Monday, December 14, 2015

Doleful Creatures -- Now or Never



I still have a few beta readers out there, plugging away – but I can announce with some pleasure that Doleful Creatures may finally be ready for either self-publishing or fishing around to agents.

In other words, the easy part is done.

I’ve read the book three times this year, each time finding things that needed to be fixed or explained or relocated or what have you. And this time around – Round 10 – I believe I’m close to a marketable product. That feels like the best news I’ve had in years. (Another good feeling: As I dozed on the bus this morning, a thought came to me on a little bit of the plot that I might not have buttoned up. A read of that portion of the book once I got to work satisfied me it’s tied up nicely.)

Now which route do I go? Do I go through the sufferings of finding someone interested in the book or do I go through the sufferings of publishing the book on my own, only to have it sit there, unread?
There are, of course, other considerations: A cover, for one. I’ve now got to get serious about that. And if I go self-publishing, do I do the ebook and physical copy? I’m old school – I have to admit holding a physical copy of my book in my hands would do wonders for the ol’ ego. But going the other way would mean a more extensive editing process. Marketing prowess I don’t possess.

Or maybe it’s all just a pipe dream? Maybe the book isn’t any good.

Then: What’s next? I admit I have another project in the hopper – The Hermit of Iapetus – which still calls to me. I’m about 90% sure that’s next on the list. Though there are other things percolating and brewing.

On the docket for 2016: Participation in NaNoWriMo. This is where Doleful Creatures came from. I’ve skipped it for two years now, editing the book. I need to keep new things coming, for obvious reasons.

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