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We've Only Just Begun

Todd asked a really good question in the previous post's comment section:
When is that book gonna be done? Do you need a publicist for it? :)

Well, it seems like Todd read my mind as I planned to do a quasi-book update today. Here's what I have to allow:

--I'm doing one last edit of the manuscript to make sure I didn't miss anything. Since I don't have the funds (and am afraid) to hire a proper editor, I'm going sentence by sentence and word by word. Meaning, I'm reading each sentence aloud. If it doesn't sound right or the paragraph doesn't feel right, out come the tools. (But I should add, I have a number of friends who are editors and are happy to answer various random questions from me. So I'm not doing this completely blind.)

--A fear I have with handing everything over to an editor involves something that seems small and minor, but huge to me. It's specifically with band name spelling. He or she could see what appears to be a spelling error and not know it's supposed to be that way. Case in point, it's "face to face" when referring to the Nineties pop-punk band. "Face to Face" was a Boston band from the Eighties. Major difference. Another example: it's "Boys Life" and "Giants Chair" and not "Boy's Life" and "Giant's Chair." Believe me, I've looked at their records over and over to make sure this was the case. And I can't expect the average person to know that off the top of his or her's head.

--Why this fear? Crack open Nothing Feels Good and read about "Action-Packed Records," "James Paul Wismer," "Boy's Life" and "Blake Schwartzenbach." Enough said.

--Once finished with my manuscript, it's off to the printer at the print-on-demand place. I can't guarantee a release date just yet, but it's hopeful this will be out in a couple of months.

--The publicity angle is blurry at the moment. I have this blog and the MySpace page to promote it for starters and I'd be glad to do any interviews. Not shockingly, I'm on the fence about hiring a publicist or not.

Stay tuned.

Comments

pimplomat said…
A good editor will check with the author first about any misspellings he or she thinks are happening. The errors in that Nothing Feels Good book are a blatant example of miscommunication or lack of.
6:28 PM
jen said…
i hate to say it, but you really do need someone besides yourself to edit your book -- fresh eyes would be able to catch something you might miss.
why not have someone you trust and know go over the whole book themselves, and then you can compare notes or something. that way you can have the perks of an "editor" without worrying about some stranger messing it all up!
3:31 PM
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