And Yet More Proofreading

Sadly, my blogging time as of late has been superceeded by both work demands and a myriad of tasks involving preparing the finalized manuscripts for both the e-book and the print book. I now have a profound and wondrous regard for book editors and all those hardy souls whose careers revolve around taking typed words in a Microsoft document and converting them into artistically gifted, visually pleasing pages in a book.

As I noted in the last post, preparing the manuscript version for the e-book was a testy process, mainly involving setting up an active Table of Contents. However, this was a trifling feat in comparison to the madness of formatting the print book pages. E-book pages are not meant to be that pretty and as long as the words line up correctly and chapters and paragraphs are clearly delineated, you are golden. Print books, however, require chapter headings, page numbers, graphics, and an assortment of formatting goodies, all which seem easy but a Word template is never an easy task to handle.

Lucky, Amazon's CreateSpace offers free templates for print book pages. I decided on a book size of 5.5X8.5 and downloaded the appropriate template. This pops up in Word with two pages side by side, so you can see what the general layout of your book will be. The template has gutters (the margins close to the book binding: these are deeper than the margins on the opposite side of the page) so the paragraphs are a bit askew in the program, but they will look fine in print.

On the right-side pages, I decided to have the title of the book and the page number on the top right hand side. On the left-side pages is my name and the page number. However, I have a few pages of information (copyright, acknowledgements, title page) before the story starts, so I tried to get the page numbers and headings to start on a specific page. Word, most infuriatingly, kept putting everything at the beginning of the document, and it was several hours of work and some research before I finally got the headers and page numbers to start where they should be.

Once everything was formatted, I created a PDF document that shows what all the print pages will look like, and I am currently looking through them one last time for errors and formatting mistakes. I have made some minor word changes, particularly since I found two "widows" (a widow is a single line on a page). Chapters 2 and 9 ended with widows, so I went back through the chapters and cut out a few words to get rid of the widows. I also kept an eye out for "orphans" (a one word line ending a paragraph).

Also, as I was going through everything, I realized that I needed more use of Captain Roberts' first name (Gavin) in conversations. I have a number of conversations where he is talking with an old friend and they constantly refer to each other by their last names. In review, I realized that this seemed to give the conversations a flavor of disrespect, so I edited some of these to make more liberal use of first names.

In all retrospect, it is a good thing that I had a disappearing graphic artist. The last posting I made showed an updated cover for "Steam on the Horizon". However, the artist of the cover simply dropped off the face of the earth and I had to scramble to find a new one. By a stroke of luck, I came across the artist Brent Schreiber: his work is phenominal, and you should take yourself straightaway to his website to see some examples of his work. When Brent and I first started talking, he sent me some examples of his work, and this particular piece caught my attention as being pretty steampunk-looking

Brent puts such amazing detail into his work! I can't wait to see the final cover for "Steam on the Horizon", We have been exchanging a flurry of emails and I just got to see the inked drawing today. Brent is setting to work on the painting next and is working hard to get the cover done.

Because there has been a delay in the cover, this has worked to be a blessing in disguise because it has forced me to take yet another read over the manuscript and make sure it is as perfect as possible. I am so ready to get this book done that I just want to throw it out there. However, I don't want to make mistakes and since I am waiting for the coverart to be finished, I have no excuse not to go through the manuscript again. Just yesterday, I realized that I had forgotten to justify the paragraphs and made a quick scramble to rectify this mistake. I don't want the book to come out and then I realize an abundance of errors I should have corrected!

It looks like I will be headed to OSFest 6 in July: I have no excuse since it is in Omaha, the lovely and talented Omaha-based singer Ally Rhodes will be there, and I will be able to meet Gail Carriger, author of "The Parasol Protectorate". Also, OSFest will be offering an Authors' Alley where authors can be available for book signing. Best of all, Authors' Alley will be open to the public, so anyone in Omaha can drop by to get a copy of "Steam on the Horizon". More information forthcoming!

And now, off to more proofreading. Oh dear, what grievous writing mistakes await me?

Editing, Formatting, Cursing

Things are rapidly heating up in Writing World - I had a few wonderful souls come over last week to help me read through Steam on the Horizon for typos, grammatically awkward sentences, periods meandering where they shouldn't go, and all other matter of boo-boos:

Featured: my mom, my oldest brother Seth, and my friend Matt, all studiously at work. Erasmus is filling in as Editor in Chief and helping by whining a lot because he is not getting enough attention.

Because I wanted everyone to focus on sentence structure and punctuation, not plot and organization, I took my manuscript and made a spectacular mess on the floor.

Then I had everyone pick up random sheets of paper to read them out of order. I also advised them to read each page backwards, starting with the last paragraph and working up from there. My mom amused us by occasionally reading the last line of one page, then the top line of the next page she had in her stack, the resulting sentence usually comically mangled.

Once this was done, I set to work correcting all issues and making a final copy. However, there is no rest for the weary for I had to set to work at formatting the manuscript for Kindle. Kindle has a clear formatting guide and the work was tedious but not difficult: I mainly had to take out the manual indentations and replace them with automatic ones. All was going fine and dandy until I turned my attention to the table of contents: for Kindle, you need to have an active Table of Contents that is hyperlinked to each chapter heading. Kindle thoughtfully provided this Microsoft guide to making active Table of Contents, and I urge you to look at this link and see if you can pull any moiety of sense out of it. I hazily stumbled through it for almost an hour, making no progress but a lot of mistakes until in desperation I turned to this extremely helpful thread on the Kindle Publishing Community page which explained the process. Boom - about ten minutes of work and I have a correct table of content!

I am currently waiting for my graphic artist to color in the cover - here is the latest version he sent me. Pretty awesome, huh?


My goal is to have the Kindle e-book available by the end of the month! Basically, I need to get the cover finished, buy an ISBN number, finish any editing to the manuscript, then get it up on Amazon. Exciting, exciting!

Publication and Steampunk Rap

I was hoping that today would end with a pile of paper lovingly scribbled over with corrections, courtesy of some trusted friends who were primed to look over the final draft of Steam on the Horizon and hunt for egregious spelling errors, comma splices, appalling grammar, and other irksome impediments to silken prose. However, the Fates and the dear Lord himself saw fit for other plans, so another week will pass before I can have a collection of eyes look over the manuscript in a final hunt for boo-boos. Luckily, two good friends have already scoured it fairly thoroughly, so I am fairly confident that few mistakes exist, but just today, I spotted at least three that had escaped my eyes in the last several readings, so I am sure that more still lurk in waiting. As small consolation, I have caught at least two errors in every e-book of the estimable Terry Pratchett, and if he can get away with it, I can as well.

A friend of mine at work is putting me in contact with an editor who can format the e-book version, a task I had assumed was relatively simple but after talking with my friend, I see the merit in forking over $150 for someone else to do it. If all goes well, the e-book version of Steam on the Horizon should be available before April is over. Oh, how exciting!

Cover art is being constructed as we speak, and here is a rough draft of what is happening so far:

I sent my artist some things I wanted changed, such as the Horizon scooting over to be on the front cover more, but so far I am very pleased. I love the way the artist captured the city of London at the bottom of the book.

And, as if I didn't have nearly enough with which to occupy myself, I have decided to make a steampunk/gaslamp costume from this pattern:

I have a hat I adore:

but alas an overly pastel theme does little for my complexion except wash it out. Therefore, I am thinking of a black and white skirt (fold the pleats so that one side is black and the other white and they will "pop" as you move) and a pink jacket. Or I may spy some fabric at the store that I passionately adore and will have to adjust my plans accordingly.

If I had no job and no need for sleep, I would also be auditioning for a choral part in Opera Omaha's upcoming Carmen: I took voice lessons in college and although I have not formally trained in opera, I have a fighting chance of landing a part, but without a wibby wobbly timey wimey machine, there is no way I can work (48 hours a week twice a month), publish my book, exercise, and maintain some sense of sanity.

On a parting note, I am begging some creative soul to create a steampunk version of "Thrift Shop Feat" - minus the swear words, this practically defines steampunk. "I'll wear your grandfather's clothes. I look incredible" and digging through second-hand stores for cool broken stuff: how can this NOT be steampunk??     (here's the clean version of the video)

Modern Airships and Final Edits

Yesterday afternoon, I trundled into work to find a helicopter sitting on the lawn outside the building. One of our Omaha helicopters had just finished a mission, and the crew decided to drop by company headquarters. Upon spotting the aircraft, I burst into delighted squeals like a teenager girl meeting Justin Bieber. My brother, who had come along for the ride, obligingly snapped a few pictures as I clambered inside the helicopter, grinning like a fool.

This particular rotor wing is an A-Star which means the interior is about as big as what you'll find inside a Volkswagon. I am sitting behind the pilot seat (where the nurse would sit) and besides me is a seat for the medic. To the left of the pilot's seat is the patient's gurney. Needless to say, this is not a job for the overly tall or big-boned: I met the medic and he was maybe my height, if not shorter, and no heavier than 140lb with a brick in both hands. How they manage to get four people inside this A-Star is beyond me, but somehow it works!

Next step: getting to ride in one of these things. My work has a "ride along" program where I would go to the closest base and hang out with the crew for a shift. If they get a flight, I get to ride along. Hopefully in the next few months I can do this!

This week, my goal is to finish a final run-through of Steam on the Horizon in preparation for turning it over to a band of trusted friends to edit it for me. I know there are spelling errors, slightly confusing sentences, extra spaces, and little things scattered here and there which need correcting. In all reality, I could easily spend the next six months fiddling with areas, adding in extra details, and seeking the advice of others, but there comes a point when a piece of writing needs to be released from further tampering. When I taught writing, I advised my students, "A piece of writing is never truly finished: you can always do something more to it, so you just eventually need to let it go." I have gotten some wonderful feedback and assistance from people and have truly appreciated all the phenomenal people who have helped me. At this point, I feel like more assistance or advice would start moving the story out of my control, so it has come time to publish.

I am sure that in five years and several more books, I will look back on this first one and think, "Oh geeze, what was I thinking?" Writing is such a developmental process that I am interested in seeing what I will put together in ten years and how much my writing style will change. However, for my first book, I am pleasantly pleased with it and hope that others enjoy reading it.

Another task for this week is finalizing the summary and my bio. I have chosen this picture from the talented Guy Rish  to accompany my bio. Guy and I did a photoshoot at Joslyn Castle several months ago: this is a wonderful Victorian mansion in Omaha. You can see more pictures from this shoot on Guy's Flickr page.

So, the publishing date is drawing to a close, and I am becoming quite excited! The e-book will be relatively easy to put together: Amazon has a fairly simple layout for the e-book version that I should have no problem completing. The print book, however, has much more rigorous standards, and I will probably pay Amazon to format the book for me. Amazon's CreateSpace has several different packages for self-published authors, and the more you pay them the more work they will do for you. Since formatting the print book will be such a tricky process, I think it is worth the time and money to have Amazon do it for me.

It will be a momentous occasion when I finally hold a copy of Steam on the Horizon in my hands. However, I am cognizant that this is only half the battle and the next task of self-promotion will begin. In my work with my Indiegogo campaign, I discovered that Facebook ads worked the best. Using a variety of factors, I had a Facebook ad with a target audience of eight million people. For this next Facebook ad, I am thinking that a graphic picture of the Horizon and the tagline "99 cent steampunk novel!" would grab attention.

I also plan on doing a couple book signings around Omaha and will be canvasing independent bookstores to see if they will be willing to carry the book. Fairy Tale Costumes is one of our Omaha costumes stores that is quite popular with the steampunk group is open to holding a book signing, and it helps that I know Linda the owner. I have a general plan in mind for marketing, but for now my main focus is on getting the book done. Then, I figure out how to get people to buy it!  

Steampunk Hat, Part Deux

My first foray into hat-making has been an interesting creative journey. Thankfully, the second part of making my steampunk hat has been much smoother and easier. When I last left off, I had a simple red band that had taken over an hour of work to create. However, this was not nearly fancy enough. Clearly, tulle was needed and I found two yards of lovely red tulle with a slight shine to it that I wrapped around the hat. 

I quickly discovered that the tulle needed to be tacked down in some way, otherwise it would easily slip off. I solved this problem by sewing the tulle to the band, since the band is quite snug and it securely anchors the tulle in place. 

Thus finished, I slipped the hat band back on the hat and saw that it fit just fine! To form a cute little "poof" at the back of the hat, I put in a few stitches and pulled them taut to gather up part of the tulle. The result is a little tail of sort that looks quite fun. 

The resulting tulle effect looked good - I arranged it to be asymmetrical and pulled tulle over the top part of the hat on the right side. This was accidental in the beginning, but I liked the way it looked.  

Next, feathers! The local Hancock Fabric store had these lovely, fluffy beauties, just perfect for a proper steampunk ladies hat. Some experimenting proved that I had to trim them down to size, which is the reason my craft room looks like it was the epicenter for a mass parrot molting session. Little feathers are liberally scattered around the rest of my house, and I found a few of them floating in the toilet. 

Even with some trimming, the feathers still stuck out in a way that was not aesthetically pleasing. Nice, but not quite there yet.  

The answer? Some tacky glue. I ran a bead of glue along the spine of the feathers, then held it in place with a ribbon around the hat. I let it dry overnight and was gratified to find that the feathers adhered nicely and now curve pleasantly around the hat. 

A final steampunk touch! As of now, I haven't quite figured out how I will attach the watch. Ideally, I would like to have a clasp system that allows me to remove the steampunk embellishing at will. I am a member of both a steampunk and a gaslamp society, and this hat is suitable for gaslamp minus the watch. I shall have to experiment with fasteners and see what I come up with. 

I spent a few hours today tidying up Chapter 12 and working on some minor issues. I've decided that the Horizon's selling price is 15,000 pounds. However, I need to track down some exact shipping costs for items such as flour, coal, nails during this time period. Based on my research, this will not be an easy task as prices varied wildly during this time. Today I found an excellent article about the shipping industry during the 19th century. Apparently 1854-1855 was a peak shipping time, thanks to the Crimean War. Information about shipping indexes was tracked during this time; however, the focus was on highest and lowest prices, so it is difficult to find out average prices for commodities. Also, there were a huge amount of variables such as the type of ship, the distance traveled, weather conditions, etc. I have a feeling that it is going to be quite hard for me to track down solid numbers!

My hopes are that in two weeks, I can have a proofreading party to polish up the final draft. However, I am plagued by "writer's fatigue" and assaulted with a deep-seated desire to just get the damned thing done and published. Keeping strong unto the end is proving to be enormously difficult, and I will be ruthlessly honest in admitting that I hate this stupid book right now. I know that all this is a perfectly normal part of the writing process, but I honestly want to just shove the manuscript in a drawer and not look at it for a few years. Although his name escapes me, I know there was one ancient Greek scholar that advised you should set aside a piece of writing for seventeen years before revising it again. As this point in time, that option sounds unbearably attractive! 

However, I will soldier on and get this book published as promised!

Steampunk Crafting Woes

Yes, I have not blogged for exactly a month. I shall make up for it with an amusing post which was almost entitled, "It Should Not Take An Hour To Make a Simple Hatband." This essentially sums up my evening: an attempt to take this plain little number and jazz it up with a snazzy red hatband.

My first problem is that apparently my hat was in dire need of a priest and some holy water, for it bore this label on its brim.

Hoping that merely removing the offending label and burning it was sufficient, I removed the tag and set to work crafting a simple red hatband. I had some leftover silky fabric from a blouse I chopped into a bolero and was looking forward to an easy ten minute crafting project. It started promisingly, and I was moving along quite fine...

...until I belatedly realized that my iron was set on maximum heat...

...which melted and warped the fabric, leaving the band too short to fit around the hat. Irritated but not undaunted, I sewed two pieces of red fabric together to make another band, realizing that I had sewed one inside to one outside. More irritated, I ripped out the seam, sewed the pieces together correctly, then realized...

..I had incorrectly sewn lengthwise. I muttered a few choice words, then ripped the seam out and managed to put together a decent hatband that fit all the way around the hat... 

...that sadly is not even and also has a funny lump on one side from an inside seam. However, enough decorations should cover up those minor problems. Next was time to delve into my "box 'o steampunk goodies" and dig out some gears. 

A friend of mine had given me an assorted box of steampunk odds and ends, and I was particularly happy to find a watch with a cracked face to add some nice roughness to the overall effect. Although all good steampunks should avoid the temptation to "glue some gears on it", I nevertheless reached for my superglue because my last attempts at soldering were completely ineffective, mainly because I had mistakenly grabbed my dad's woodburning kit instead of the soldering iron. 

Currently, the glue is setting and I will soon be wending my way to the local fabric store to buy a few yards of red tulle to hang off the back of the hat. Then I will have a completed costume for the next steampunk event. 

The writing process is ticking along nicely - I had a few more adjustments to make to the final chapter and some research to track down. Currently, I am searching for some specific examples of wooden ships circa 1850's and their costs for building and/or their sale costs. I tentatively set the Horizon's price at 20,000 pounds, but I have absolutely no idea if this is an accurate representation of what a comparable wooden sailing ship would cost in 1854. I also want to find some information on shipping prices during the 1850's: however, there are an abundance of variables which make it exceedingly difficult to know exactly how much one could expect to pay to send a ton of flour from England to Ireland. 

In the next few weeks, I expect to have the final draft ready for a final round of proofreading before it moves into the publishing stage. Artwork is being arranged, and then there is the fun process of setting up the manuscript via Amazon's specifications for publishing. The e-book format will not be a difficult process; however, setting it up for print copies will be challenging enough that I am seriously considering paying Amazon to do so for me. Amazon has a variety of packages for self-published writers, and if you are willing to fork over enough money, they will do much of the work for you. 

I have to admit, though, that I waver between excitement, frustration, and outright hatred of this novel of mine. Such varied feelings are perfectly normal, I am fully aware. However, there is that small but persistent voice that yowls, "Your book sucks and no one will enjoy it." On one hand, I wish I was back to writing full-time and not in the workforce. On the other hand, writing full-time means that I have to be at it hours every day. 

It will be interesting to see what kind of reception I receive post-publication. I could struggle to sell a hundred copies, or it could capture quite a bit of popularity. Since this is a series, I'm committed for the long-haul and I know my writing will develop and improve as the series progresses. We shall just have to see!

New Costume!

Last Saturday, I happily donned my latest steampunk creation and sashayed off to the Steampunk Society of Nebraska's annual Valentine's Day Social. Here are a few shots of my finalized costume.

The last picture is a work shot - I decided to wear my costume to work for kicks and giggles. As I strode around the com floor, coworkers raised their eyebrows, gaped, and smiled to see what I was wearing. I got a few, "What the &%#@ are you doing?" and several, "Ohhhh! That is so lovely!" A few coworkers had heard of steampunk before, and it was fun talking about the genre to everyone. I wandered around for a few minutes, then changed, much to the dismay of several people who hoped I would keep wearing the costume. I declined, since sitting in a corset for several hours is not an experience I wish to repeat.

The only regret I have is that I was not able to make the teardrop had I had planned - time and finances conspired against me, and I made do with a mini bowler hat I had in my steampunk lair/craft room. However, I have full intentions of donning this costume again, so my next steampunk project is making the hat. The completed outfit will be perfect for upcoming steampunk cons.

On the writing front, I met with my graphic artist today to discuss cover art for "Steam on the Horizon". We have tentatively settled on a date of April 15th for everything to be completed. This gives me slightly under two months to finish revising and editing, have other people give their input, then format the book and arrange for other issues before making it available. Hopefully, I can have everything ready sooner than that but I am learning that the process of writing and publishing a book is a long and arduous one that requires far more time than one might expect. Years ago, a family member of mine outlined a book idea he had and then idealistically stated that he could probably write it in one weekend. Even then, I knew enough to laugh hysterically, and I would laugh all the more maniacally now.  

A dear friend of mine just sent me a round of suggestions she has for the draft, so the next day or two will see me plowing through these ideas and applying them to "Steam on the Horizon". Currently I feel quite good that my current draft is strong. However, it is so easy to overlook gross mistakes and obvious plot holes in your own writing, so I have no doubt my comitatus of beta readers will point out an abundance of problems in dire need of rectifying.

On the non-steampunk front, I'm down to 152.8 lb. thanks to the Candida Diet! A week or so should see me below 150 lb for the first time in more than two years. I have not been 100% faithful with the diet (today I happily scarfed down Panera's creamy tomato soup with croutons and a baguette) but I did end up eating three salads yesterday and I have been so consumed with my many creative activities that food has been a minor priority. In the past, I've always scoffed at people who say they are so busy that they forget to eat, disbelieving that such a fundamental human necessity could so easily slip one's mind. Now as a more experienced adult, I am occasionally seized by fits of creative absorption which so enthrall my mind and senses that they serve as an internal energy reserve I can use as fuel.

When I donned my corset Saturday, I was pleased to see that the bottom portion nearly touched when I pulled the laces tight. I may be needed a new corset, which is cause for both celebration and sadness. While I am glad for the weight loss, I don't relish having to break in a new corset, especially when this one is finally comfortable! At least I will soon be able to match the measurements of my dressmaker's dummy!