Twitter Story - Week 6

"Eighteen effing minutes," Jim muttered sullenly, and his brother grinned back.

"Still older," Jake retorted, leaning against the fridge and blocking Jim from grabbing for another can.

"So why don’t you bugger off and let me get drunk in peace?"

"Because before you get completely hammered, I think you want to have a look at Matt’s place." Jim looked up about to say that he had just lost a plane, the last thing he wanted to do was look at more,and then he saw the look on his brother’s face. Jake was entirely too smug.

"I’m not driving all the way to the other end of the valley," Jim said.

~

The story updates daily at my twitter feed, under hashtag #vhfstr1.

Publication details

After all the ups and downs the book is coming out. With the contract in place, I find myself very nervous.

In summary the book is being released as:

• mass market paperback
• planned R.R.P. £6.99

with a Kindle edition.

The title is under revision, but a new working title has been decided on and cover art is in production. The trailers and teaser trailers will be coming out soon, as will a press release. The publisher is talking to distributors and pre-orders will be available soon - probably with the first teaser trailer.

Bound galleys and electronic ARCs are available - drop me a note if you are interested, either by email or through the blog.

Personally I'm amazed it's coming out, terrified something will go wrong again, and trying very hard to get used to refering to my book as something other than Firestorm. It's an odd adjustment.

Twitter Story - Week 5

Jim glared for a moment as the truth of the comment sunk in, and then slouched in his chair.

"Why are you having a go? I lost the bleeding auction anyway."

"Because I don't want you doing something silly. You know, like spending two years savings on a plane that can’t even fly -"

"Oh shut it!” Jim had had enough. His brother was being eminently reasonable, and somehow that made it worse. "So you’re so much older and more responsible -"

"Yes, which means saving my little brother from being an idiot is in the job description."

~

The story updates daily at my twitter feed, under hashtag #vhfstr1.

Decision time.

For the second time this year I am looking at a publishing contract for the book. This time it's completely transparent: release date, print run size, promotion, distribution, etc. All the details are there.

And I find myself just looking at it. After accepting a release once already, I find myself wondering if there are any catches, any issues not covered by the contract, that are going to spring up. Even worse, I think I've lost confidence in the book.

The downside? No advance, limited book store distribution, a publisher new to the field, and I'd be doing most of my publicity, promotion and marketing myself.

The upside? A print run, better royalties, pre-orders, bookstore distribution, and some marketing support, as well as review copies going out.

I just feel very drained. After all the work to get here, now isn't the time for second thoughts, but I'm having trouble trying to gear myself up to start promoting again after last time. I just keep thinking that something will go wrong.

They have requested four changes to the book to tighten the plot a bit, and on review I can see what they mean. I'm just finding it difficult to put down the new book I was writing and get back into the mood for the first one.

On the other hand, some people never get into print, so on balance I think I'm doing very well.

ETA: It looks like a few things I thought were fixed aren't - like book title. Oh well, as long as it gets into print...

Twitter Story - Week 4

"Is it capable of carrying a nuclear device, yes or no?" As Jim paused, he pressed. "Well?"

"Yes, but she only dropped lifeboats." Jake raised an eyebrow.

"Which doesn’t answer the question of what you would do with it. You don’t own an airstrip for a start - "

"I’d have begged Matt." Jim admitted.

"And Jill would have laid out completely reasonable hanger fees that you couldn’t afford." Jake pointed out. Matt’s crop sprayer operation was run on a tight budget and Jill, the manager, was not the type to let friendship get in the way of business sense.

~

The story updates daily at my twitter feed, under hashtag #vhfstr1.

Twitter Story - Week 3

Since he was nearer, Jake grabbed a beer from the fridge and sat down, tossing a can to his maudlin brother.

"Shouldn’t you wait until you’re out of uniform for that?"

"Who’s going to care?" Jim cracked the top of the beer and downed a swig, staring moodily at the floor. Jake chuckled, and his brother looked up and glared. He held his hands up in a soothing gesture.

"Jim, seriously, looking at this from the point of view of a rational person and not an obsessive pilot, what the hell would you do with a defunct nuclear bomber?"

"She's a search and rescue craft, not a nuclear bomber!" Jim's defense was instant, and Jake snorted.

~

The story updates daily at my twitter feed, under hashtag #vhfstr1.

A quick update

I've sent the synopsis off to a publisher who is currently accepting submissions. Still nothing on the agent front.

On the publicity side, I spent the latter part of the airshow season this year talking to people about the book. There's been enough interest, and business cards exchanged, I'm beginning to sway towards taking up the offer to just print it. After all, it's been professionally edited, and picked up once, so it can't be that bad. I suspect the reason I keep trying for a larger publisher is because I want the security of other people who want it to succeed once the book is out.

After the four-page test, I'm happy they can lay it out professionally. It just depends if I like what they'd put as a cover and what resources I can put into promotion. After many years in media, I'm acutely aware that you can't just throw a book out and expect it to sell.

On the bright side, the daily story seems to be picking up followers - 200 on twitter itself, but also extras on redgage, tumblr and even this blog. And if you're curious about what on earth he was bidding on, keep reading: only one day to go and things become a lot clearer! (#vhfstr1 for anyone not following - or just follow me, since I'm keeping the feed pretty clear for the story.)