SLOUCHING TOWARD PUBLICATION

As I mentioned some time back, my current WIP is the recreation of an unfinished project that exists in numerous files, completed and otherwise. I found maybe 60 versions of the first book in the series and have spent some time blending and weaving the texts into one. This process is nearing completion.

I have at last given up any additional excursions into the earlier texts. I am making a stand with what I've got—revising this version into the final version. I know there may be excellent turns of phrase left on the table, embedded electronically on some floppy disc created fifteen or twenty years ago. So be it.

Let future scholars print sixty-lane superhighways of massively parallel texts.

(Or maybe I'll just erase them all. Who knows?)

One of the big problems in completing Volume One is that Volume Two does in fact run parallel to One for much of its length. Events that appear autonomous to the characters in One are observed and interfered with by other characters (or by alternate versions of the same character) in Volume Two.

As a consequence, I need to identify cross-over points in One that can be exploited in Two. And I'd kind of like to locate them all before I complete this "final" pass.

However: One of the main advantages of indie publication is the ability to go back and make adjustments of the text—pretty much any time you want to. You don't even have to tell Amazon, if the change is small enough.

If you need to go back and have a character turn to the left at the end of a scene (instead of turning to the right), it can be done. Try getting a traditional publisher to put out a new edition of your book just to accommodate small changes. (Or pretty much ANY change.)

To avoid as best I can those alternate versions, I need to plan out Volume Two in as much detail as possible before releasing One. Best, of course, would be to complete an earely revised draft of the second book before pubbing One. But let's not go crazy here.

One does want to publish in one's own lifetime, right?

Generally, the main reason for delaying any publication is so you can GET IT RIGHT. If you're a simon-pure indie (like me), you do everything yourself, including all editing and proofing. You strive to make your book free of errors or any kind, keeping in mind you alone are the last line of defense between the reader and your own idiotic mistakes.

That thought can be daunting—and lead to breakdowns in the schedule.

I mentioned earlier how I proof a book. Basically, several silent readings, followed by several "out loud" readings. For the out loud version I use a text-to-speech program called DSpeech. It's free.

(You can also be your own out loud reader. This is especially useful for testing dialogue: search the inside of your mouth for twisting tongue action.)

When the electronic "reader" stumbles over your words, take another look—something is sure to have gone sideways in there. For best results, follow along in the text as the voice reads.

The problem is, word processing creates special opportunities for error. It's so easy to swap out a verb, for instance, you can forget to also swap out the helper words that accompanied the old verb. Change ONE word, and you have to stare particularly hard at the whole sentence again to make sure you haven't introduced new problems.

I make a lot of changes in the HTML, which I edit in Notepad++. I'll proof the book in my browser (Firefox), insert corrections in Notepad++, then refresh the browser to make sure all is well. Frankly, I love to see mistakes and awkward text vanish, to be replaced with "perfection." (Sometimes it takes a number of passes to achieve a state you are willing to call "perfection" so you can move the hell on.)

Sometimes I get obsessed with what I consider the overuse of some word. I'll search the offending word in Notepad to see how many times I've used it. Often, I'll swap in another word only to find the new word has been used even MORE times than the first.

Before I know it, I've entered one of those word-swap hells where half a dozen synonyms are vying for position. Often I have to compromise, agreeing to accept multiple uses of a particular word as long as they don't occur too close together. Highlight a word in Notepad and you'll see all other uses of that word highlighted.

When you're focused on getting just one paragraph right, it's pretty annoying to find that perfect new word already in use in the previous paragraph.

Before long, the process starts to resemble those old animated cartoons in which one theatergoer rises from his seat in a packed house. His empty seat is grabbed by another guy, leaving open a seat suddenly in demand by a third patron. In seconds, everybody in the theater is in a frenzy to change seats.

And it's all because I become obsessed that certain words have risen above the threshold of the ordinary. I don't worry that I'm using the word "the" too often. (Okay, I do, inside a given sentence.) And other words are too high profile to use more than once in a book: tenebrous, incarnadine, sesquipedalian.

(Some authors will repeat words of this sort till the cows come home. Peter Straub is in love with "tenebrous," and you cannot pry Thomas Wolfe away from "phthisic" to save your life.)

Where I have trouble is in deciding exactly when a word has achieved too high a profile to be tossed about with abandon.

But I'm working on it.

BELATED COUNTDOWN PROMO ANNOUNCEMENT

Okay, I sort of let this one get away from me.

Turns out I have a book in a Countdown Promotion right now. KINDLE CREATION FOR CONTROL FREAKS dropped to 99 cents yesterday and will run through Sunday (the 9th) at 11 PM (Pacific). Halfway through this period the price will jump to $1.99. (Full price is $2.99.)

The Promotion runs on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Go for it!