Barnes & Noble news! B&N is running a pre-order sale today Jan 24 through Jan 26. Rewards members and Premium Members, can save 25% on my forthcoming book THE LAST LINE. Premium members can save an additional 10%! I mean, that’s 35% off.
So, how to order? Follow this link to my book and enter PREORDER25 in the coupon code: https://shorturl.at/fquAN
Continuing to share my publication journey with you, I can tell you that the “first pass page” edits are done.
What are “first pass page” edits?
First pass pages are the first time you get your book back from the publisher typeset in what will be the published format. I received mine as a PDF, which I printed out. Then I popped open the dreaded red pen. . .
The goal as an author is to go through the book once more and note any last changes you want or need to make. It’s really the last chance you have to edit the book to where you want it.
Of course, that means reading it again from stem to stern, and there’s always the danger that you don’t read carefully enough because you’re just sick of it at this point, or because you’ve read it so many times you just don’t see the issues anymore.
But, if you want the best book you can possibly write, this is it. This is the final opportunity to make editorial corrections.
My final read-through ended up being about eleven pages of notes. Not terrible, all things being equal. Still, it felt like a lot and there’s a natural tendency to worry that you’re just annoying your publisher by passing back all the corrections you think should be made. But they want a successful book as much as you do. So it’s well worth the time to read closely and make changes. Because what comes next is pretty much the book you’ll eventually see on the shelves.
This one hits awfully close to home…
I am so very excited to be able to reveal the cover for my forthcoming book, THE LAST LINE.
It will be available July 23rd, 2024, but you can pre-order it now.
I finished the next big hurdle toward getting my book out next year, which involved working with my editor to complete revisions and turn it into the production team. This was a huge relief, not least of which because the final manuscript for production was running late. That’s not anyone’s fault, things happen and life gets in the way sometimes. But I didn’t realize how stressed I was about getting it turned in until the final document was fired off to the production team Monday morning. Suddenly I felt light as a feather.
The revision process was a scramble. My editor, Sara, and I found ourself up against a crunch this past weekend. (She is a great editor, by the way—every writer should be so lucky.) We were trading pieces of the manuscript back and forth via email at all hours as we worked the changes. I’m not sure I’d want to work this way all the time, but in this case, the stress of the deadline helped make the manuscript better.
No, really.
Having to turn revisions around so quickly didn’t give me the opportunity to sit back, ponder, and write long-winded passages. The corrections were succinct and to the point. And better than what I had written in the first place.
The takeaway for me was an eye-opening realization: I write too much. Not from a time standpoint, but from a words standpoint. Especially in my subsequent versions. I’m what Stephen King described as a “putter-inner.” And here’s the thing: I’ve always known I add too much text, and I always think I’m doing a good job cutting what’s unnecessary. But after this exercises I realized I am not cutting deep enough. Kill your darling, as the saying goes.
I gained a better perspective on what really needs to be in a sentence. And a lot of it boils down to trust. As I writer, you’ve got to trust the reader. I can write, “I don’t wanna!” she said vociferously, but I don’t need to. The word “wanna” and the exclamation point already tell the reader that the character is speaking vociferously. Or vehemently. Or pleadingly. Or whatever. All I have to do it write “she said” and trust the reader to take away what I intended.
(Note: I don’t think I have ever used “vociferously” in a sentence before. And I don’t plan to. This is just an example.)
I’ve never been good at this kind of trimming, and with this edit Sara really taught me how to cut and cut smartly. And for that, I will be eternally thankful.
All of which is a long-winded way of saying, the manuscript is to the production team and the next phase is copy editing. Onward and upward!
Yes. This. No doubt.
If you are a frequent visitor to my website you may have noticed it’s changing almost daily. And if you’re not a frequent visitor—and let’s be honest: no one is—then it’s all new to you.
I’m in the process of sprucing up the site. I’m doing it myself, minute by painful minute as I try and figure out why this block looks like this or that image looks like that. It’s trial and error, which has lead to some occasionally wonky and downright crappy design.
But, as I figure each piece out, I (usually) get it to do what I want and make it look of spiffy and polished. Some additional pieces to be added when they become available (such as a calendar of events). But for the moment, I’m pretty happy with it.
So take a tour of the site. And drop me any suggestions you have to making it better.
It’s been quite a while since I’ve crafted blog post. Part of my reason for staying away was being too busy and having to make choices about what I would focus on and what I would let fall by the wayside. Part of it was that I have been heads down for the last two years writing, writing, writing. And part of it (and not a small part of it) was that I felt I had very little of interest to say anymore.
But, I am back now and you should hopefully see updates on a more regular basis here (and elsewhere, such as my Facebook page). I have all kinds of things to talk about, not least of which is my forthcoming book, THE LAST LINE, due to be published in 2024 by Crooked Lane Books. Much of what you’ll find on this blog is information about that, including updates, upcoming events, and even some behind the scenes stuff as the book really starts to come together.
So, stay tuned.
And off we go…!
Me.
Every. Time.
I haven’t posted in a while, but circumstances being what they are at the day job, I feel like I just have to get this First Law down on this virtual paper.
You see, I’ve been in IT a long time. Going on fifteen years. And right now, the company I work for is embarking on a major initiative to replatform one of our applications. I won’t say which, but it’s a big ‘un.
Which leads me to this First Law. I was thinking about what the reception would be when we finally roll it out, and expect it will be the same as EVERY OTHER SOFTWARE IMPLEMENTATION I’ve ever been a part of. More specifically, people will find a way to hate on it, even when they hate the version it’s replacing.
Therefore, I hereby declare this to be Scott’s First Law of Software Implementation:
The system you are replacing is the worst piece of crap God ever invented, until you replace it, and then it was the best thing since sliced bread and can I please-o-please have the old system back?
Do with this law what you will.
Scott Lyerly 