Switching serials
This was originally posted at http://red-bird.org
This past week I received my official copyright notice from the government for the first book of “Tales of the Big Bad Wolf.” It feels good to have that part done, although mentally I’ve been done with that book for a while. Unfortunately I shouldn’t be thinking this way. I have a hardcopy proof that has sat languishing since late August, waiting for corrections and edits so I can create a paperback version. But as long as I remain distracted with work and other things, it feels like a burden to have to take it out and revise, particularly while I’m writing the next book.
So I’m tempted to leave the ebook as is - basically as the standing record until I finish a few more books and then try to edit them all together at once to weave a connected series together and then see what the environment looks like for self-publishing.
While I had a few requests for a paperback earlier in the year, many of those folks seem to have drifted away and have likely forgotten about the book altogether. In that sense, given the choices I have to make between proofing one book and writing another, I don’t see the urgency to create a paperback right now.
On the other hand, I’m feeling rather ambivalent about the second book I’m serializing at the moment. Thematically it is a pretty depressing book. The first book was about hope and breaking free from fate. This one seems about death and a larger landscape.
Part of me worries that something like this should not even be serialized. Rather, I should take it offline and work on it, only releasing it when it’s done. The internet is not a place that likes depressing stuff and I know that it would be more fun to serialize the next book I wanted to work on (Sleeping Beauty) as it requires no previous knowledge of other works. And my concept for it would be a mix of painting and prose in greater balance. It would be more appropriate for the internet and allow me to at least list with webcomics directories. Webcomics as a medium have a far better infrastructure than prose serials.
Something this drastic I wouldn’t have considered a few months ago but I’m not seeing the right balance of input/effort and reward. I’ll have to see where I can get the current serial to in the next few months. Perhaps once I pull the narrative out of the depressing spot it’s in, things will improve. Not sure… will be looking at analytics to decide some things as well. Perhaps I’ll talk to a few other folks who have been around MUCH longer than I writing original fiction online.
But - I guess I really should try to develop an outline for “Sleeping Beauty” in the next few months with the consideration that it would be a simple, simple, quest story that could be illustrated. Had a really good idea while brooding this evening that I think could work…
This past week I received my official copyright notice from the government for the first book of “Tales of the Big Bad Wolf.” It feels good to have that part done, although mentally I’ve been done with that book for a while. Unfortunately I shouldn’t be thinking this way. I have a hardcopy proof that has sat languishing since late August, waiting for corrections and edits so I can create a paperback version. But as long as I remain distracted with work and other things, it feels like a burden to have to take it out and revise, particularly while I’m writing the next book.
So I’m tempted to leave the ebook as is - basically as the standing record until I finish a few more books and then try to edit them all together at once to weave a connected series together and then see what the environment looks like for self-publishing.
While I had a few requests for a paperback earlier in the year, many of those folks seem to have drifted away and have likely forgotten about the book altogether. In that sense, given the choices I have to make between proofing one book and writing another, I don’t see the urgency to create a paperback right now.
On the other hand, I’m feeling rather ambivalent about the second book I’m serializing at the moment. Thematically it is a pretty depressing book. The first book was about hope and breaking free from fate. This one seems about death and a larger landscape.
Part of me worries that something like this should not even be serialized. Rather, I should take it offline and work on it, only releasing it when it’s done. The internet is not a place that likes depressing stuff and I know that it would be more fun to serialize the next book I wanted to work on (Sleeping Beauty) as it requires no previous knowledge of other works. And my concept for it would be a mix of painting and prose in greater balance. It would be more appropriate for the internet and allow me to at least list with webcomics directories. Webcomics as a medium have a far better infrastructure than prose serials.
Something this drastic I wouldn’t have considered a few months ago but I’m not seeing the right balance of input/effort and reward. I’ll have to see where I can get the current serial to in the next few months. Perhaps once I pull the narrative out of the depressing spot it’s in, things will improve. Not sure… will be looking at analytics to decide some things as well. Perhaps I’ll talk to a few other folks who have been around MUCH longer than I writing original fiction online.
But - I guess I really should try to develop an outline for “Sleeping Beauty” in the next few months with the consideration that it would be a simple, simple, quest story that could be illustrated. Had a really good idea while brooding this evening that I think could work…