the title after hearing Hey Ya on the radio several times over the course of a couple of days. Not a good reason.
I'm also itching to start work on the cover. I love the work Cathy Helms did for Echo and I've no idea whether she's got any more pictures of Trout Pout and Slap Head or whether we'll have to go with something else as the part that we take through the series. I like themes and it would be good to have something that appears in all, in one form or another.
Of course, I could just write faster so that I can do the title and cover sooner rather than later. But, as a writer, it's as much about the journey as it is the end product. Oh no, I sound like I'm on Strictly (Dancing with the stars for you Yanks). I better stop there before I commit to giving 110%.
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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