Publishing
Digital Release of The Fiddler's Gun: Letters
May - 21 - 2010
One of my prime complaints against digital books, however, is that they require a certain sterility of design due to the limitations of the software and hardware that they are read on. It is true that the final worth of a book is found in its writing, in its words, and that’s not something that’s significantly altered by a font or a page margin. I really felt though, that part of the charm of The Fiddler’s Gun: Letters was in its design...Read the entire post
Amazon Breakthrough Novel
Mar - 24 - 2010
Yesterday they announced the books that have moved into the Quarterfinals (top 250) and I was much more excited to learn that The Fiddler’s Gun made this cut. The judges based their decisions on the first three chapters and you can click here for their critiques and download the chapters and read them for yourself (and leave your own review.)...Read the entire post
Delivering Letters
Jan - 30 - 2010
If you followed the “Letters to Peter” feature on the site, some of this material will be familiar to you but it has now been edited, expanded, and bound in one volume. Who is Wilberforce Octavian Albemarle III? What is the mystery of the Boot Snuffler? And what is the Baker’s Grail? These letters hold the answers.
Also, included is a sneak peek at an excerpt from Fiddler’s Green.
This special companion to The Fiddler’s Gun is being printed in a limited run of 100 signed and numbered copies. Each of my Tier 2 Patrons will receive their copy in the mail, free of charge. The remainder will be for sale, exclusively at the Rabbit Room store and when they’re gone, they are gone forever (though I do hope to make a digital version available at a later date.)
Here’s a look at the introduction...Read the entire post
The Fiddler's Gun: Letters
Dec - 08 - 2009
Never fear. It’s coming. I ran into a bit of a delay in getting them printed but they will be on their way just as soon as possible. I like to think that the delay is fortuitous in the end because the book, titled The Fiddler’s Gun: Letters, isn’t something that would be terribly informational until one has read the larger story in The Fiddler’s Gun itself. So hopefully...Read the entire post
The Kindle Version
Dec - 07 - 2009
When you create a book for print, the final digital incarnation that gets sent off to the printer is a .PDF file. A PDF displays the book precisely as it will appear in print, each page blocked off perfectly with header and footer, page numbers, the whole kit and kaboodle. What you see is what you get. In a perfect world, eBook readers would be able to display this PDF file and things would be a lot simpler.
The reality is much different...Read the entire post
The Fiddler's Gun: Outbound!
Nov - 30 - 2009
First thing tomorrow morning I’ll be shipping the first copies out to my generous patrons and by the end of the day I hope to have filled all the pre-orders as well. I can’t wait for folks to get their hands on the book and I look forward to hearing your thoughts after reading. I hope you’ll laugh. I hope you’ll cry. I hope you’ll stay up past bedtime to read one more chapter. And when it’s over I hope you’ll trust me when I tell you that the best of Fin’s story is yet to come.
If you haven’t ordered your copy yet, they are on sale exclusively at the Rabbit Room Store.Read the entire post
The Fiddler's Gun Inbound
Nov - 24 - 2009
On the other hand, there’s a bit of bad news as well. There’s going to be a short delay before the companion book,The Fiddler’s Gun: Letters, is ready to ship to my Tier 2 Patrons. Don’t worry, though, they are coming, and frankly the book will be a significant enjoyment only after you’ve read The Fiddler’s Gun anyway, so it all works out in the end, right?
It’s hard to believe this ...Read the entire post
Article at Curator Magazine
Nov - 21 - 2009
“I’ve stated before that I loathe reading most accounts of history – dry textbooks, facts, and such. But the grand scope of reality, I believe, is that we dwell in history framed by a much bigger story written by One greater than us all. Great books like The Fiddler’s Gun give a lifelike voice to the historic characters on whose fictional shoulders we stand. We peer into Fin’s story through the eve and eye of The Revolutionary War. There’s her best friend Peter LaMee, her foe Sister Hilde; humor, romance, betrayal, grand ships, swearing sailors, pirates, gallows, Red Coats, Tories, and the hunger for American independence. Though within the epic framework, Fin just craves acceptance and love, to be an orphan no longer – to belong.
She has the endearing, headstrong spunk of Swede Land (Peace Like a River), which sometimes...Read the entire post
Audio Book?
Nov - 13 - 2009
I've been kicking around ideas for recording the audio version of The Fiddler's Gun but haven't come to any conclusions. I'd like to do something a little more interesting than just a typical recording and a CD but I feel like the perfect idea is still out there waiting for me to find it. Below are some of the options I've considered. Your input is welcome, I'm interested in hearing your comments...Read the entire post
Cover: Finished
Oct - 26 - 2009
Check out the Artwork Page for a better look.
Typesetting
Oct - 22 - 2009
I told you a few weeks ago, that due to budgetary concerns I had decided to typeset The Fiddler's Gun myself. That's not quite as self-deluded a proposition as it sounds. I've done some print design in the past on student newspapers in college, and later teaching kids to design their own newspapers at the Florida Sheriffs Boys Ranch (we even used InDesign CS3). So choosing the do-it-yourself route wasn't quite the stretch for me that it might be for others. I hadn't ever designed a book, though, so I had a lot to learn.
The first thing I did was...Read the entire post
Be a Part of the Revolution
Oct - 12 - 2009
She’s done a fabulous job of conveying the look and feel that I envisioned so many months ago when we first spoke about it. I don’t think I could possibly be happier with the final artwork and it’s a real pleasure to finally let people see it. ...Read the entire post
The Problem of Printing
Oct - 12 - 2009
First, let’s talk about price.Read the entire post
It's Final!
Oct - 04 - 2009
I got the manuscript back from the proofreader and went through it to review the changes and was pleased to discover that they were few, far between, and all minor. So I accepted the corrections and, voila, the text of the manuscript is now finished. Complete. Hard to believe.
The next step is typesetting. I had hoped to hire a freelancer to do this for me but it was way outside of my budget. All is not lost however, I have some design background and I’m no stranger to...Read the entire post
Pressing Matters
Sep - 23 - 2009
The book was originally intended to be released the traditional way by selling it to an established publishing house that would fund and oversee all the editing, design, marketing, and distribution. About the same time that I was going through the long process of making that happen, my brother and I began... Read the entire post
North! Or Be Eaten!
Aug - 18 - 2009
In the meantime, head out to your local bookstore and buy a copy of my brother’s new book, North! Or Be Eaten. Better yet, head over to the Rabbit Room store for an autographed copy and buy with the knowledge that more of your money goes to the author when you buy there than when you buy from the corporate fat cats.
The book is fantastic (as is only proper, it’s a fantasy after all) and I couldn’t be more proud of the kid brother upon whose head I used to sit and laugh.
Printing and Editing
Aug - 02 - 2009
I’m about 2/3 done with my edit and so far I’m quite pleased with all the changes. There have been a few scenes added, and a few deleted, and a few trimmed down or expanded. As a whole the manuscript is far stronger now than it’s ever been and I can’t wait to get it out there so people can read it.
I’ve had discussions with a couple of printing companies and it looks like I’m going to end up going with Quebecor. They come highly recommended, I like their prices and, after inspecting a example book made to my desired specs, I’m satisfied that the final binding and printing will be a high quality product that I’ll be proud to put my name on.
The next step is to get all the paperwork filled out and set up a Rabbit Room Press account with them. Then it’ll be a matter of getting the edit finalized so typesetting can begin. I’m aiming for a December 1st release, which seems a long way off until I consider all the work I’ve got to get done in order to make that happen.
Stay tuned, I hope to get another Letter to Peter up sometime this week as well as the next chapter of The Wander Beyond
The Future of the Printed Word
Jul - 22 - 2009
“What must be a dramatic realization and spell the death of print for corporate publishers (and some in the media) is not that anyone can publish a book in this day and age, but that any unheeled upstart can publish a better-written, better-designed, and more worthwhile book better than Random House. They’re doing it all the time.
The corporate ideology has run its course in book publishing, which spells the death of print to many. But as evidenced by...Read the entire post
Why Independent?
Jul - 21 - 2009
The idea of working within a system that valued sales, marketing, and genre definition over quality became distasteful. Don’t mistake that to mean I’m averse to applying changes to my manuscript, I’m not. To the contrary, I’m anxious to change it, to make it better, more appealing. It’s the system that I dislike, a system that...Read the entire post
Bookmarks
Jun - 02 - 2009
Using the character artwork that Chris Koelle did a few years ago I put together a simple 2x6 graphic and a short pitch for the...Read the entire post
Cover Inspiration
May - 19 - 2009
Manuscript Away
May - 09 - 2009
I was especially concerned with the last chapter, which had remained almost unchanged throughout the entire evolution of the story. I made some significant changes to...Read the entire post
A Question of Demographics
May - 04 - 2009
I wrote a book that I’d always wanted to read but never had. I didn’t set out to write for kids, or young women, or middle-aged men. I set out to create a world and a cast of characters and narrative that would...Read the entire post
An Adventure in Self-Publishing
Apr - 30 - 2009
I can hardly wait to get it into the hands of you, the reader, but I didn't spend years creating something that I love just to rush it out the door in a poorly put together package. I want to create something that satisfies, something that readers will be proud to have on their bookshelves.
I believe in the book and I believe... Read the entire post