Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Deadlines Are Approaching
It's January 10th. My edited copy needs to be at Lulu.com by the 16th. That's next Tuesday.
I was hoping my beta readers would have their feedback to me by now, but I think they (and I) have been distracted by recent events. First, most of us got roped into cooking the feast for Twelfth Night. Then Rivka was offered admittance to the Order of the Pelican (for non-SCA folks, this is A Really Big Deal), so I doubt she'll be interested in doing much editing any time in the next three weeks.
I've added two more beta readers, though. Hopefully, they'll have good feedback for me, even if not in time for the deadline!
I've also done two more editing passes through it, and am starting to feel better about it. I think I have almost all of the gratuitous commas out. I am not taking out any of the gratuitous sex, however. :)
I have also done formatting, and have spent some time fretting over cover art. Think I will use something from the Hubble Space Telescope website; I checked their terms of use, and as long as it's for personal use (which this is; this edition of the story is my freebie from Lulu and will never be offered for sale), I'm good.
After that, my next step is to start working up a proposal letter to send to potential agents, and to compile a list of agents who are currently accepting new work. My goal is to have a good letter and a list compiled by the end of February, and actually start sending out March 1. Probably pretty ambitious, but what the heck. After that, I need to work up a summary and a submission packet, just in case. It will be good practice, even if I never end up needing it.
I was hoping my beta readers would have their feedback to me by now, but I think they (and I) have been distracted by recent events. First, most of us got roped into cooking the feast for Twelfth Night. Then Rivka was offered admittance to the Order of the Pelican (for non-SCA folks, this is A Really Big Deal), so I doubt she'll be interested in doing much editing any time in the next three weeks.
I've added two more beta readers, though. Hopefully, they'll have good feedback for me, even if not in time for the deadline!
I've also done two more editing passes through it, and am starting to feel better about it. I think I have almost all of the gratuitous commas out. I am not taking out any of the gratuitous sex, however. :)
I have also done formatting, and have spent some time fretting over cover art. Think I will use something from the Hubble Space Telescope website; I checked their terms of use, and as long as it's for personal use (which this is; this edition of the story is my freebie from Lulu and will never be offered for sale), I'm good.
After that, my next step is to start working up a proposal letter to send to potential agents, and to compile a list of agents who are currently accepting new work. My goal is to have a good letter and a list compiled by the end of February, and actually start sending out March 1. Probably pretty ambitious, but what the heck. After that, I need to work up a summary and a submission packet, just in case. It will be good practice, even if I never end up needing it.
Labels: NaNo Editing, NaNoObsessing, NaNoPrinting
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Editing
Last night, I finally finished my first editing pass through the story. Found a couple of continuity tweaks, and took out all of the excess commas, which was about 20% of them (I tend to get pretty comma happy, especially when I'm trying to write quickly). My loyal beta readers have finished their first read through and are even now compiling their feedback for me. My big plan is to get feedback from them on the 10th, then spend the next few days frantically formatting to meet the Lulu deadline.
I've already formatted the first-page blurb, the title page, and the first two chapters, just to see what it will look like. Since the first two chapters don't seem to need much editing, they're probably not going to need many changes.
It looks really sharp. Perhaps I'll pdf it later and see about posting it somewhere for people to see.
I still need cover art, though. Any volunteers?
I've already formatted the first-page blurb, the title page, and the first two chapters, just to see what it will look like. Since the first two chapters don't seem to need much editing, they're probably not going to need many changes.
It looks really sharp. Perhaps I'll pdf it later and see about posting it somewhere for people to see.
I still need cover art, though. Any volunteers?
Labels: NaNo Editing, NaNoPrinting
