Well, I finally finished the edit notes for Untitled Fantasy. And I counted them, finally. 30 pages of notes - college rule, single side - for roughly 97000 words. Or 1 page of notes per approximately 3200 words worth of story.
As always, some are as simple as noting that a comma needs to be inserted or removed. But I really try not to hit the simple stuff on the first draft. Most of it is bigger stuff - rewriting a line, etc. Some of it is huge, like rewriting an entire scene.
All in all, though, this is a solid book. Nothing that makes me want to scrap a whole chapter or anything.
Okay, so maybe I'm unsure about whether to leave a large chunk of the end to the next book. I'll either figure it out myself or let my readers tell me what they think. But that's down the road a ways.
I'm also playing with the idea of adding to the beginning because right now, it just sort of throws the reader into the thick of things without a whole lot of set-up. (Not the main thick, but sort of the beginning thick.)
I had hoped to have this phase finished by the end of October, but somehow it reached the friggin' 18th of the month and finishing this phase in the remaining 13 days seems problematic. We'll see how it goes.
And I need a title. I had a list of potential titles, but I just looked at it and they all suck. I'm not sure what in my head thought 'Time of the Twins' would've been a good idea... There's a Dragonlance book with that title already. Nope nope nope. Not riffin' off that series and don't even want a hint it's anything like those books. Derp. It's bad enough I've already got my name lending the impression I'm nursing at the Brandon Sanderson teats.
Speaking of which, I might publish this under my maiden name. B.E. Meissner worked for me when I was a maiden, so why not now?
And I'm playing with the idea of trying to get this published through Baen or something. Gah, the idea of querying makes me want to hurl. But they have resources I don't have, so going with them would get me a better cover than I can afford. It would definitely get me better exposure. The question is whether they'd want an old self-pubber like me. :shrug:
Decisions, decisions. On the upside, I have a lot of work to do before I have to make a decision of any kind. Yay for turtle speed.
Take your time and think it over. Back 40 years ago, getting picked up by a published was a great deal. Now? They *might* advance you $2000, and you still have to do 99% of the marketing.
ReplyDeleteBut I admit, I always wanted to be published by Baen or Del Rey.
Publishing under a different name is fair game, especially since it's a new genre for you. Drawback: your current fans may not find you.
Sometimes I wish I'd published my fantasy under an exotic name: Dorian Phoenix, or A.M. Fox, or Spider Sojourner. Ah, the teenager is still alive within me!
Can't be much help on the title. If there are other magic users who carry titles, royal or otherwise, you might consider just calling it UNTITLED, since the twins are from common folk.
ReplyDeleteWhy not query Baen or one of the others? If they say no, you already know you can self-pub. And if you decide to try your own cover, I can help with images. I have so many downloads at deposit photos I'll probably never use them all. I'll also volunteer Only to help. It's a thought.
You know how stuff is around around. To add injury to insult, I wrenched my back this morning. I'm tempted to just put the pjs back on, grab the heating pad and stay in bed. Except I have shi--stuff to do.
Hang in there!
I refuse to be held accountable for anywhere my brain goes of late. Just sayin'...