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How close is Book 2? Very

16 Sep

Karia's PathThis morning, I looked over the map for Karia’s Path, the second book in the series, The Day Magic Died. Once four or five minor changes are made, the map will be done, and that will set in place a cascade of events that will lead to Karia’s Path being available for sale in print and for Kindle.

So far, what’s done is:

  • Writing, revising and editing: The biggest revision took place very early in the process, right after The House in the Old Wood was revised. Otherwise, the book is pretty much as it was originally written. Oh, and I had to change a really cheesy closing line. Embarrassingly cheesy. One of these days – after you’ve had a chance to read the new, good closing line – I may share it with you so you can laugh at me. We also took a much closer look for typos and missing words.
  • Cover design: I really liked what my designer did with the original cover for the first book, The House in the Old Wood. And she stepped it up for the second edition. That spiffiness carries over for the cover of Karia’s Path.
  • File preparation: The raw files for the print and Kindle versions are complete and ready for the final steps.

This means that when the map is completed, I’ll work through a set of steps to make Karia’s Path available to you:

  • Digitize the map: It’s ink-on-paper, so I’ll need to photograph it and adjust the file for printing in black-and-white, as well as optimizing it so you can see it here on this blog.
  • Insert the map into the book: The files have to be the right format and resolution (and it’s files, not file, because I need to split it across two pages). They have to be inserted the right way, and the book file needs to be set up properly, or the map won’t look right.
  • Upload the book’s insides: The cover is already uploaded and checked. Amazon will do an automated check of the files for the inside, then show me the insides so I can verify that everything uploaded properly and looks right.
  • Amazon file review: Amazon will review the book file and present the entire book for me to review online. If it looks good, I’ll order a proof – a printed copy of the book.
  • My review: After I receive the book – which could take a few days – I’ll go through it, and barring any issues, approve it for printing. Then I’ll upload the Kindle version.
  • Amazon book review: Amazon will review the content of the book and will likely approve it.
  • Kindle version available: The Kindle version is likely to be available in a day or two.
  • Print version available: The print version can take five working days before it is available.

Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? But it should go quickly. The two longest parts are likely to be waiting to receive my printed proof, and waiting for Amazon to offer the print version. Altogether, I’m thinking two weeks.

How does that sounds to you?

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Last chance for the first edition of Book 1

14 Sep

I have the last ten new copies of the first edition of The House in the Old Wood. These I will personalize and autograph and sell to you for $10 each, plus actual shipping if I have to ship it to you. This is an investment, folks. Not only is the price lower, but some day, these will be worth more. Yes, in the distant future, a used bookstore will give you 49 cents for a used second edition. But pull out a signed first edition, and they could offer you as much as 54 cents! With just ten of these great investment opportunities left, you should get in touch with me today!

Update: As of this morning — Monday, Sept. 16 — there are seven first editions left.

Updated update: Three first editions left as of Tuesday, Sept. 17; and I have confirmed that shipping is $3 anywhere in the continental USA.

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Now available: More for less

13 Sep

The House in the Old Wood cover
The second edition of The House in the Old Wood (Book 1 of The Day Magic Died) is now available from Amazon.com

But that’s just the beginning of the exciting news!

Before I tell you more about the second edition, let me tell you why I’ve released the second edition at this time: The second book, Karia’s Path, is just days away from being released. More on that soon. Here’s the great news about the second edition of The House in the Old Wood:

Lower prices: I’ve dropped the prices on the second edition, so if you’ve been waiting to buy one, now is the time. The Kindle version list price has plunged from $7.99 to $4.99. The paperback list price goes from $12.99 to $10.99 (and will likely be discounted further by Amazon). Order yours today!

OK, how about even lower prices? With a new program from Amazon called Matchbook, if you bought the print version of the first edition of The House in the Old Wood through Amazon, you will be able to get the second edition for your Kindle for only $1.99.

What? You want free? You got it. But not yet. Amazon says it can take four weeks for them to determine whether an update to a Kindle book is major or minor. Either way, the update is free. But if it’s major – and I have asked them to consider this a major update – everyone who bought a Kindle edition will get an email notifying them of the update and telling them how to get it. If not, you’ll have to watch the blog for notice. So hold on, and I’ll keep you posted.

So why do I consider this a major update? I’ll tell you that in the coming days, and tell you more about Karia’s Path and the other books.

And you know what? You folks who took a gamble and bought the first edition of my first book are my most important readers. I’m not going to leave you out if you don’t want to buy a second edition of a book you already have. As I share here on my blog what’s new in the second edition, I’ll also share most of that same content, free, as a way of saying thank you.

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(Shameless) product placement

11 Aug

Wow, a mention in the dialog (4:50) … four views of the cover (4:23, 4:59, 8:40 and 8:51) … and a line in the credits (11:20) …

Watch the Covenant Community Church video “Move” …

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Silly Berries … three of ’em!

4 Aug
karia

“Karia” in contemporary Inamali

Syllabaries sound a bit like some kind of a treat, don’t they?

But they’re actually a way of writing a language. Sort of an alphabet for languages that are written syllable by syllable.

That’s how Inamali, one of the primary languages in the series, The Day Magic Died, is written. But I had no intention of ever writing anything using an Inamali syllabary. Then along came the map.

There’s a map that Karia finds in the first book, The House in the Old Wood, that has some writing on it that looks sort of like what she identifies as Old Inamali. You’ll find out in the second book, Karia’s Path, that this is written in another language altogether.

I asked the artist who drew the map for the first book to draw that map for the second book. She agreed to, but I needed to give her the words, written the way I wanted them written.

Oh.

I had no idea how the words were supposed to be written.

iiik-new

“Inamali Ili, Inamali kri” in contemporary Inamali

So this weekend I sat down and created three syllabaries: One for contemporary Inamali, one for Old Inamali and one for the other language.

I did that because the three languages are related, with Old Inamali serving as a sort of transition from the other language to contemporary Inamali.

I’ve included some examples here of what contemporary and Old Inamali look like.

iiik-old

“Inamali ili, Inamali kri” in Old Inamali

The phrase is one you’ve encountered in the first book. You’ll find out what it means in the second book. And the completion of the syllabary, so the artist can draw the map that will accompany the book, is another step toward having the second book ready to be published.

What do you think?

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