Eternal Retribution

I’m quite a bit behind on this announcement, but my promotion at work has left me with a backlog of things to catch up on the the previous guy hadn’t done.  Anyway…

 

I have completed typing Homecoming.  The first draft comes in at 22 chapters.  The final three are the only ones not yet relayed, so:

 

Chapter 20—Pages: 186 Word Count: 66341

Chapter 21—Pages: 196 Word Count: 69800

Chapter 22—Pages: 202 Word Count: 71670

 

Now, the word counts on the last half dozen chapters or so (not counting 22) are a bit off, I’ve discovered.  I was using a different computer which apparently counts the words differently (and improperly)…  In any case, as you can see, the final chapter is relatively short (comparatively) and it also fall short of my goal.  This is, however, only the first draft.

 

I’ve got it out to a number of beta readers/editors right now, and am going to wait for their return before moving forward.  I do have some ideas where there are openings that could be filled, characters that could be expounded upon, etc.  We’ll see what it looks like when it returns.

 

I had hoped to start rewriting Eternal Retribution by now, but again, work (as well as the holidays) has put a pause on that.  I do hope to get to it soon.

 

So, that’s where things stand at the moment.  Thanks for stopping by.  Feel free to share any comments or questions, as well as the link to the site.

 

Peace Out, Rock On.


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Hey all, here with another update, though it has been some time.  Let me assure you’ve I’ve not been idle in that time.  I just haven’t been doing the typing as much.  Let’s get right to it.

 

Pages: 125

Word Count: 44790

 

That’s close to 50,000, the ~word count from Eternal Retribution.  I’ve got 15 and 16 written already as well, and between them, I should definitely have enough to get past that number. 

 

I’ve done a bit of ‘planning’ and calculating, which is not usually the way I write.  Putting together the proposed chapters I’ve got left, I determined that if I manage to finish writing each of the remaining chapters in 5 days or less (notebook, not typing), then I can be finished with Homecoming by Halloween.  Chapter 16 was finished in 4 days, so I’m ahead of schedule so far.  It’ll put a cramp on my reading, but I think this is going to be a nice final push to get the book done.  If I can manage to finish other chapters within a shortened time as well, I may be able to squeeze some typing in along the way.

 

Anyway, that’s what I’ve got for now.  With this schedule I’ve got going, I don’t know when I’ll update again, but hey, you guys all know this page has its periods of dormancy anyway.  Thanks for stopping by.  Leave a comment, drop me an email, shout at me on twitter even.

 

Peace Out, Rock On.


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Well, it’s not Sunday, but I did manage to get this chapter typed up in relatively decent proximity to my hopes.  It’s a crazy kind of feeling being only ~10,000 words shy of Eternal Retribution’s word count and still have so much to say.  This on its own is almost enough to make me feel that much more successful in the endeavor this second time around. 

 

Hmm…I’m realizing as I type this that I haven’t eaten in about 9 hours…that needs to be remedied.  So, without further rambling…

 

Pages: 112

Word Count: 40,479

 

Peace Out, Rock On.


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So I’ve gotten behind again when it comes to typing the chapters as I finish them.  I just finished up Chapter 12, but I’m currently a number of pages through writing 14.  If I can manage, I’ll try to get 13 typed up tomorrow.  However, as for the current numbers with the completion of Chapter 12:

 

Pages: 104

Word Count: 38,130

 

Perceptive perusers of my page (yes, I made up a word for alliteration’s sake) will notice this latest update has pushed me past my midway goal, as I figured it would in the last update, way back whenever that was.  I’ve still got a full chapter yet to digitize, as well as finishing and typing 14.

 

While the end of the year is creeping up, I’m still confident I’ll have it finished up within 2012.  At least the first draft, which is what I’m hoping for.  I’ve been getting some minor typo and grammatical error proofs back from the start, so I know a lot of that will already be handled by the time I go to run through the ‘finished’ product.  Aside from my much earlier projects, including the beginnings of Eternal Retribution I seem to be able to get what I want on paper on the first go.  I know this isn’t often the case with many writers, but I hope to use it to my advantage to lessen the time needed to get this book to a publishable form.

 

I hope to publish the book early in 2013.  If all goes well, I’m thinking somewhere in the first quarter of the year.  I’ll update you more as time goes by.  As always, thanks for stopping by.

 

Peace Out, Rock On.


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Wanted to stop by with another chapter update.  Finished typing up Chapter 7 the other day, after it’d been sitting in the notebook for a bit.  Work and stuff.  Anyway:

 

Word Count: 22758

Pages: 63

 

A quick little teaser to add in, I’m nearly finished writing Chapter 8.  I may take the time to finish it tonight even.  It may take another hour or so.  Good thing too.  Going to pick up the new Ghost Recon: Future Soldier before work tomorrow…or at least I’m going to try.  We’ll see how the schedule works out. 

 

I (and some of my readers) could still use a few more people sharing their thoughts on my previous entry, so if you can, check that out as well.  Thanks for stopping by.

 

Peace Out, Rock On.


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Hello again, all.  I can say ‘all’ now and feel like it actually pertains, thanks in large part to twitter.  I recently joined a group called World Literary Café that has this great program called Tweet Teams.  Each author posts a couple tweets linking their book(s) and/or website, and agrees to tweet one of the tweets for each of the other 9 authors on the team, and they’ll all do the same for you.  Thanks to this, my website hit record high views last week.  Even more important is the amount of new twitter friends I’ve made throughout the process.  I’d say a rough estimate has me at around 40 new followers.  Do we all chat all the time?  Of course not.  But I’ve had conversations with a number of them; it’s more than just a mutual follower who RTs for me and I for them.  (These RTs are outside of WLC, btw.)  If you’re interested, check out #WLCAuthor on twitter; you might find a book or two you really like.

 

Thanks to everyone who has followed me and retweeted for me over the past week and a half, and for all of you in the future.

 

Now, to get into the part where I need some help.  A little background first: I self-published my book at the beginning of 2010.  At the time, I only really knew of the one way to self-publish, and I went with what I knew.  I’m starting to think I was wrong.  Now, as I said, I didn’t know of any other options back then, but now (thanks again twitter, tweeps, etc.) I know of a number of what I can only describe as better options.  There are websites available where I can publish books (or republish, as I’m currently considering with Eternal Retribution) for free.  This is over a grand less than I paid out originally.  What’s more, with these new options, I get to set the price.  (DISCLAIMER: Xlibris does offer a ‘set your own price’ option, but it costs extra.)  However, I get to set the price at a rate that doesn’t scream ROADBLOCK at potential buyers.  The kicker?  The royalty percentage is a lot higher.

 

I don’t write for the money (I can’t seem to find a journalism job to save my life).  It may sound like that with all this talk of higher royalties, potential buyers, more sales…  But really, I write because I love to write.  I want to contribute to the literary world, and hope I have a positive effect on readers.  I’d be lying if I said getting paid for doing something I love isn’t part of the draw, but it is by no means the lion’s share.  All the positives to the things I listed (financially, at least) are really just icing on the cake.  At the lower prices, I can get my work into more readers hands (or e-reading devices).  I write what I want to write, not what someone tells me to write.  Everything about my story and future entries remains my decision to make.  Why have it any other way?

 

Okay, so now to get into the part where I need some help. This is mostly directed towards others indie authors, but any other reader who wants to do research and weigh in is more than welcome. The question comes down to this: Go with Kindle Select, which is through Amazon and I’ve been told and read holds the majority of ebook sales for indie authors, but holds exclusive ebook publishing rights for each 90-day period you’re enrolled, or don’t use Select, but still have Amazon coverage, and also go with Smashwords who do ebook sales for the iStore, B&N, Sony, etc.

 

There ya have it.  I hope to hear back from some people with their thoughts.  Thanks in advance, and for stopping by.

 

Peace Out, Rock On.


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As the title says, I’ve finished chapter 6.  I finished typing it up late Sunday night, and haven’t had a chance to get this update done until now.  Now, for the info you’re all waiting for:

 

Pages: 56

Word Count: 20110

 

It was a large chapter, comparatively.  It was also the one I had the most trouble with, despite its quick start.  Had some characterization issues crop up, which I will admit were rather disheartening.  But, I pushed the notebook to the side, got a scratchpad, and worked out the issues in a couple hours.  I was back to writing that same night, feeling confident again.

 

My one book per chapter rule seems to be helping me out quite a bit, now that I have a more of a chance to see the results.  I started working on chapter 7 last night, and it’s going well so far.  Despite the ‘forced’ aspect of the writing (since I don’t allow myself to read another book until at least a chapter is finished), it doesn’t feel like I have to force myself into it, which can really hamper the quality.  It’s almost like both the reading and the writing parts are each other’s rewards.  It feels good.

 

I’ve also been looking into some other options recently, and if I choose to go through with them, based on what I can tell, Eternal Retribution might be off the market for a month or two.  That’s all I’ll say about that for now; gotta give you some reason to come back, right?

 

As always, thanks for stopping by.  Any questions, comments, critiques, drop me a line.  Also don’t be afraid to post reviews.

 

Peace Out, Rock On.


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Well, I’ve finally finished digitizing chapter 5, so as mentioned the other day, I’m back with an update.

 

Word Count: 16572

Pages: 46

 

I’ve also managed to get a good start with chapter 6, putting down 4 notebook pages yesterday.  It seems to be progressing much faster now that I’m in the swing of things. I hope to have this one knocked out by the weekend, and maybe even digitized also if things go well.  However, The Avengers comes out this weekend, and I hope to see that as well.

 

It seems the reading/writing sanction I placed on myself is off to a smooth and prosperous start.  When I finish up with chapter 6, next on my list to read is Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut.  I’ve wanted to read that one for a while now.

 

I’ve recently become a member of the World Literary Café website (www.worldliterarycafe.com)  They’ve got a nice array of resources over there for indie writers and self-publishing.  I joined my first “Tweet Team” today, which is a type of cross-promotion WLC runs, where groups of 10 authors post tweets on the page, and the authors re-tweet the other nine tweets from their Tweet Team to help spread the word about their book and generate a buzz.  I can’t accurately speak to the results yet, but perhaps later in the week I can have a better idea of the outcome.

 

Thanks for stopping by, and don’t be afraid to comment or drop me an email.  Also, please share using the handy links below!

 

Peace Out, Rock On.


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So, yeah, didn’t get this posted the same day as the other update (obviously).  However, I did finish digitizing it that night, and I’ve got some new numbers to share.

 

Pages: 38

Word Count: 13,747

 

It’s looking like I’ll definitely be able to surpass my goal of a higher word count for the sequel.  I’m hoping to increase it by at least 50%.  To do that, I’ve been expanding this one to better fit the 3rd person omniscient POV.  The last one had some in there, of course, but it was mostly focused on around following the main character.  This should also have the nice bonus of bringing the supporting cast more to life, to let the readers get a bit more invested in them.  I find when I’m invested in characters I’m reading about, it brings more to my experience when I feel I can share in their successes, or failures.  I’m hoping to give a bit of that back to my readers.

 

Still piecing together chapter 5 in my head.  Not sure exactly where it’s going to go yet.  While some new characters have been introduced (teaser!) a few of the returning characters haven’t been brought to light yet, and some intended loose ends from Eternal Retribution that could use a bit of tying up.

 

Also still, wondering about the ‘personal’ blog entries.  Maybe later, maybe not.  I haven’t yet decided.

 

Thanks again for stopping by.

 

Peace Out, Rock On.


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Mar
17.

Wanted to drop by with an update.  I have finished up writing chapter 4 of “Homecoming”.  I’m going to be taking some time today to digitize it, and I should have an updated word/page count later this evening.  That follow-up post may also be where I test out the not-quite-story-related updates as well, though I might save it for its own post.  Haven’t decided yet, but at least there’s still time before I need to worry too much about it.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

Peace Out, Rock On.


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