Works in Progress

I've been hard at work writing and editing over the last few weeks. Here's where I currently stand:

• Rewritten II: Veracity has been edited through chapter 15. I'm waiting on the editor to finish it; I'll then give it one last proofread before publication. (Estimating that'll be in late March at the soonest.)
• Rewritten III: Evasion has been fully written and needs only to be edited. 
• Rewritten IV: Defiance has been fully written and needs only to be edited. It also needs a cover (which I've commissioned).
• Return the Sea has been edited and formatted. It needs one last proofread before publication.
• The Great Ships has been edited and formatted. It needs one last proofread before publication.
• Cyclical is approaching the final stages of editing. It needs to be read aloud, formatted, and proofread one last time before publication.
• Unlikely Places is approaching the final stages of editing. It needs to be read aloud, formatted, and proofread one last time before publication.
• Through the Cracks is approaching the final stages of editing. It needs to be read aloud, formatted, and proofread one last time before publication.
• Ill-Fitting is approaching the final stages of editing. It needs one scene to be rewritten, then it needs to be read aloud in its entirety, formatted, and proofread one last time before publication.
• Shattered is approaching the final stages of editing. It needs three scenes to be rewritten, then it needs to be read aloud in its entirety, formatted, and proofread one last time before publication. If I'm dissatisfied with the quality of the stories, I may scrap the bundle and offer the solid story as a stand-alone.
• Fallen Towers is approaching the final stages of editing. It needs to be read aloud, formatted, and proofread one last time before publication.
• The Wastes has hit the two-thirds mark. 
• Unmaking is nearly complete; I'm deciding whether to include a few, final short stories.
• Delving I: Control has hit the halfway point and been planned in detail from start to finish.
• Delving II: Alter has been planned in detail from start to finish.
• Delving III: Delete has been planned in detail from start to finish.
• Fox Train has hit the halfway point and been planned in detail from start to finish.
• Hitsuzen has been planned in detail from start to finish.
• Fall Together Like Clockwork has been planned in detail from start to finish.
• The Squeeze has been planned in detail from start to finish.
• About 60 short stories have been planned for various Qol characters, depending upon demand. 
• Rough outlines for 5 alternate POV novels exist for Qol books.

As you can see, I've been a very busy bee the last few months! Unless otherwise noted, all of the above have cover drafts, though some need to be finalized. I have a lot of works in progress, but I've been updating my dropbox for backers on a daily basis--I'm always getting something done. I'm sorry for the delay thus far, but hopefully I'll begin releasing more stories very soon!

Also, I've contacted all backers who got back to me with bonus material and the like, so I think I'm managing fairly well on that front!

Thank you all so much for your support,

Morgan Bauman

KickStarter, Planning, and Confidence.

So my KickStarter was a roaring success! I'm immensely pleased with the results, and have been doing my very best to get rewards and bonuses out to backers immediately. Of course, I don't have final drafts just yet, but I should have those ready by the time the covers are done, at least. Hopefully it won't be too long before all of my stories are available!

In fact, I have a lot of stories in the works. I'm currently 151 pages into the first book of the sequel series that follows the Rewritten arc; at least two more books will follow it. In fact, I've split the sequel series into two series, so there may be three arcs altogether. I'm also aiming to write short stories mapping the lives of over seventy Qol characters from beginning to end, though these won't be available until after the novels are released to avoid spoilers. If people are interested, I would also like to write some of the novels from the perspectives of other characters to offer a different view of the events. Beyond these, I'm currently using a program called Aeon Timeline to organize all of the character stories; once all of the books are published, I'll make that file available for free.

So Qol is getting a lot of attention at the moment. Between six and ten more novels, seventy-some-odd character shorts, as many as six alternate perspective novels, and a timeline spanning over a hundred years are all in the works.

I've also been working on a series of novellas set in an alternate, steampunk version of the Meiji Restoration in Japan. Backers of my first KickStarter got to preview the first story of the set, but all subsequent stories will be fifteen chapters long--between 15,000 and 45,000 words (60 - 180 pages) total, depending on the story. I have them plotted out in detail, and I hope to have them written and edited by the end of the year. The working titles for these stories are: The Great Ships (short story), Hitsuzen, Sadame, Fox Train, The Squeeze, and Fall Together Like Clockwork. If these are successful, I may write even more of them--after all, I did over a thousand pages of research to get as accurate of information as possible for these!

I also have a collection of assorted short stories tentatively called Unmaking in the works. 90% of them have been written and edited as of right now; I plan to release them in bundles of three or four for $0.99 and then as a collection with all six or seven bundles (totalling about twenty stories) for $2.99. They're primarily retellings of old myths, fairy tales, and so forth, only placed in a range of settings from the creation of the universe to a post-apocalyptic wasteland. They should start coming out in the next several weeks, with any luck.

So, in summary, I have the following planned for release in 2013 and 2014:

• 6 Qol novels
• 70 Qol character short stories
• 6 bundles of other short stories (~20 stories altogether)
• 6 steampunk novellas
• Total: currently estimating about 4000 book-sized pages. (May total anywhere from 2500 to 6000 pages, though, depending on numerous factors.)

Many of these are already written, and almost all of the others are planned in great detail, so I think that this may be doable. If I work as quickly as I did during November, I may have all of these written, edited, formatted, the and published with covers designed by yours truly by mid-2014 or sooner. Unless, of course, it turns out that a planned story is a total flop on the page--not all ideas pan out in the actual execution, after all.

The main setback that I've experienced thus far, though, is my own lack of confidence in myself. I struggle with marketing my stories, and I worry that people won't enjoy my books, even if I do. Though I understand that all authors encounter this particular predicament, I'm still figuring out how to overcome my nerves and actually hit the publish button. After all, a story is never really done. A point just comes when you're "editing sideways," as my friend, Hildred Billings, once put it. I may or may not be approaching that point on many of the stories in my queue.

But it's tough for me to identify that point with anything approaching confidence, as I want the books to be perfect. There's no such thing as perfection, of course, which lets me put off putting myself out there for indefinite amounts of time. I'm working on that right now, though--you'll all get to see when I hit that point, because I'll suddenly inundate all of you with several novels, short stories, and novellas all at once, most likely. Here's hoping that day will come soon!

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me!

Morgan Bauman

Considering KDP Select

In determining where to release my ebooks, I came across the KDP Select program.

Pros:

• Included in the Kindle lending library
• Can be promoted for free for five days every three months
• Can opt out after 90 days

Cons:

• Can only distribute my ebook through Amazon

I would only release my book via Amazon after making sure that I'd made all of the formats available to my backers, of course. As it's possible to read books for the Kindle without a Kindle (I read one on my laptop very recently), I don't know whether this would actually be a significant hurdle for potential readers. I've sent Amazon a message asking whether I can send people other formats after receiving proof of purchase and still qualify, but I'm not sure when they'll reply.

No matter what, it would still be available in paperback, so don't worry about that!

What do you think? If you're interested in reading the ebook, would the Amazon exclusivity make it impossible for you to buy it?

Release Date

I am pleased to announce that Rewritten I: Fallacy will be released in various ebook formats on October 25, 2012. Backers will receive their copies on October 18, 2012. The paperback version will hopefully be released at or around the same time.

A sample of the revised book can be found here. It includes the first eight chapters, just like the KickStarter sample did.

Progress Report 10: Formatting

I've been formatting all week. Unfortunately, the ebooks gave me some trouble--they ate a fair bit of my formatting. I had to go through the entire book again and identify all of the italics and so forth. I'd used italics/bold for some thought-speech in the book originally, but I may opt to have the epub and mobi versions have brackets to indicate that, rather than go through reformatting them all. I haven't yet decided. If you have an opinion one way or the other, please feel free to let me know!

Aside from that, I've basically completed all of the relevant formatting. There are still two pictures left to include (possibly three, if I can decide on the best placement for it) and the review left to add on the back, but everything else is in order.

In fact, I submitted the file to the printer; if it's cleared, then I'll be able to order the first draft copy! Of course, I'll need to order a second one later, regardless, but I'd like to know now if the pictures aren't showing at the proper resolution, etc. Also, I'd like to see whether the colors of the cover show up nicely in print--that kind of thing.

I budgeted enough time for three draft copies, just in case. Hopefully I'll only need two. I sent the ebook drafts to some friends with e-readers; with luck, they'll look just fine. If they do, I may even release the ebooks ahead of the paperbacks. To backers, at least. Wouldn't that be exciting? I'd just have to wait on the last two pictures.


What remains (in approximate chronological order):

• Sending the review backer the advance copy.
• Contacting the audiobook company with the final draft to begin negotiations.
• Including the review backer's review on the back cover.
• The last two pictures for the novel. (After I receive them, I'll format them and finish the final pdf.)
• Ordering a draft print of the paperback.
• Formatting the mobi and epub versions of the ebooks.
• Sending the ebooks to backers. (For this, I'll probably need to arrange a proper downloading method.)
• Sending out surveys to inquire about short stories and other rewards.
• Releasing the books to the general public.
• Filling other rewards.

I have everything set up to easily incorporate the remaining pictures, so that shouldn't hinder the final formatting. From the emails I've received, I'm probably going to get the final pictures within the next week or two.

I've also been working on the paperback packages, but I haven't received payment from 80% of the people who requested them, so I'm currently holding off on making most of the remaining bonuses. (Some of the bonuses are actually quite complicated, so I don't want to make them if no one will be able to enjoy them.)

Basically, the proverbial ball is out of my court for the moment. I've made a lot of progress this week, though! I honestly can't wait to get these ebooks out to backers--I keep having to convince myself that I can't send them out with unfinished artwork, haha. I'm going to look into direct downloading options; I'd like to use something a bit nicer than MediaFire when the time comes.

Anyway, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns! I'm always happy to listen.

Progress Report 9: Final Draft

I'm sorry that I've been away for more than a week. I've been up to my ears in editing and formatting. However, as the progress bar indicates, I've gotten a lot done since I last posted!

All but two images have been formatted and inserted into the document; the final two will be complete very soon. All of the edits are complete. Now that I've contacted people several times, I'm going to consider the "Acknowledgments" reward completely filled, since I assume those who haven't yet responded would rather not be listed. (Hence the jump in rewards.)

What remains (in approximate chronological order):

• Sending the review backer the advance copy.
• Contacting the audiobook company with the final draft to begin negotiations. (Update: Just did so, and am awaiting their response.)
• Including the review backer's review on the back cover.
• The last two pictures for the novel. (After I receive them, I'll format them and finish the final pdf.)
• Ordering a draft print of the paperback.
• Formatting the mobi and epub versions of the ebooks.
• Sending the ebooks to backers. (For this, I'll probably need to arrange a proper downloading method.)
• Sending out surveys to inquire about short stories and other rewards.
• Releasing the books to the general public.
• Filling other rewards.

This is somewhat simplified, of course. But I've been hard at work, and I suspect that the books may actually be finished ahead of schedule. I don't want to make any promises along those lines, though, because the draft print could go horribly awry (or backers might not respond to surveys, making it impossible to fulfill their rewards).

In any case, I am most of the way done with fulfilling rewards, and I am pretty well ahead of my original schedule. I can't wait to see this book in print!

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me. (For example, if you still want your name in the Acknowledgments, you'll have to let me know soon.)

Editing Progress and Process

I've heard back from my editors and have already gone through to make all of the minor edits. Right now, I'm making the big decisions about which scenes to rewrite entirely, whether to add scenes, cut scenes, flesh out scenes--lots of big decisions. I've already rewritten two scenes, and plan to rewrite at least five more. I fleshed out one scene, but I may flesh it out further, if it won't strain the flow and pacing of the story. I cut one scene and may cut another, depending on whether I believe it's really important to the plot of the story.

Fortunately, I had four skilled people edit my book, and I have a fair amount of feedback as I go through this process. Unfortunately, as always happens, my editors had some points on which they completely disagreed.

The reason that I seek as many opinions as possible when editing is that individual opinions can vary wildly. I don't want to hear only from people who love my book, or only from people who wouldn't read my book on their own. Although this mix of opinions definitely benefits my book, it also makes the editing process more complicated.

After all, if Editor A loves a critical aspect of the story and Editor D loathes it, while Editors B and C think of it in a generally positive light, I have to weigh a number of factors. It might be that my style isn't a good fit for Editor D, and that the people who would want to read my book would enjoy it. But I don't want to discount the strong reaction it provoked. If it were a minor aspect of the story, I might still err on the side of the strong, negative reaction and try to find a middle ground that all editors would love. In this case, the change in question would require rewriting 60%+ of the book and spoiling some important scenes from later books. I think that it might also diminish some of the reread value of the books.

However, I'm trying to think of other possibilities. Responses in general to my books have been quite positive thus far, and I'd like to work to ensure that this particular hurdle doesn't distract from that. The most difficult part of editing--for me, at least--is making decisions. I can write fifty thousand words in two weeks if need be; the writing is not my main concern. I feel like I'm on the verge of finalizing my decisions, however, so this should move forward steadily.

For those interested, my editing process, from beginning to end, is beneath the cut.

Changes and Updates

For the first time since beginning this blog, it's been just over a week since my last post. I built in some buffer time into my plans for the book, fortunately; two of the people editing for me are about a week behind, and they've promised to send me their revisions by the end of the week at the latest.

I've been doing a fair amount of work, anyway; I made a few big changes, renamed some places and characters, and even set about renaming the books themselves. These aren't changes that I can describe in detail just yet, since it would give away parts of the book, but they aren't changes that I can take lightly, either. The book, setting, and characters have had their names for more than half of my life at this point, which made this rather more arduous a process than I would have liked.

So, those who read the sample, you may have some momentary confusion with the different names, but I hope that it'll make the books overall much more readable and enjoyable.

On another note, most of the book art is complete! The action scene, the four interaction scenes, the six character concept art sketches (each with two poses), and three of the six setting concept art sketches are in their final forms. I'm still waiting on two maps and three more setting sketches, but those will be finished in due time.

Between the edits, the art, and the other progress I've made, I'm now more than 50% of the way finished! Once I get you all your ebooks, I'll be able to send out surveys asking for your other rewards.

Oh! Just as I was about to submit this post, I actually got an email from the audiobook people--I may be able to actually move forward with the audiobook production! I'll try to figure it out and let you all know what's up as soon as I can! From what they've just said, though, things are looking rather promising indeed.

What's in a name?

The first of my editors got their final notes and edits to me late last night. They included a lot of helpful suggestions and revisions, so I think that editing is looking really promising right now! Unfortunately, one of their best suggestions is one that is nearly impossible for me. My main character is named Renee (nickname Ray) and her sister is Raven. The setting of the first book is a village called Rayai. All three of these, as it turns out, begin with "Ra".

With my synesthesia, their names are entirely distinct colors that are simple to differentiate. It wasn't until they'd had those names for five years before anyone told me that they were easy to mix up. Since then, I've been told the same thing by several other people. To be honest, I think that they have an excellent point, and I actually want to change the name--so, what's the problem?

For me, names define characters. Not in any way that someone else could probably see--well, unless they could mysteriously borrow my synesthesia for a few hours. To change a character's name is the same, on a visceral level, as erasing that character's existence. The character won't--can't--be the same person if they have a different name.

Of course, this probably sounds ridiculous. What's in a name, anyway? Can't I just use find and replace to fix it? Those are the things that I keep telling myself, but it's so much harder than that. If you've known someone for ten years, suddenly relearning their name is very hard indeed. When asked by that person to do so, of course, I will (and have); when you're the one renaming them, it feels much more uncomfortable.

So, what do you think is in a name?