I’ve been doing really well at keeping this blog active over the past two months, and I don’t plan on stopping any time soon. I haven’t posted much the past four days, but that’s because I needed to focus on editing/revising Erafeen #2 after the nearly two straight weeks of promoting and marketing The Jestivan (Erafeen #1), working with a new illustrator/designer on revamping The Jestivan‘s book cover, and building my blog, Facebook profile, and Youtube page.
In the self-revision process, I’m 174 pages deep into a 646-page Word Document that is the first draft of Erafeen #2. The pace has rapidly increased over the past four days, as I’ve made sure to drag my laptop around with me wherever I go. I may have even brought it to my parent’s house on Mother’s Day and slashed away at a dozen pages or so … Guilty.
Sorry, mom. I love you.
But these are the things you do when you realize where you should be headed in life. For the first time in my life, I’ve found what I truly love doing, and I’ve already taken the dive off the cliff. Now I’m simply working hard on making sure my parachute deploys.
That takes sacrifice on my part. Money, time, sleep, and several other intangibles that are subtle variations of what I mentioned already.
Once I finish revising the first 320-330 pages of Erafeen #2, I will send it off to my editor. As he works on that, I’ll focus on the book’s second half. This will streamline the process for me. That way when he sends back the first half with the suggested edits, I can send him the second half, then go through his edits of the first half while he does the second.
After that process concludes, I’ll send it off to beta readers. I already have a few lined up. They’ll nitpick at anything me or my editor may have missed, for our two pairs of eyes aren’t enough. While they may catch a couple typos or structural flaws, their focus will be geared more toward the story itself. They’ll let me know if a scene seems out of place, breaking the flow of the narration; if a character breaks character, creating an off-putting taste in the reader’s mouth; or–the worst foul of them all–if there are any glaring plot-holes or ass-pulls such as random acts of convenience to progress the plot … We do not want that. This is a character-driven story.
While it’s in the hands of beta readers, I’ll be in contact with my illustrator, Alessandro Brunelli, as he works on the cover design for Erafeen #2. I already have ideas, and he has plans on how to execute those ideas in the most artistic and appealing way. This is always one of the funnest steps in the process of publishing a book … seeing it come to life.
Then ARC’s of Erafeen #2 will be off to a few lucky people who will have the opportunity of reading the finished book before its release. After that, publication.
Sometime during all of this madness, I will finally unveil the second book’s title. I’m just not sure when yet. But don’t worry … all in due time.
If you’ve made it this far, let me remind you that there is a Goodreads Giveaway going on right now for The Jestivan, Book #1 in the Erafeen series. This is the last day. You have 22 hours. 3 winners will be chosen.
Good night, Jestivan.
Goodreads Book Giveaway
