Princelings Revolution (book 10) is now listed on Smashwords. This is the final book of the series, so I thought I’d give it a long lead-in.
The target publication date is 1st October 2020.
That’s a long way off, but there is a huge amount to do before then. The first step is rewriting, which I’ve started, and immediately hit some problems to rework, both of continuity and plot.
After I’m happy with the story, there’ll be editing to get the phrasing and word usage right, and to improve it in general. Then editing to make sure it’s got all the right words and punctuation in the right places.
Then I’ll send it to my beta readers for their opinions and comments.
I’ll make corrections and improvements based on their feedback.
Then it’ll go to the editor. That will undoubtedly lead to more corrections and edits. And I probably need to be at this stage by early May.
So I’d better get going.
But if you want to see the listing on Smashwords, it’s here.
Watch out for a new thing Smashwords is now offering – pre-sales. These are different from pre-orders, it’s more like an advance copy. I’m not sure how different it will be from offering you an ARC direct, but we’ll see.
It’s the same old story, really. Chronicles went to the editors, came back with a general comment about its structure, and I spent July rewriting it.
It seems to be a pattern, these days, rewriting the first half (well, third) of my books. I think with the first draft I was too complicated with my approach. Certainly one editor couldn’t work out what was going on at all.
So after a good long week or so of thinking, I got back into the swing of rewriting it, and editing it, and so on. My last edit this time was to read it through out loud. I think the guinea pigs quite enjoyed it, save for the occasional stops, mutterings, and typings before starting again with a different phrase.
Meanwhile, my lovely cover illustrator has been working away. Each time she sent me her ideas I gasped. They were all super, but I settled on this idea. This is not the finished version! But I thought you’d like to see it.
I’ve finished editing Chronicles of Marsh, well until the copies come back from the editors with all the crossings out and suggestions!
Obviously I fixed all the problems I found that I mentioned in the last update. The issue with the thing happening in the wrong time was relatively easy to sort out. I had to rewrite what they’d been talking about in the retrospective, and just convince myself that it couldn’t be fitted in any earlier.
Unusually for me, I sent out two passages to people who aren’t usually involved with my books. Both dealt with situations I thought my readers could have witnessed themselves, and I hadn’t experienced first-hand. You’ll know I’m a bit sniffy about authors getting details wrong when they could check with someone who might have that experience. So for once I listened to my own advice and found a couple of friends (non-writing friends, as it happened), to read these passages. I only had to tweak the paragraphs a little, but I can now face criticism of them if there is any!
I thought you might be interested in the Chapter titles, just to pique your interest! They are of course subject to change.
Princelings 9: The Chronicles of Marsh (provisional) Chapter 1: Overdue Chapter 2: Fred’s Yuletide Escape Chapter 3: A Reality Check Chapter 4: Pirates Ahoy! Chapter 5: Time for a breather Chapter 6: Zephyrs Chapter 7: A Yuletide Interview with Queen Kira of Marsh Chapter 8: How to Uncover a Vampire Chapter 9: Revelations Chapter 10: A Pirate Yule Chapter 11: Comings and Goings Chapter 12: The Darkest Hour Chapter 13: A Laird in training Chapter 14: Meeting of Minds Chapter 15: A Legend in a Lifetime Chapter 16: Flying today Chapter 17: Fuel Cells for sale Chapter 18: When the going gets tough Chapter 19: Fire at the Granary Chapter 20: The end of the beginning
So, the editors are at work, Dani is starting some initial sketches for the cover, and I must get around to doing 20 new chapter illustrations. Well, I might be able to recycle one or two!
The book is now on pre-order at iTunes, B&N and Kobo, at a special early-bird price. You can see the blurb at Smashwords, as they only sell on the launch day. The early date, if it all comes together, is 14th November. If not, I’ll move it to late January. I can’t list it for pre-order at Amazon without a cover, but I can put up a draft cover, so watch this space!
It’s a month since I finished writing the last two books in the series. So far I’ve done a first and second edit of Chronicles of Marsh, book 9.
I’ve also been in touch with my editors and my cover illustrator, to see how their schedules run, and get Chronicles logged in with them.
My editor, Dani English, has been very busy this spring, with commissions and also a couple of conventions on the south coast of England. Her stand was very impressive! It’s easy to forget that my journey through writing the Princelings books has coincided with Dani’s graduation from college and attempts to gain employment in the illustration field. Now, no longer a ‘recent’ graduate, she’s decided that freelance work will enable her to be creative while still holding down a job that gives her enough time to do both.
You can buy many of these items at her Redbubble and Etsy shops.
When you look at her work now, I wonder what would happen if I commissioned a whole new suite of Princelings covers! I’m not going to though. I’ve given her my idea of what might be on the covers of the last two books, but I’ve also sent her the chapter outlines for both books and the draft text in case she wants to delve for the detail. She did such a wonderful job on book 8 that I know I can leave it to her brilliant imagination.
I’m so lucky to have an amazing illustrator in the family!
I’m now working on the third draft of Chronicles of Marsh. I have one piece that needs changing as there is a danger of referring to something that hasn’t yet been disclosed. Not referring to it will be easier than changing the sequence of disclosure. What I wonder is, whether the format of the book will appeal to readers. I suspect it is really only for existing fans, since it fills in a lot of gaps between the previous books and the last one. There is a story pulling it all together, but it may be more interesting to me than the general reader!
The third draft (or whichever version I’m on at the end of June) should take it to beta-reader and editor stage. If you’re interested in being a beta-reader, just let me know in the comments below.
