WORK IN PROGRESS

Last weekend I completed a review and revision of IN THE END, my first published novel. After the review I estimate I made around 300 changes, each minor and none affected the plot in any way. The key changes included replacing catch words like flinched and twisted, improving dialogue tags, a couple of typos and only in a couple of cases, re-writing complete sentences.

One of the original drives behind the look at the book again was a review from someone who got really annoyed at my incorrect use of gun terminology. Although I have fired a wide range of guns on trips the USA and as I use guns in all of my novels, and I intend to continue to do so, I decided to improve my knowledge. To do this I found an excellent book called THE WRITER’S GUIDE TO WEAPONS by Benjamin Sobieck. The book not only describes the general practicalities of weapons but also goes into detail about individual weapon systems, along with describing the top ten cardinal sins when using guns and knives.

The main sin I have consistently committed is calling the removable part of most guns which contains the rounds a ‘clip’ when it is in most circumstances a ‘magazine.’ A ‘clip’ is mostly only used when describing the part used to hold together rounds for a revolver. I found in IN THE END I used clip throughout the book.

It was also fortunate that I re-read IN THE END as I found I’d incorrectly referred to Cassie’s sister as Helen in AFTER THE END when her name is Ellie. I also noted a minor continuity issue with start of AFTER THE END, which I can fix before release.

It will be interesting to see if my read-through of the series goes up from 20% on the first two books because of this. If it doesn’t then did the changes really matter?

AFTER THE END is now proof-read and will be released to ARC readers 27th October, exactly one month before official release. I received the paperback proof of the cover within 24 hours after ordering from KDP and subsequently found an issue with parts of the cover image that just didn’t look right in print. This has all been fixed now.

Whilst AFTER THE END was being proof read, I’ve been working on FROM THE DEAD and have written a new ending and now I have to go back to where I’ve marked and update various points of detail to ensure everything is in line with the semantics of the updated plot technicalities. I think that will take me a week or so and then it’s back to reading through and editing once more.

I’m continually think about the next project and I’m looking forward to finishing the Carrie Harris novella and then I plan to start researching my new post-apocalyptic series. The re-edit of the James Fisher books for release will sit in the background until I want to take a break.

Sales and Marketing

As is normal for this time of the month, sales are slow, but around break even most days. Pre-orders for AFTER THE END are still coming in and there is still chance I can make my pre-order target of a hundred books before release day.

That’s it for this week. I’m off work next week continuing the renovations of my front garden but I’ll also be getting in a few hours of writing etc everyday. I haven’t decided if I will post next week, it all depends on if I have much to say. Have a great week and comments and suggestions are welcome as always!