As always, sign up for IWSG here.
Shout-out to Kristin Smith, Elsie and Fundy Blue for being co-hosts for this month.
I know it’s the website’s one year anniversary and most of the entries are likely to be all primed for IWSG anthology of tips and all … but if my previous posts don’t give it away, things here have been a bit of a yo-yo emotionally. One minute, I’m good, everything’s going okay, I even got a few chapters done with Dark One’s Bride, then … well, then it’s not. It really, really isn’t.
#1 is book related and it’s been niggling in the back of my mind for some time. Just one question … However am I going to get the sequel to The Rogue King actually published?
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| Mock cover. |
For those not in the know, I’m self-publishing this four-book saga that’s been seventeen years in the making. Ever since I released the first book this April, the next book, The Shadow Prince, has been waiting for its turn to leap through that editing wringer and get itself a shiny cover (as is The Forgotten Queen, if I’m honest).
To begin with, I was aiming for publishing one book a year.
That costs money. No delusions there. And it was money I was in the process of saving up until the bed carked it and then my car chucked it’s toys not once, but twice in the last year. I won’t bore you with details of my financial life beyond saying there’s just no wriggle-room for what self-publishing another book would cost my family. If I had an extra year or two, I could … maybe … sort it myself by … yeah, 2016 at the earliest. And that’s only providing nothing else goes wrong in the meantime.
And don’t think I haven’t considered Kickstarter (now that kiwis can) to fund the important parts of getting The Shadow Prince published, because I have. It’s my only other option besides waiting and hoping no more roadblocks crop up. I’ve even got a page set up just waiting for me to hit ‘publish’. I even tweak it on my good days.
On the other hand, thinking about asking people for money like that is … let’s just say I have trouble asking anyone for anything.
Aldrea Alien 
Hi AA! I'm visiting as one of IWSG's co-hosts today. Don't ever regret writing your saga! As a newbie writer, I'm awed at what you have already accomplished. If it's 2016, it's 2016. That will pass in a snap! Meanwhile keep writing, and who knows what wonderful thing may happen. Guaranteed life will always happen ~ I just traded my 20 year old car for a 12 year old car, but I'm mobile! LOL I've watched my youngest sister go through all kinds of publishing hoops. Writing was the easy part. She is a master at overcoming obstacles, and she has her third book at a publisher right now. I have to kick myself every morning to work on getting to where you already are. So keep kicking, butter will happen. 🙂
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If you do a kickstarter, I'll donate. 🙂
Is it just editing and covers? Did you do more than copy-editing last time? Could you get by with just copy-editing this time? Is there a potentially less expensive editor?
Were you going to do another commission for the covers? Would they offer a discount for being a return customer?
And, as a regional thing, I giggled at the car chucking toys. I've never heard that before. I know it's not funny, but still I had this image of a car hiding behind a wall or log or something, flinging little stuffed animals at people who walked past.
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Yeah, it's easy to look at when it's maybe a year or two. But it's taken seventeen years to get this far, what if it takes another seventeen? I had goals. I wanted to meet them!
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I'm not sure. My current editor's already promised me a discount, so that does make it cheaper.
As for the cover, it will be the same person who might offer a discount, I haven't asked due to not wanting to waste her time when I know I don't have the money, but the image I picture will be more elaborate (with Klif on the back). So really, they'll sort of cancel each other out.
Either way, the exchange rate will kill me every time. It's always -more-, no matter what I do. -_-
And yeah, four-wheeled toddler=chucking toys. Maybe I should put it in “time out”?
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The cover design for book two looks phenomenal!
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Thanks. It'll look even better once I get the actual picture.
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Hey, I'd chip in. Definitely have a soft spot for nonhuman-centric stories.
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