30 July, 2012

Zeno's Paradox

It seems like for every N hours of writing I do, I only cover half the remaining distance to my goal. I've been ransacking eBay trying to find some sort of mystical amulet or ghostly phial that will allow me to bridge that final gap and complete the damn thing.

But seriously, folks; there's a few passages I need to read over another time or two, and then give the book one final read-through to look for glaring errors. I'm setting the bar pretty high; only if something will legitimately cause confusion will I allow myself to change it. I could tinker forever, but I want the damn thing out the door!

THE QUEEN OF MAGES should be published in the next couple of weeks. Aside from the last little bit of writing, I'm waiting for the final cover art from the lovely and talented Melissa Erickson. I can't wait for you to see the final work; it's going to be fantastic.

18 July, 2012

Cross-promotion

My good friend Tristan Gregory, a fellow from Mythic Scribes, has just recently published his novel TWIXT HEAVEN AND HELL. It's available on Amazon and I urge you to check it out. Good stuff!

17 July, 2012

The Marketing Juggernaut Begins

One of the fun things about self-publishing is that there's no such thing as a hard date. Everything's ready when it's ready.

Is the novel ready? No. Not quite. But there is one thing it does have: a title.

THE QUEEN OF MAGES

And even better, it now has a Facebook page! So go check it out, and give it a like! What's the worst that could happen?1


1My eventual domination of Earth.

02 July, 2012

Coverage

I'm inching closer. Right now I'm more or less just doing revision glosses on the work, because I'm waiting on cover art. I've contracted with a lovely and talented illustrator to create the cover for the novel, which should be complete in the next couple of weeks, at which point I'll be ready to publish.

It's funny, because the amount of money I'm spending on the cover is probably going to exceed what I earn from the book for the first several months. But that's okay; I'm in this for the long haul. Eventually, with enough hard work and convincing enough people to Buy It, You'll Like It, I'll make back what it cost.

The book itself is in good shape; I'm very happy with it. Yeah, you can tinker endlessly, but you have to cut the cord sometime. Everything I'm doing to the book now is either tightening up of prose (in this latest pass I've found half a dozen areas that needed to be rewritten slightly for clarity, or, in one case, a minor story inconsistency), or simply to expand and add color: world details, expansion of characterization, more expression of characters' internal states.

I'm looking forward to revealing the cover and the title of the book in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned!