GHOST STAR: Kindle Press Announces Publication Date!

Just got the announcement...GHOST STAR will be published by Kindle Press on January 9, 2018 at 12:00 AM EST! Woo hoo!

The link below is to my book's brand new Amazon page. Those who nominated GHOST STAR during its Kindle Scout campaign are eligible for a free Kindle copy.

Those who missed out on that crazy fun time (YIKES!) can pre-order their very own copy too. The paperback edition will come out around the same time and will be published through CreateSpace.

Hope you enjoy GHOST STAR, and thank you for your support!

To go to GHOST STAR'S Amazon page, click HERE.

Chugging Along: Ghost Star Update #3

I submitted my publish-ready manuscript to Kindle Press yesterday. This draft was based on the excellent notes I got from my KP editor. I also had "David," the Microsoft Word robot voice, read Ghost Star back to me one more time after I had done the changes. I'm always amazed at how many errors he helps me catch. If you're not using TTS (Text to Speech) as a proofing tool, I highly recommend that you do so.

I got a note back from KP this morning. My author revised draft has "passed the final stages of review." Because of the quick turnaround, I'm guessing their approval is based on some sort of auto-scan.

The rest of the note goes on to say:

"Currently, the Kindle Press production team is working on converting your Word doc into a MOBI e-book file for publication on all Kindle devices. We’ll let you know when this stage is complete and we establish a detail page for your title. This process typically takes around 1-2 weeks."

Super cool! That's it for now. More to come.

Getting Schooled: Ghost Star Update #2

I received my Kindle Press editor's notes on GHOST STAR a few days ago and started working on them today. Woo hoo!

How it works: The editor sends you, the KS-selected author, an edited manuscript (where the author can accept or reject the changes using the Track Changes feature). Working from the Chicago Manual of Style (CMoS) for grammar, punctuation, and style guidelines, and the Merriam-Webster Collegiate (M-W) for spellings and hyphenations, she found tons of, shall we say, "deviations" from those rules. The suggested changes are all of a minor nature (no "Chapter 13 sucks, chuck it!"), but there are lots of little things that need to be fixed. The cool thing is that my editor made a lot of the little changes (punctuation, sentence structure, naming continuity, etc.) herself, so all I have to do is accept or reject.

My editor's tone is supportive and upbeat. I really get the feeling she likes the book and is on my side. I can tell she only wants the book to be as good as it can be, but she leaves no doubt about the proper way to do things. For example, it was pointed out the names of the spacecraft should be italicized as in Ghost Star. Who knew? Not me, that's for sure.

Along with the edited manuscript came a Editorial Letter (Line Editing) where GHOST STAR gets what amounts to a critique on things like Structure/Plot Flow, Characterization, and Tone and Style. Again, tons of great info here including awesome suggestions about how to heighten the impact of key scenes with some well-placed foreshadowing.

My first pass through the notes will be for the basic Accept/Reject notes (punctuation corrections, etc.). Then I'll address my editor's comments in the manuscript. Finally, I'll go through the Editorial Letter and make the suggested changes. I'm about halfway through the first pass and loving every minute of it. It's exciting!

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

This is surprisingly good!    (h/t Jeff Faria)

Ghost Star Update

As promised, new details! Just received the following from my Kindle Press editorial team:

"We're pleased to let you know that editorial work on your Kindle Press manuscript Ghost Star has begun. An editor will review your manuscript using the Microsoft Word Track Changes feature and provide recommendations.

When the editor has completed work on your manuscript, we'll send you another e-mail letting you know your manuscript is ready for review, along with a link so you can download your manuscript, review all the editorial suggestions, and decide which changes you'd like to make before submitting your edited document to the Kindle Press team.

Your manuscript should be ready for you to review by October 20, 2017."

How cool is that? Needless to say, I'll jump on the recommendations right away. Not sure what the schedule is after I submit the revised manuscript, but I'll let y'all know as soon as I know. 

Please Support My 2017 WALK TO END ALZHEIMER'S:

My Mom

WALK ALERT: Hey, everybody! I'm participating in this year's Walk to End Alzheimer's and asking for your support. My mom, Pat, and my father-in-law, Jerry, both suffer from this brutal disease. The Walk to End Alzheimer's is my small way of fighting back.

Thanks to your generous donations, I've blown past my original fundraising goal of $500.00. I'm just a little short of the $1000.00 mark and would love to beat that, too.

Our local walk is NEXT WEEKEND on October 7th, 2017. Follow THIS LINK to donate now. You'll be taken to my Donation Page.

Please donate what you can to support the efforts of the Alzheimer's Association. Any amount is a good amount. Thank you for joining the fight! 

 

Roger

Guess Who's Getting Published by Kindle Press?!!!

Amazon just emailed me...Kindle Press is going to publish GHOST STAR!!! Details to come. Woo hoo! Thanks for your support, everyone!

Ghost Star Campaign Is Over

My (annoying?) GHOST STAR campaign is finally over. I'll find out if the book is selected sometime in the next 15 days. A heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported me. You folks are awesome! :) #fingerscrossed

2017 Walk to End Alzheimer's

My Mom

Hello, all! I'm participating in this year's Walk to End Alzheimer's and asking for your support.

My mom, Pat, and my father-in-law, Jerry, both suffer from this brutal disease. The Walk to End Alzheimer's is my small way of fighting back.

Our local walk is on October 7th, 2017.

CLICK HERE to donate now. You'll be taken to my Donation Page.

Please donate what you can to support the efforts of the Alzheimer's Association. Any amount will help.

Thank you for joining the fight!

Roger

GHOST STAR: Kindle Scout Campaign Update

 

My heartfelt thanks to everyone who has already nominated GHOST STAR for publication on Amazon. So far, so good -- at least as far as I can tell. 

 

Kindle Scout doesn't tell you how many actual nominations your book has received, but they do give you a little bit of info. With fifteen days left in the campaign, GHOST STAR has spent 169 hours on the "Hot and Trending" list and has received roughly 2.5k views on its page. I hope most of those views were also nominations!

For those who haven't nominated GHOST STAR and wouldn't mind doing so, please follow the link and vote today. It's free to vote and if my book is approved, you'll get a FREE Kindle copy. Thanks!

 

https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/K0R7BME788ZC

Game Of Thrones Theme on Gayageum by Luna

Haunting...

Call To Action: Please Nominate My Book for Publication by Amazon's Kindle Scout

Here are three steps you can follow to earn this author's undying gratitude:

• Step One: Follow THIS LINK to Kindle Scout. 
• Step Two: Log in to your Amazon account.
• Step Three: Nominate Ghost Star, my new YA Sci-Fi novel, for publication by Amazon.

It's just that simple! Seriously though, I know this kind of stuff can be a pain, but, in this case, there really isn't much more to it than the steps I just listed.

It's free to vote and only costs a little bit of your time.

The Backstory: I recently completed the manuscript for Ghost Star and decided to give Amazon's Kindle Scout program a try. How it works is that you submit your previously unpublished novel and support materials--book cover, description, etc.--and, after a review, they assign you a "campaign."

My Kindle Scout campaign for Ghost Star will launch on August 26, 2017 12:00 AM EDT and end on September 25, 2017 12:00 AM EDT.

During that time frame, it's the author's job to get as many of his supporters to "nominate" the book for publication as possible. Here's why:
  
"The more nominations your book receives the more likely it will get the attention of our Kindle Scout team and be selected for publication."

Pretty straightforward, right?

The bottom line is that it would be really cool if you would nominate my book.

Thank you!
Roger

BONUS STEP:

• Step Four: Ask your friends and family who might be up for this kind of thing to vote for Ghost Star, too. Thanks!

Raw link to campaign:  https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/K0R7BME788ZC

Cover Reveal: Ghost Star (A Sci-Fi Adventure)

Hey! Here's the cover for Ghost Star, my new YA Sci-Fi novel! Isn't it cool?

Amazon is launching a Kindle Scout campaign for Ghost Star this Saturday, 8/26.

That means you folks will have an opportunity to nominate Ghost Star for publication, and I really really hope you do.

I'll post more details and a link to the campaign page on Saturday.

If Ghost Star gets picked, I'll get a modest advance and my book will be published by Amazon! If you nominate the book and it gets picked, I'll be eternally grateful, and you'll get a free Kindle copy.

In the meantime, how about that cover? Isn't it cool?

The Best Gaming News I've Heard in Years!

I love, correction, LOVE the Age of Empires pc game franchise! Launched some 20 years ago by Microsoft Studios, I've purchased and played every single edition of this incredible RTS (Real Time Strategy) game from the very beginning. From the original Age of Empires through Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, Age of Mythology, and Age of Empires III--I've played them all plus their Expansion Packs.

Well... Imagine my delight upon hearing that not only is Microsoft going to bring back a fully updated version of the original, but they've also begun work on a completely new AOE game, Age of Empires IV!

The original Age of Empires was designed for Windows 95 and, as far as I'm concerned, has been unplayable (technically-speaking) for many a year. This new updated version is for Windows 10 and will be released on October 19, 2017. Here's the trailer for the remastered Age of Empires: Definitive Edition:




How cool is that? If you were a fan of the AOE series, you've got to be pleased with this new development.

As if that wasn't enough, Microsoft Studios and Relic Entertainment have announced they're developing Age of Empires IV! As you'll see in the "Announce Trailer" below, details are a little sparse. In fact, all of the artwork is from previous editions of the game. Why? My clever deduction is that they're still very early in the development process and don't have anything to show yet. If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say they're going to advance the timeline up into the modern era as that's what they've done with all of the previous installments--advance the ages with each new release. WWI and WWII? Who knows? Everything is conjecture at this point.



Anyway...both of these announcements are so cool! Can I get a yay? YAY!!!

Call For Employment

The writing for Treehouse Detectives, the fun animated show I've been working on, is close to wrapping. Our mystery-solving brother and sister bears are coming to Netflix soon and should be a big hit with the preschool crowd.

In the meantime, I need work. Thanks!

#animationguild #sagaftra #bbqpitmaster