Status Update: Please Pardon the Mess · 3:32pm Mar 30th, 2017
"And... there! All done. Looking over it again, I must say, it's a wonder what a little editing can do to bring out the best in a story. There's no doubt Luna will be delighted with the changes I've made to her manuscript, and I'm sure her work will be the center of attention at her next little 'Lusty Human Butler' fan gathering~! Now then, how best to safely return this to her room without her getting suspicious...?"
Hey there. Just wanted to give you guys a quick status update regarding where I am with Exchange's changes. (Neat rhyme!)
Mainly, this post is a heads up that the version of the story here on Fimfic will be updated, either this weekend or early next week, to what I'm calling the "Hardcover Edit". What does this mean, exactly? Well, there are three key changes involved, which are:
- The story will gain about 20 chapters, as the larger ones are split into more manageable chunks. If you're interested in how exactly they're going to be divided, check the table in the previous post.
- There are roughly 1000+ (no, I'm not kidding) error, formatting, style and consistency corrections spread throughout the story. This doesn't really change any content, it just fixes spelling and grammar stuff and helps smooth out the last little kinks that were still there from its origin as a greentext story.
- While all of the above changes don't add or remove anything from the story, there is some new content in the form of several (admittedly silly) paragraphs at the beginning of the new Chapter 19, which serve as a bridge from the previous chapter. Nothing significant, but I figured I'd let you know to prevent confusion that there might be more content elsewhere.
The main thing to take away from all this is that, if you see in your notifications that a million new chapters have suddenly appeared, DON'T GET EXCITED! It's just the split chapters going up. There's nothing really new for you there... yet.
All of this is prerequisite stuff for the upcoming hardcover (or paperback, your choice) version of the story that is coming down the line. Specifically, it's the first of 3 editing passes required for it, but this is the only version that's going up here on Fimfic, as the next editing pass will strip out Fimfic's formatting codes from the text.
So, what's next on the agenda for Exchange? The third bonus chapter. If you'd like to go into it completely blind, you can ignore the rest of this post, because I'm going to talk about it just a little. No big spoilers, though.
As you're probably aware, Exhange's format, where we have a main story, and then an epilogue that takes place much later, allows for a neat little window in time where bonus content can be easily placed. The reason I've said I never want to write a sequel in the past is because I never want to go beyond that epilogue - I truly believe it to be the perfect ending and I'd like to leave it as it is. But there's still that four-year window where we can see little glimpses of the character's lives, and it's always tempting to take another look to see how they're doing.
This new bonus chapter is again located within that window, about one week before Anon and Cel's wedding to be precise, and the central theme is "family". That's about all I'll say for now. I'm really happy with the scenario I've drawn up, and I can't wait to get started on it. I hope you'll enjoy it when it eventually arrives.
That's all for now. tl;dr, don't get excited when new Exchange chapters pop up this weekend. I will give you plenty of warning to get ready for the upcoming bonus chapter as it nears completion.
Take care!
Cool.
Hey, that's pretty good. Looking forward to seeing these updates.
Let me know when you plan to begin taking orders. I'd love to have you on the GHiE Podcast to not only get a video interview of ya, have some fun, and advertise the book orders.
I'll give it a re-read either way. Even if the content will not change, I'll gladly enjoy the superior quality!
When will the hardcover be available for order?
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Sure, see you in 2020, then.
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I don't know at this point. It'll be When It's Done™. Seriously though, I'm just grinding away at it in my spare time, so it'll be finished eventually. But there's a lot to do to make it happen, and I'm taking it one step at a time.
4477400 Then here's a preemptive I-don't-care-what-the-price-is-I-will-be-ordering-at-least-one-copy. Seriously, this is my all-time favorite fic.
W-wait. You're redoing Exchange? Why? It was a great read as it is.
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Oh, it's not being rewritten or anything. It's mostly just changing where chapters begin and end for the sake of the physical version. The short chapters at the start and the incredibly long chapters at the end left the story really unbalanced as it was. This way, everything's kind of smoothed out, and there are many more places to stop and take a break, or insert your bookmark in this case.
The rest of the changes are purely error and style corrections - stuff that should've been done long ago, but never was because I'm lazy.
AHAHA Getting excited for that bonus chapter!!
Before I saw this linked in the story's description I was like:
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I figured that'd be the case for a lot of people. Y'all should read these blog posts, I tried to warn ya!
4480138 I skimmed it before, but since it was for a story that I finished reading a long time ago I wasn't quite as invested as I otherwise would have been.
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Don't worry about it. I assume that's the case for most people, as this story has been complete and technically inactive for years now.
I agree with PeerImagination. This is still one of my favorites.
damn it i got excited!!!
So happy.
I'm fine with this.
Yep!
Just chiming in to say that this story has been on my favorites list for years, and I have very fond memories of it. Despite having read countless hundreds of fimfiction stories over the past ~5 years, and despite having favorited 155 of them apparently, I saw the title and immediately remembered which one this is.
I admit I am still a bit disappointed that he wasn't kinder to her once he came to terms with his feelings...he did keep being mean longer than I thought was appropriate and it did detract from the story...but yes, this is definitely still one of my all time favorites.
Well shit, new bonus chapter and improvements. I'm gonna have to read through the whole story again.
I thought it was just a rush of authors putting out April Fools chapters.
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Well, since it's been a while since I read it, I'm probably going to read from the beginning again. I wouldn't mind though, since it's still a great and funnecessary story.
Wait is this going to be turned into an actual book?
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Technically, it already has. Just not in English. Those Russians are serious about their horse fiction!
After seeing that, I really wanted a physical copy for myself, but one that I could actually read, too! That's what prompted my reinvestment in this story. I'm primarily making a copy for myself, but since I'm doing all this work, why not make it available to those who'd like an English copy too?
So uh, quick question: do you have any good images that closely resembles what the Dawn Star look like?
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The second image on this page is kind of close. However, all of the airships in the story are rigid-frame ships, meaning their balloons are supported by a skeleton and will not deflate if punctured.
Here's what I have written about it in my old story notes:
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Awesome. You really thought this through. It's a shame that a great writer such as yourself have retired; you would have made more awesome stories.
Before I asked, I was imagining the Dawn Star looking like those in Final Fantasy.