Mirim for the WIN, the second book in the Victorian Interplanetary series, is ready for editing and has a cover now. If you would like to be a beta reader and get your 2 cents worth in before it goes to Sandra (my editor) in June, leave a nice review for Artemis Rising on Amazon and email me to let me know at malcolm@malcolmupton.com
I have a website domain name, malcolmupton.com, an email for my fan list, malcolm@malcolmupton.com, and a MailChimp account to manage my mailing list. They aren’t all hooked together yet, but the Nrdly folks are working on it.
Since they are working on the IT stuff, I guess that means I can write some more… as soon as I get some jam labeled…
Today is the official start for Sandra to edit Artemis Rising. I uploaded the manuscript Saturday, as nervous as before I go onstage to speak. Unfortunately, I can’t turn that nervousness into energy onstage – it takes the same amount of energy to depress the keys whether I’m nervous or not. I am looking forward to the feedback. From what Sandra has told me so far based on the 3000 word sample I gave her, what I’ve heard from my beta readers, and what I’ve picked up about story telling, I suspect I have good story bones.
I’m not sure if I will be disappointed or relieved if there isn’t anything major. No matter what, it is beginning to look like the book I’m currently working on, Selene Unchained, may need to be split into more than one. I always knew that the story of the Selenite Revolution (Selene Unchained) and the continuing story of Walter and Eleanor’s adventures (Secrets of Kilimanjaro) were going to be separate books. But Selene Unchained, that started with the arrival of Artemis from the moon before dawn on Friday, is already at more than 50k words, and it is only late Tuesday afternoon.
Maybe I’ll need to split the story of the development of the political and military materials necessary for the revolution (Selene Unchained) from the social tour-de-force introduction of the Selenites to Earth society in general, Galveston and the Presidents’ Council in particular. I could always call that one Mirim for the WIN…
I have taken delivery of the final version of the cover for Artemis Rising. Someone suggested that GetCovers.com could put together a cover for me for a very reasonable price. They were limited to photoshopping stock photos for the cover, no original artwork, but there are probably billions of stock photos available now days. Between what I’ve learned from Nick in the First 10k Readers program and the fact that they specialize in covers, I think it came out very good. All of the review team that commented on the final version liked it and my editor, Sandra, really liked it. I think it will do its job well.
One of the major differences between my effort to publish Artemis Rising and my effort to publish Seven Into Darkness is that I understand how important marketing your book is to its financial success. With more than 300 million people, any competently written novel will have an audience. the difference between financial success and failure as an author is 1) do you get your novel looked over by a good editor and 2) does your target market know your book exist? The second is enabled by good marketing.
I have been connected to an author and teacher of author marketing by the name of Nick Stephenson. He went from part-time income from his books to $1m a year using the methods he teaches in his ‘Your First 10k Readers‘ program. Unsurprisingly, it is all direct-response marketing. That means I could probably have figured it all out myself, after all, Silver Bullet Marketing is a book about direct-response marketing as well. But instead of taking a year, probably a lot more considering that I’m working on a shoestring right now, to figure things out, I can just learn from the mistakes (and triumphs) of others. Don’t have to spend time making them all myself…
I’m pleased to announce that Artemis Rising has an editor. Sandra Herner will begin editing my manuscript on or about February 18. The fact that it is so far out is just an indication of the level of demand for her expertise. I am confident that she will help Artemis Rising become both an excellent story, and everything it needs to be to be a financial success.