Edits, Edits, Edits!

Those darn edits will get you every time. I am struggling along making changes, fixing errors, and generally adding new stuff while deleting old stuff. It isn't really as bad as some people may think. The hard work is done -the story is written. Now i am spending some time with my characters and just improving what is already there, changing the language and hopefully making it better. I figure that within the next 30 to 60 days my manuscript will be complete and ready for the next step.

The only problem is i can't exactly decide what that next step is going to be. I thought i had it figured out but my opinion seems to change almost on a daily basis. My problem: to self publish or not to self publish.

I thought i was going to save some pennies and do an e-publish deal with Amazon. I had even started contacting artists about getting the book cover done. Then i would need an editor and a formatter which would have been no big deal. It would be out for Kindle and other e-formats. I could charge a much lower price and get more people interested that way. I could publish more faster and get my name out there and maybe even build a following of people who enjoy reading my stories. It looked and sounded so easy and it really is that easy.

Then, i went out to do some editing yesterday and i started to wonder.

I was sitting at a table in a place i like to write and one of the regular guys who i am really friendly with (yes, this is a bar im talking about) came over and asked me what i work on when i bring my computer there. So i told him and he said oh ok, make sure you let me know when it's published so i can go and buy one. Great, right? Not so much. This guy isn't a computer guy and he doesn't own any kind of e-reader so for him he would only be able to get the book if it was published in hard or soft cover. This exact situation has popped up a number of times in the last few weeks. With Self-pub this guy and bunches of others won't be able to read Preacher's Blood. I am not in this for the money and one of the reasons i wrote the book was so that all of the people i know would be able to enjoy my stories, my friends, my family, my coworkers and so on. So i have to wonder about the self-pub route again.

I guess one possibility would be to go ahead and try the traditional publishing route. I could query the hell out of every agent i can find who represents thrillers and hope i can get through. I know that i have the self-pub thing in my back pocket and can go to it at any time that i want. It is there and it is not going away. It can be my backup plan.

There might even be a bit of a pride issue involved. I really like the challenge of trying to write a great query letter and synopsis and then testing it out with agents to see if i am good and lucky enough to break through. I know, i know, many other authors have done self-pub and used it as a platform to get into the legacy pub gig but maybe i want to give it a try first. I don't really think i have anything to lose other than the time i spend sending out the letters and waiting for the responses. And during that time i won't stay idle. Not even close. I can use it to sit down and get to work on other projects i have rolling around in my head. I have lots of stories i want to tell and i will be just as excited for the next one and the next one and the next one, just like i was and still am with Preacher's Blood.

Hey everyone enjoy the rest of the day and have a great week!

Greg

Finally Finished One!

Like I said in my profile, I always loved reading good stories. I also always wanted to write one. Over the years I have fooled around and tinkered with writing stories but never finished a single one. Never even came close. I was an ideas guy. I had one idea after another, got into one of them, and then ditched it for the next great idea. Then came the inspiration for PREACHER'S BLOOD. I started working on this story a little more than 2 years ago. The initial story never seemed to click with me. There were too many disjointed parts and, quite frankly, bad writing. But it was a first attempt so I never gave up. I tried other stuff to give PB a rest, but always kept coming back to it. Gavin Preacher's story was in me somewhere and I just needed to let it out. Well, all those years and reimages later, I have finally finished a version of PB that makes me feel good, that i enjoyed writing, much more so than previous versions. This past Friday, in the early afternoon, I finished it. Now it sits on the shelf for a week and then i go back to editing. What fun!

A little about the story: Gavin Preacher's sister, Sara, has been missing for 30 days. There were no clues, no leads, no witnesses, leaving Gavin with a candy addiction, sleepless nights, and a bedroom wall full of yellow post-it notes with names, dates, and places.

Then he meets a woman named Jennifer Ki, who followed him to work. Gavin chases her to the roof and, with a wild-eyed look in her eyes and a bad case of paranoia, Jennifer tells him that Sara is alive and that she needs his help before it is too late. He presses for more answers and all she offers is 3 words: Start with me! When he presses for more information she jumps off the top of his building, leaving him with her apartment key and a whole slew of unanswered questions.

Not being able to afford dismissing Jenn's claims, Gavin starts his investigation. Along the way, he meets Mayori Ki, Jenn's sister, who is also looking for answers. Together they follow a trail that starts from Jenn's apartment in Jersey City and ends in the dark and dangerous woods of the Jersey Pine Barrens.

So there you have it, a brief description of PREACHER'S BLOOD.

Once it is done i may skip the traditional agent-Legacy publisher route and go the self publishing route that seems to be the wave of the future. If i do, I will be working on getting cover art and formatters and editors and so on. Depending on how fast I can get this done I would love to be able to have PB online for sale sometime early next year. Stay tuned here for more info as I get more into the process.

In the mean time i have another story idea that I am working on and it is quite different than what PREACHER'S BLOOD is. The story is tentatively titled AEGIS and is an all out adventure novel. That's all I'll say for now.

Stay tuned..........