Tag Archives: migration series

We Have Book Cover!

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So writing isn’t something I complain about too often.  I can take an idea and run with it like nobody’s business.  Over the last few years, I’ve written countless stories and two books – my nonfiction travel book, “A Million Miles Amok“, and the soon to be released fiction book, “Migration: Beginnings”.  But the one thing I absolutely cannot do is draw, or even illustrate beyond stick figures.

That’s why it helps to have awesome, creative friends!  My friend Alice, who is of the artistic type, took what I spewed forth over dinner one night, and came up with a book cover for Migration: Beginnings – and it’s as close as possible to what I wanted without me doing it myself (which, as I said, I’m totally incapable of doing).

That said, here is the book cover for Migration: Beginnings.  Huzzah!

MIGRATION_Cover_2_lettering

(Click on it for larger size)

Migration Beginnings is almost here!

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The thing that they don’t tell you about books is that, while they may take a couple of months to write, that’s probably the shortest part of the whole process.  Once it’s written, you’ve got months of editing to slog through, including professional editors who need to take a whack or two at your book.  Then there’s the fact that you need to submit to publishing houses and wait quite a bit more for them to come back with a say.

For me, I’ve decided to self publish.  I changed Migration Beginnings around a bit, including a new prologue that jolts the reader into finding out just what big things are about to come, and there was a fair bit of rewriting a couple of other parts.  Now that all the writing is done, I’m at the point where it’s been professionally edited and now returned to me.  I’ve got the arduous task of going through the changes one by one and deciding what sounds the best, and we’ll almost be through.

But wait, there’s more!  Yes, the last bit of detail that an author needs, especially if they are self publishing, is a book cover.  That is being taken care of by a dear friend, but I’m on their timetable, so we wait a bit more.

All this to say that Migration Beginnings, the adventures of a gay couple as they see the world around them change, and their role in the new world grow, is ever so much closer to being released!  This book was such a labor of love that in a way I’m almost hesitant to let it go.  But I hope that, when I do, people love it as much as I do.

More news soon!

Dealing With Rejection

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So as writers, one of the things that you deal with most often when you want to get something published – by a publishing house, and not self-published – is the issue of rejection.  It’s not something that is easily brushed off, and it can negatively affect your mindset.

I originally submitted my Migration series to a publishing house, and after a couple of months, they gave me some good feedback with a, “Sorry, but we’re going to pass right now.  But make the changes and resubmit!”  I took it to heart, and made the changes that they asked for, then resubmitted.

Well, after making the requested changes and waiting more than four months, today I get the, “No thanks,” rejection email.  The publisher was nice, but the reviewer made it seem like I had offended them and not made any suggestions they gave.

Ehh…  Oh well.

The problem, however, is the self-doubt that comes out of the process.  Migration is a hard story to tell, because you have to build the world up before you can destroy it, and I do just that.  There’s a prologue that gives you some of the necessary data about the story, and then a 2 chapter buildup.  It all amounts to about 10,000 words that the specific publisher is saying needs to be cut.

Can I do it?  Can I hack my baby up into smaller pieces – going from the original 85,000 words, down to the 78,000 words post-initial submission rejection, to maybe 68,000 words?  Without sacrificing the whole of the story?

I get it – I really do.  And part of me wants to jump on the bandwagon and make those changes instantly; that’s the part of me that wants instant gratification, and seeks out approval.  But there’s the other part of me that wants to stand tall, tell the critics to get bent, and self publish.

So I’m going to compromise.  I’m going to hack it down some, and then see how I like it.  If I do, then I’ll go with the new version.  But if it sacrifices too much, then I’m going to bail, go back to my original storyline, and self publish.  Only time will tell what path I decide to go down.

But first, I’m going to self-publish our (me and my coauthor Lisa’s) nonfiction travel book.  I would like to get that out the door, published, and off my plate so that I can focus on the Migration series.

So that’s how my birthday went!  How about you?

One Book Down, One To Go!

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So my “books in limbo” just got subtracted by one.  At least meaning in limbo by me.  The first book in the Migration series, my SciFi/Action/Adventure series, has been completely edited, polished, and sent off to the publisher for consideration.  This is the same publisher that I’d originally sent the manuscript to, and while they turned it down initially, they gave me some really good feedback and told me that if I made the changes, they’d be “more inclined to offer me a contract.”

I’m not taking this as gospel that they will still like the book and will want to publish it, but I’m still a bit hopeful.

So now I have to polish the non-fiction book that Lisa (my cowriter) and I worked on for NaNoWriMo 2013.  It’s been a long time coming, but it’s finally getting a lot closer.  I’ve got one more read through and some changes, then Lisa gets a last pass – and that book will be ready!  We’ll self-publish that one, though, along with my friend Adam’s custom drawn cover, so we’re close!

Writing can be such a blast, and it’s a cathartic process for many of us.  Hopefully the end results will be appreciated by the reading public!

My first post, for my first fiction book!

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Greetings!

So I’ve been dabbling at writing for a while, mostly in the fanfiction realm.  Some people may dismiss fanfiction writers, but here’s the thing; it gives you a chance to learn the ins and outs of how to write, and the feedback that you need to learn and grow as a writer.

In July 2014, I participated in NaNoWriMo’s “Camp NaNo”.  If you’re not familiar, it’s like a regular NaNo, but you can set the word count that you want, and you need to write the whole month until you finish your project.  Well, by the end of July, I’d made it past my 50,000 word count, but I was far from done.  It took me another two weeks to finish, the book topping out at just under 85,000 words.  Then with the help of some friends who did some beta reading, as well as a whole lot of cheerleading for me, and I finally had a polished book.  And that book is an action/adventure genre book with a science fiction bent which I have titled Migration: Origins.  And based on how I ended it, this will be the first book in at least a three book arc.

I submitted my book to a professional editor, and should have it back in the next month.  And then?  That’s when I start looking for a publisher.