Getting It Right the First Time

YA author/blogger Angela Scott has a great post on why it's so very vital to make the best first impression possible with your self-published novel. She says:

"I would think, with the prejudice that self-publishing experiences, that someone contemplating that route would do EVERYTHING, going above and beyond what is even necessary, to prove people wrong and produce a perfect, polished piece of work. But they’re not."

I couldn't agree more and probably err on the side of over-caution for fear of putting out something that looks amateurish.

Angela also offers a few tips on what to keep in mind before pushing the "publish" button. Check out the full post on her blog.

Personally, I'm a big fan of beta-readers (asking writerly/well-read types whose work I respect to take a look and gives notes - which I'm then smart and humble enough to follow). Even with all their help, I still recognize the importance of hiring someone who has the sole responsibility of catching all the dumb mistakes that I know still exist in my manuscript (even after some 10+ self-edits). That's why my first-to-be-self-published manuscript is currently with a professional editing/proofreading service.

Got any tips of your own? What kind of things do you try to take care of before putting your manuscript out there on the open market?

Behold my Super-Awesome Backers!

A Few of My Backers

I am a very fortunate man. During my recent (and hopefully not too annoying) fundraising effort on Kickstarter, these folks stepped up to the plate and made a contribution to Leonard's cause. Because of them, the book went from "Gonna publish it someday." to "Gonna publish it this summer." Some are family, some are friends, and some are complete strangers -- all are SUPER-AWESOME!!!

Here they are in all their alphabetically-ordered, super-awesome glory...

Jim Allen

Ed Brown

Anne Chivetta

Chris Chivetta

Chris Cusack

Peggy Etra

Patricia Eschbacher

Roger Eschbacher, Sr.

Rick Fiedler

Coleen Forward

James Giannini

Toni Gilbert

Paul Gross

Cyndi Ruprecht Hunt

James Judd

Chris Landes

Traci Newman

Brian Palermo

Adam Pava

Keith Robinson

Japke Rosink

Lisa Tucker-Ruprecht

Stephen J. Ruprecht

Andrew Thomas

Jeff Zimmer

Look upon their names and feel awe because they are true giants and giantesses of SUPER-AWESOMENESS!!!

To the Editor!

Just a quick update to let you know I sent the manuscript for Leonard off to the editing service, yesterday. Hooray! I opted for their full-service treatment which not only includes a proofread (punctuation, grammar, etc.), but also a more detailed edit and overview. A professional edit is the main reason I launched the Kickstarter project so it's truly a thrill to finally get the ball rolling in that department.

My editor told me I could expect to get it back in around three weeks, possibly sooner. Once that happens, I'll make the suggested changes, then start cranking on getting Leonard the Great: Dragonfriend listed on Amazon, both in Kindle form and as a physical book.

In other news, steady progress is being made toward completion of the first draft of the sequel to this book. On Friday, Leonard was swallowed by a monster. Hope he survives. ;c)

Ten and Counting

Almost there! Only ten days away from the completion of this project and I'm getting more excited by the moment! I've been slowly lining up what needs to be done and what needs to be ordered (software, postcards, etc.). The plan is to go through the manuscript one last time before shipping it off for editing and proofing.

In the meantime, I'm pushing forward to complete the first draft of the book's sequel,  Leonard the Great: Giant Killer. At this point, I'm at just under 50k words (around two hundred MS Word pages). My goal is to average between 500 and 1000 words a day until completion -- hopefully by the end of May. My word count "sweet spot" for the sequel will be around 60k.

I'll be keeping track of my first draft progress with a word count widget I ran across (over on the right of this page). I know it sounds kind of silly, but little things like that are a great motivator for me and the ability to update my word count provides a feeling of accomplishment. Hey, I guess we authors all have our little mind tricks, eh?


This is so cool. Thanks again, everyone!

Funded!

The Half-Castle?

As of last night, and to my utter amazement, the Leonard the Great: Dragon Friend project on Kickstarter became fully funded! To say that I am blown away would be epic understatement. I am so very grateful that you cared enough about my project to want to help. Thanks to you, a dream many years in the making will actually come true! Thank you! I am thrilled beyond measure.

What's next, you ask?

Well, the project can continue to receive donations (any additional funds will be applied to the next book), as Kickstarter rules require that I keep it open for the amount of time originally designated. In other words, there is no option to end the project early. I'll have to wait to get busy with the fun stuff (pro editing, etc.) until May 1st at 11:59p,  at which point they'll release the funds to my account.

However, I can use the remaining time to plan the fun stuff (which can be fun in and of itself) and I'll be doing just that. I'll keep you all posted on any interesting developments and, of course, when the rewards are ready to be shipped.

Again, thank you so very much for your support. I feel truly blessed!

ABNA Update

Well, it's a good thing I was "realistic about the odds" because Leonard didn't make it into the quarter finals. Naturally, it would've been nice if it had, but that's okay. There's always next year and if my Kickstarter project is successful, the manuscript will be in even better shape than it is now (and published!).

A nice thing about getting as far as I did is that I'll be receiving feedback from the two Vine reviewers who read my manuscript. Last year's Vine reviews (one snarky, the other gushing) were very helpful and I took them to heart during a subsequent rewrite.

Congrats to all who moved on to the next round -- a very impressive accomplishment.

Leonard on Kickstarter

I just launched Leonard on Kickstarter, a site dedicated to helping authors and other artists get patrons (they call them backers) for their projects. I'm obsessed with having my literary baby properly edited before publishing it on Amazon and this seemed like the perfect way to make that happen. Go on over and check out the PROJECT PAGE and, if so inclined, please consider giving a donation.

BTW, that's the progress widget for the project on the right and my "pitch video" up above. I don't look too dorky, do I? (please say no)