Settling into the Rhythm · 6:29pm Jun 22nd, 2018
Well, it seems like once again I’m moving into one of the lulls after a big release. Shadow of an Empireis out in the world, which means I’m trending back to relative silence as I sink into typing out the next big project.
It is kind of a weird feeling. There’s this brief moment when launching a book—more of a window, really—were everything is huge and in the open. You’re out in the public mind every day. You’re doing all this promotion and talking about what’s coming, the fans are excited and you’re eagerly watching for reviews …
And then it’s over. The book is out there, and you’re still noting it from time to time, but life resumes its old pace. You hunker down and get back to work. The next project starts. You watch the royalties collect, hoping they’ll arrive before your bank account finally makes that dangerous switch from black to red.
Me? I'm just looking for you to finish pre-reading BPH.
But really, that's some awesome progress you made the other day. Got me excited all over again! I'll be waiting until the others catch up to where you are before I seriously consider making any changes though, just to see how they react to your commentary.
Also, you may be interested to know I aim to start reading Shadow of an Empire at the start of July. With my schedule being what it is, it may take the whole month to read it.
4887480
Yeah, I sat down last night and basically said "AT LAST" and dug in. I was curious to see what you made of that one comment, though. It still sits in my mind, just so you know.
As far as Shadow goes, excellent! I think you'll find it quite interesting our respective takes on Fantasy-Westerns. I know I certainly have reading Bulletproof. Both are great Westerns, and yet they flow through so many different approaches and executions. Shows just how much variance two different authors can bring to a genre.
Huh, and now I'm wondering what Meelo and Sali would make of Rarity. That'd be an interesting interaction.
To be fair, you can do a lot with rice (and a few additives). But you already know that. Mmmm... Fried rice...
Here's hoping those royalty checks turn out to be fat.
4887526
Well dang, now I'm thinking of that too, and I haven't even read BPH!
4887526
I'm a very 'off the cuff' type of writer. I have a general plan for what to do for the next few chapters, but otherwise let the characters do their own thing - which sometimes throws my plans for a loop. I feel like I've come to be very good at handling the direction. But there is the caveat that sometimes I'll have lost track of certain thins that have happened and end up contradicting myself. This kind of thing is exactly why I wanted Beta-readers in the first place.
At the time, Rarity's behavior seemed perfectly appropriate for her experiences. but once you brought it up, I can agree there's some quirkiness going on with that chapter. It might be enough to warrant a fix, but I'm not sold on that quite yet. I want to see what Snowybee and Soge have to say about it before I make any final decisions. And Wanderer D, should he be interested in going back to investigate such things.
...The fuck? Seriously, how can they get away with withholding your money that long? That seems seriously fishy to me.
Also, sorry I can't help with the prereading. I really want to, but there's just no way I'll be able to fit any amount of serious prereading into my schedule so it doesn't make sense to try when I know how much you say you usually write a day.
4887792
That's nothing unusual. Amazon actually has the shortest delay in the industry of just a couple of months. If you go to a publisher, you're only getting a check after six months, a year, or a year and a half.
4887816
That's insane. Usually any deal with a major delay like that comes with a big chunk up front because there are very serious costs to delaying payment like that. It's even worse with an online business like Amazon which is by its very nature set up to do transactions effectively instantly, so this definitely sounds like another case of Amazon pretending to support independent authors while stabbing them in the back to me.
4887898
You've really gotta deal with your burning hatred of Amazon, dude. I get that you're super offended by them, but it's quite frankly moved into pretty irrational territory.
4887901
I'm sorry if you don't consider blatant disregard for the law to be a problem. I personally hold myself and those I do business with to a higher standard, and will not compromise that stance because you like publishing there.