Wednesday, June 27, 2012

I Is Still Writer

In keeping with the writing theme of this week, I want to share with you a few updates on the writing front.

First up is this:


E-Book!
 Unbeknownst to me, sometime last year, that wonderful self-publishing conglomo ASI, aka Author Solutions Inc., aka Author House, introduced a package for those who wanted to self-pub an e-book. I'll spare everyone the gory details about it if you promise not to point out that there are better and cheaper ways to self-pub an e-book. Anyways, what they did (at least it seems to me) with the current print titles that they have, like mine, was to offer them as an e-book.

Thus, my self-pubbed chapbook "Betrayed!" is available in both the Kindle and Nook (as well as others) formats. If you were always curious about what I write but didn't really want to get the paperback version of my chapbook (which is still available through my book blog), you can now purchase it for the medium range price of $3.99. Just click on the caption and it will take you directly to the Author House website.

"Betrayed!" is not only a excellent introduction to what I write, but it will also give you a basic idea of what my upcoming novel "Line 21" is like as well. So if you feel overly generous with your money today, take a shot at buying my book, either the paperback or the e-book. You won't be disappointed.

Next up is this:



I have some good news on the commercial debut novel front. I found out on Monday (6/25) that I'm a few steps closer in being assigned an editor, and I tell, it's the best news that I've gotten so far this week. In addition to that piece of good news, I now have to do what I've only done previously once before and I've given myself a very tight deadline to get it done. And that is this:

1} A dedication, if any.
2} Acknowledgements, if any.
3} About the author piece, roughly 300 words.
4} Book blurb for the back cover.

Now, I've done a dedication before, so that one is a no-brainer. The acknowledgements, will also be a no brainer, since everyone who has done me good, either in the real word or here in the blog world (and you know who you are) with my writing, will get some kind of acknowledgement of their contribution, however large or small, in shaping me as a writer.

The author bio will be a tad more difficult, in that I have to write about 300 words about myself. Not gonna be easy, especially since I've only been writing since 2006 and seriously since 2010. But I will persevere and will probably show everyone the first draft of what I've come up with.

The book blurb will be somewhere in between. I got a basic outline of it already, which is the query letter synopsis that is posted on the book blog. So on this, I will be very open for suggestions, like for example, what kind of word count should I be shooting for? How detailed/vague should I make it?

If you got suggestions/ideas, please feel free to either leave then in the comment section or drop me an e-mail.

And as always, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, which is not in my hand because I wasn't doing this, for you just being you.

13 comments:

  1. I know this is an exciting time for you, G. I'm rooting for you!

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  2. I find book blurbs tough but enjoyable. I think you have to be really close to the book to do a good one. Glad things are moving forward for you.

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  3. No ibook or you weren't going to give them any credit? haha

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  4. Lynn: Thanks. Can use all the cheering support that comes my way. :D

    Charles: The blurb I wrote for the chapbook was pretty tough as it took me about a week and a half to come up with on.

    At the moment, I'm refamiliarizing myself with the novel, just to see if I can come up with anything new to what I got posted on my book blog.

    And thanks. Got a surprise in store for you as well later on.

    Bearman: I barely give them any credit to begin with, so when they came out with an e-book version, I was presently surprised. Not too surprised about the price, but beggars can't be choosers.

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  5. Book blurbs that I have seen usually have 2-3 paragraphs max, and the rest of the back cover hopefully has quotes from advance reviews. I'm sure you can grab those from some of your fellow authors.

    I is still very excited for you!

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  6. I counted two book back-blurbs n got 150 n 175. They also contained a bold, head-liner opening, sentence long, plot-attention getter, btw.

    I bet they're all different, but it's a ballpark to play with.

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  7. M: Haven't thought about trying to get quotes from advance reviews, but it does sound interesting.

    I think you're probably right about the two to three paragraph jacket blurb, and that might look better than just one long paragraph.

    Snaggle: Most definitely. Thanks for the tip. You definitely gotta mention the plot and make it intriguing enough so that a potential reader will pick it up and browse through it, and hopefully buy it.

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  8. That's amazing news, G! And it's gotta be fun to write the blurb. I think most are in the neighborhood of 100-250 words so should give you some playing (and breathing) room. :)

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  9. Talon: Thanks.

    I think the blurb will be the 2nd most difficult thing to write. I'm still leaning towards using the mini-synopsis that I used in the query letter, but just the same, I'm re-familiarizing myself with the entire book.

    The most difficult part will be writing the bio. Don't have a lot to show and I've only been wrting since 2006.

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  10. Oh boy you did get some great news! Things are moving forward. I'm so pleased. This must all be a dream come true for you. Even I feel happy. :D

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  11. Joe: Thanks.

    By some odd quirk, your comment got left twice, so I made sure that each one was the same before deleting the redundant one.

    I'm very excited as I got bumped up to the head of the line and got assigned an editor shortly after this post was published.

    I should be hearing from her in a week or two, then shortly thereafter, I'll be pulling my hair out with a bunch of tweezers.

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  12. I was so excited I hit the publish button twice! I thought you were bald, or are we talking about different hair? :D

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  13. Joe: Yes, I am bald, so to speak. I do shave my head once a week, but by then, I do have some decent stubble.

    Thus, we would be pulling our hair follicles out with a pair of tweezers. :D

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Go on, give me your best shot. I can take it. If I couldn't, I wouldn't have created this wonderful little blog that you decided to grace with your presence today.

About that comment moderation thingy: While yes, it does say up above I can take it, I only use it to prevent the occasional miscreant from leaving thoughtless and/or clueless comments.

So remember, all of your comments are greatly appreciated and all answers will be given that personal touch that you come to expect and enjoy.

G. B. Miller

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All the content that you see here, except for the posting of links that refer to other off-blog stories, is (c) 2008-17 by G.B. Miller. Nothing in whole or in part may be used without the express written permission of myself. If you wish to use any part of what you see here, please contact me at georgebjr2006@gmail.com