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

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.)

Progress Report 7: A month of progress bars

It's been a month since I started making progress bars. Some weeks have been more productive than others, but I've generally been keeping up with my monthly goals, and I should be able to deliver rewards on time. It's been almost two months since the KickStarter funded, and this is what I've accomplished thus far:

• Commissioned interior artwork
• Legally set up Qol Press as an official press
• Filled out paperwork so that I can legally do business as Qol Press
• Set up contact information that I can give to readers without compromising my own safety
• Organized a CreateSpace account with all of this legal information so that I can be taxed appropriately
• Checked in with people about how taxes will work now
• Bought ISBNs for the entire series
• Assigned ISBNs for the paperback, epub, mobi, and pdf versions of the book while setting one aside for an audiobook
• Created an icon for Qol Press
• Formalized the interior layout of the book (including margins, spacing, font size, page numbering, chapter breaks, etc.)
• Designed the cover layout
• Formatted the finished artwork and made a number of design decisions
• Planned the paperback packages for interested backers
• Got more than halfway through production of the bonuses for said packages

All of this covers the June and July parts of the timeline I shared with all of you, and even surpasses some of the goals. I've also managed to write a post here at least one a week, and occasionally twice in a day, depending on what I had to report. 

I've contacted my editors; if they get back to me on schedule, I'll be working on editing throughout August, as planned. Once the draft is finalized, the last of the formatting decisions can take place. I can also ship off the pdf ebook to the backer who pledged for an advance copy so that they can write a review, which will go on the back cover of the book.

September will involve draft copies, producing various formats of ebooks, and so forth; if September goes smoothly, I may even be able to get a headstart on this, but I don't want to jinx anything.

Until I get back those edits, I'll be experimenting with some other genres in the hopes that it'll improve my overall skill as a writer.

To celebrate a month of progress bars, I've made a gif that cycles through all of the progress bars that I've shared thus far. As always, if you ever have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me at contact@qolpress.com -- I'm always happy to hear from you.

(Gif warning--I've placed the gif beneath a cut to be on the safe side.)

Approximate Timeline

So I spent a long time today figuring out when I hope to have everything completed by. Emphasis on the hope part--after all, I can't predict major illnesses, life events, or disasters. There are a lot of things that could bring any parts of my plan that come after this December crashing down around my ears.


Even so, I thought it'd be a good idea to post it here. This is my current plan of action--if you see any flaws in it, anything that I missed, please let me know! I don't want to overlook anything, but there are a lot of pieces in motion right now. I'm doing my best to account for everything, and I think I've been pretty comprehensive, but having another set of eyes always helps.


Take a look at the details under the cut!