launch day!

Well, official launch day anyway, as the book has actually been out for the last couple of days.

I had to fiddle with the settings on Kindle for a bit but now, the book is definitely out there on the internets!

Find it HERE

At last.  After a year of drafts, proof reading, learning how to write, checking over and preparing, the book is released.  I am relieved and happy :).

Now comes the process of putting the word out and getting feedback.  I have already had an excellent idea from my friend Angie (thanks Angie :)) for a glossary of terms for the book.  So my plan is to work a little on a free download as a complement to the book that explains some of the terms, organisations, races etc mentioned within.  It will be a 'living' glossary, meaning it will be updated over time as new ideas come about, so will be constantly updated.

I will also be further updating the various blogs with more background info on the book and my progress on the sequel.

But right now...right now I'm going to take a few days break from writing.  Then I shall return, ready to kick off again!

My thanks again to everyone who has supported me in this.  Friends, family and co-workers, thank you all for the immense amount of help and encourage.  Again, my thanks to my truely epic proof readers and my illustrator Mat.  Without you guys, there would be no book.  

I hope you all enjoy the book and please, everyone, let me know what you think.  Indeed, if your feeling particularly generous why not leave a review on Amazon :-p!

Take care everyone.

looking to the future

Busy busy busy!

Monday night I finished updating the novel with suggestions from Dad. Basically, it's now ready to go. All that remains is a final read over to check everything in it flows right and then formatting the document so that it is ready for Kindle upload; ready to be unleashed on the unsuspecting planet.

Paired with this, my fantastic illustrator Mat has been very hard at work perfecting the cover image. It, too, is now ready to be uploaded and looks the business. Once again, well done Mat!

Just today I properly signed up to Createspace, the publishing arm of Amazon, and have now signed up with the community area. Indeed, this blog is now appearing on the Createspace blogs as well (Hello Create-spacers!...wait that came out wrong). Yes, thats 4 different blogs...I'm greedy. Createspace will allow me to do what many of you have already asked about. Produce paperback copies of the novel. But patience my friends, let the book see the light of day first!

I have also made big progress with my Paradiso infinity the game fan fiction competition entry (yes, huge title I know). I hope to have it completed by the end of this week. As well as this I've also made progress with K's latest challenge, continuing an interaction from a soppy romance novel...no easy task but a good challenge! Finally I need to think about the latest Aeronautica narrative (likely the final one) from a recent game with Rob and concluding the 'Ashkelon rising' storyline still on the go in the same forum.

Like I said, busy!

So with all of the above activates the question is this: what happens after the book is published next week?

Well, one of the first things I'll do is breath a sigh of relief. After that, my proof readers will also breath a sigh of relief (I know...your looking for spelling and grammar mistakes in this blog post as well. Its ok, I understand). Then comes the process of getting the word out about the novel and its availability.

The Facebook page will be updated on a regular basis with new information about the novels universe, pictures from Mat and other information. Just to further enrich the concept. In turn, I'll be using the twitter account (which now has around 500 followers. Yes I know I'm quoting numbers at you, sorry) to further advertise the novel as well as linking in with other novelists; there are a lot of them and they all seem very nice. I also hope to get looking at more writing blogs and forums, get myself involved more with the writing community. It's a very big community and has already been very helpful and supportive of the 'newbie' author.

Long term I need to make a decision. Will I keep this going?

I've got 14 different ideas for potentially continuing the Haldred Chronicles series, in particular the current sequel that I’ve already started (around 20'000 words). Coupled with this I've still got the BIG Novel that never was which is set in the same fictional universe; it revolves around mercenaries and is already 70'000 words long. There are even little ideas around prequels or spin-off's. Put simply, this has potential.

Right now, I do want to keep it going. It was good fun to write and it has allowed me to learn a lot about writing and vastly improve my writing skills; several of you will be thinking at this point 'well they couldn't have gotten any worse!'. I think it's a unique enough concept to fit in with the many other fantasy novels out in the writing-world and I think it's deep enough to draw people in. Most importantly, I think it's entertaining. Readers will enjoy reading the stories and finding out about the world and the characters there-in (as well as allowing psycho analysis of JG's brain...I assure you it's already a very very scary place B-)).

I'd like to end by paying tribute to my friends and family who have been so very supportive in my attempts to complete this novel. You guys are the best and without you all encouraging me or just asking after the novel and its progress, I would never have got it done.

And of course, my proof readers. Legendary individuals from many walks of life who gave up there time to help me. I won't forget guys, that I assure you. I am in your debt and you have definitely made your mark on the work by your help and skills.

Anyways, stay tuned for release information which will be next week sometime. It shall be good!

More progress!

Well I've good news and bad news.

The good news (which is very good news) is the completion of the 7^th Draft! The novel is now more or less complete. The final home run will be this week as I leave the completed manuscript with my father and brother for reading over, and comment. In the meantime I will leave it alone. I read a book by Stephen King called 'On Writing' (thank you Paulus for the lend) and he suggested that once you complete a draft you should 'let it breath'. Take a bit of time to leave the thing alone, and don't touch it at all. Then, after a week, go back refreshed and check what else needs to be done (if anything). I think this is a good idea, plus it means I take a bit of a break from the novel.

The bad news is JG had food poisoning or a stomach bug or some damn thing today that was...unpleasant. I made it into work but then had to rather hurriedly leave. Whilst I feel better now I am not going to take any chances so I won't be off to Mat's tonight to sort the front cover. Fortunately we've rescheduled for another day, so this is just an inconvenient. Though he did tell me of a very interesting possibility with regard to the novels future...but that can wait until another update (I'll keep you all in suspense).

Meantime, I have made some future plans. I'll be putting up more images on the facebook page (which you may be reading this blog on, if not the web address is www.facebook.com/haldredchronicles). Such as the making of the Council of Peace logo. I will also put up the progress on the front cover but that will happen after the release of the book. Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise after all!

My twitter account now boasts over 300 followers. This isn't massive in the grand scheme of things and I've not really been able to tweet that much (still getting used to it) but its a darn good start and I've met a great deal of very helpful, very interesting people (hello helpful and interesting people!). I am learning a lot about the 'indie' (independent) author community and hope to learn more from them collectively as time goes by. The next stage will be checking out the huge number of forums and blogs that people run, not just about the novels they write but about writing techniques and styles in general.

So its all go, and going in the right direction. Till next time.

To the final draft

So its finally here. I am now working on the final draft of the Novel!

My proof reader Cara has completed work on the 6^th Draft and I am now working my way through the 7^th draft to complete the novel. 7^th Draft will be the final draft. After that *deep breath* it will be release time.

Likewise my fantastic illustrator Mat has done a real number on the front cover. He's sent me his draft version of the front cover and its looking nothing short of incredible. Again, the next one he sends me will be the actual front cover, with text, ready to roll for release.

As the preparations for release draw near, I have not been idle. My twitter account (@jgwritesnovels) has grown. I'm now following over 200 people and being followed by over 80. I'm getting a lot of good advice from experienced authors as well as experienced twitter users. If successful this twitter account will prove invaluable in both advertising and keeping fans up to date with future writing.

Likewise the facebook page (which you may or may not be reading this blog on) has over 80 likes from both friends and random passersby (hello to you random passerby...see, I included you!) which has been really encouraging. Too all of you who have liked the page, thank you, it really encourages me in the writing and to see this project to its conclusion.

I've also been investigating printed versions of the book and yes, it can be done. However, first comes the electronic version, then I'll sort some printed copies for those who have asked and finally, if its proving popular, see about a publishing deal with Amazon. I told you, I've not been idle, but it all depends on the popularity of the book.

A lot of hard work has gone into this novel, not just from me but from many tireless proof readers, encouragers and what-about-this-idea...ers. You have all encouraged me to keep this project going and I thank you all so very much for this help.

I am on the home stretch.

Now to synchronize

Ok, I now have effectively 3 different blogging sites so to make things make sense (eh?) I'm going to synchronize them all together so they are all showing the same information at the same time.  

So from now on, this blog along with Bad Company Redux and the Facebook page for the book will all have the same information on them.

Makes it easier for me as well when updating, and means no one will miss out on information no matter what blog they go to.

Hope you all enjoy the facebook page in particular, the intention is to post up plenty of info just before book launch day, get people interested!