Now that I have your attention, let's continue with the starting of the beginning, shall we? We shall!
I finally got around a few weeks ago to sitting my cherry red buttocks in my tired old comfy chair, so that I could force myself to write using my Dragon software. Surprisingly, I have made some decent progress using it. To whit:
1} I rewrote three short stories for my new novella, working title Creativity Inaction: Oblivion, The Beach and Patience Is A Sin, which totaled roughly 6 pages/6650 words.
2} For the novella, not counting two of those stories that I had inserted into the mix, I wrote roughly 2700 words/5 pages.
Most importantly though, I managed to actually do some normal editing with this re-write, instead of simply transcribing everything verbatim. Trust me when I tell you that when I originally wrote this story back in 2009, it was what I like to call now, above average mediocre, so being able to do some solid editing while rewriting this is a very good thing.
And now on to the portion of the post where we decide to dip our big toe in the pond of self-pity.
This past week, I asked for and received the reversion of rights to my debut novel Line 21 from Solstice Publishing eight months early. Although I really do appreciate the fact that they took chance on me with this book, the sobering reality check remains that the failure of the book rests solely on my shoulders. I had nothing but a positive experience with Solstice (and if anyone affiliated with Solstice is reading this post, I do mean that with the most genuine sincerity) and I would highly recommend them to anyone looking to get their feet wet.
Having said that, there are a few things I want to do with this book. First and foremost, I need to come up with a new title. Next, get a new cover for the book. Third and most importantly, reformat and tweak a few things to it (I still have the final edited Word version as well as the PDF version of the book) as I want to release a new version of this strictly as an e-book.
This I believe, will be the best possible outcome for this book. I'm still skittish about formatting a book for print, but I have no compunction in formatting an e-book. So even though this wonderful book is temporarily on vacation, I do have a limited number of print copies available for purchase. If you're interested in having what is sure to be a collector's item (new version with have a new cover and a new title), click on the aforementioned title for details on how to buy. Credit cards are cheerfully accepted via PayPal as well as money orders via U.S. Mail.
And that, my friends, is how dated my writing has become.
(c) 2014 by G.B. Miller. All Rights Reserved.
Good luck with the revamping of Line 21! We hope it goes well. So don't think of it as a failure, think of it as a second chance at success.
ReplyDeleteGlad you were able to get your rights back to the book early.
ReplyDeleteAnd great process on the novella.
I read "A Clockwork Orange" when I was a teen and adored it. But I was still underage when the R-rated movie came out, so my Mom had to take me to see it! Oh, was she thrilled, LOL! Not her type of movie. But it's still one of my faves.
ReplyDeleteABFts: Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think of this as a 2nd chance. While I liked the cover to this book, it did prevent me from doing certain things with it. So the main goal is to make it palatable for the masses.
Alex: Thanks.
They actually offered it to me back in early February but I wanted to hold off until after the A-Z Blogging Challenge to see if I could drum up some sales. So we agreed to an extra six months. But, as they say, sometimes ya gotta cut loses just a tad early.
Debra: Usually I find that the book is far better than the movie version, but I tried reading the book after seeing the movie, and I couldn't get past chapter 1.
I didn't see this movie until roughly 6 years ago on one the premium movie channels. Thought it was really good.
G, the book wasn't a failure - it's not like they gave you a huge marketing budget, and the market is so tight these days. It's a good one and I hope your revamp goes well.
ReplyDeleteM: Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it was a failure either, just in hindsight, there were things that I could've done better/different with it.
I get the Clockwork Orange reference, even though I've only seen bits & pieces of the movie. Long story.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you're doing some writing and editing, and that you're rebooting your debut novel. Ebooks are the way of the world I'm afraid, not sure how flooded that market is but it should be easier to complete and you'll have more control over it. Good luck!
Good luck with the re-writing. Scary photo at the beginning. And of course, I am a Kubric fan, although "Orange" is not my favourite movie. :-)
ReplyDeleteGreetings from London.
Chris: With certain cult-classic movies, I'll watch them once just to see what all the hoopla is all about and that's about it. Haven't watched it since.
ReplyDeleteAbout e-books, this is mostly true. I think I would have better luck pimping an e-book of my novel than paperback, although paperback is still a good way to make an impression.
ACIL: Thanks.
I'm not a big fan of his work as I found some of it to be hit or miss. Still, he has left some classic stuff that has made its way into the pop culture lexicon.