The fragrance of lilacs and crab apple blossoms fill the air in my neighborhood and the trees have burst into variegated shades of green. Rain has abated the drought we were in last year, and now the lawns are velvety carpets of emerald green. Hard to stay indoors on this sunny warm day but I’ve had lots of chores to complete as usual on a Saturday. But now I turn to something more fun. A progress report!!
Perceval’s Shadow Takes the First Step into the World
Invitations to Beta readers have been sent. Those who accepted have been sent the manuscript to read. My feedback request: let me know if nothing works or if something doesn’t work or if everything works or if some things work but others don’t. Are there gaps? One of the readers volunteered to read for continuity with Perceval’s Secret. I may ask a couple more people to read. If Beta reading is something that intrigues you and you want to try it, let me know via the email address on the Contact page.
I continue to research professional editors and have two promising possibilities locally. Research on POD providers hasn’t begun.
Budget Work
I’ve been sketching out a draft production budget and keeping an eye on my own spending. From this point on, I’ll need to cut back on my spending in order to save to pay for this project.
The Book Cover
I will need two full book covers — front, spine, back — one for Perceval’s Secret and one for Perceval’s Shadow. Then I’ll need a “front” cover for the e-book of Perceval’s Shadow. I’ve been trying to decide if I want to keep the same cover for Perceval’s Secret for the POD paperback. And I’ve been thinking about how to find a photo to use on the front cover of Perceval’s Shadow. I think I know what I want, but can’t decide if I want a daylight or night time photo. I’ll also need to write cover copy, copy for the spines for the full book covers.
Why Not Find a Traditional Publisher?
Much, much easier said than done. I shopped Perceval’s Secret to dozens of literary agents and the few publishers who accepted unsolicited submissions and published genre novels before I decided to self-publish. I suppose a traditional publisher would take care of the book cover design, designing the interior, and the printing. But nowadays, writers need to have the novel edited before submitting to agents and/or publishers. And writers still need to do the bulk of the marketing themselves as well. So, I waver on this question. With self-publishing, I have complete control over everything as well as complete responsibility.
Done any Writing Lately?
Sure! I finished and submitted a personal essay in the past week. I’ve also been thinking about various projects that bang around in my head. A breakthrough for a music memoir I’ve been writing notes for: I now know what the first chapter will be. I’ve been mulling and musing and waiting and trying out various ideas for a couple years now, so this is kind of a big deal that I finally got it. I may start working on the music memoir — a collection of essays — while I’m working on the publication project. I’ll need to write something. My mood tends to turn crabby if I’m not writing something.
In Conclusion
It’s a bit of a waiting game now as the Beta readers do their thing. I guess I no longer have a good excuse for not housecleaning…..
I do not know who the young boy is in the photo above, but I found it on the internet a while ago. This young boy comes as close as I could find to resembling the young French boy in Perceval’s Shadow. I miss spending time with him. I thank whoever put this photo out there, and whoever the boy is. Thank you for inspiring me!