Progress report

I got some sleep last night, so today I took care of something I've been meaning to tend to for a while--I went through both Trang and Trust and copied out all the physical descriptions of the aliens. It's been a while since I've worked on this series, and I'm glad I posted a note to myself to do this when I was doing the rough draft, because in Trials I was giving the White Spiders eight legs instead of ten! (I did notice a minor continuity error between the first two books regarding the height of the Pincushions--let's just say they look bigger when they're charging you!)

I also noted the description of the station, the history of the portals, etc., etc.--stuff like this is why the Trang books are so much more complicated than a stand-alone novel. And honestly, this is why I have so much respect for the Harry Potter and the Remembrance of Things Past books--I mean, yeah, you can complain about this aspect or that, but given how tough it is just doing a regular series, trying to make something that's six or seven novels but is actually one ginormous book just sounds so hard!

Progress report

Things got busy, and then I had my shot, so.... My sleep schedule is still a little screwed up, but I really wanted to get SOME work done, so today I noodled a bit with some of the already-edited chapters. (I get ideas about what needs a little extra fixing usually when I'm trying to go to sleep at night, so I write myself little notes on scraps of paper. Then, when I sit down to edit...I realize that I can't really read the damned notes! Luckily I remembered most of it.)

Progress report

I was able to edit chapters 6-9 today--that sounds super-industrious, but of course the editing is getting easier because the further I go into the book, the fewer passages that read "BACKGROUND HERE DESCRIPTION DESCRIPTION" I have to flesh out.

Progress report

Since the cover for the YA book is pretty much done, and the interior is with the copy editor, I figured I might as well start in on Trials again--whoo! Yeah, that's a combination of "OH MY GOD THIS BOOK IS SO MUCH MORE COMPLICATED" and "Wow, this is great!" Since it's been a while, I started in with editing the first couple of chapters--I need to get stuff like back story and descriptions in there.

Noodling....

I fiddling with the back jacket today--it's hard because my printer is nothing special (like, at all--I got tired of buying "nice" printers that died within the year, so I bought a $40 one with a three-year warranty that was maybe $3 more, and of course it's been chugging along without any problems). So if I can't read something easily when I print it out, I'm never sure if it's a real problem or if it will be fine when it's a high-quality book-jacket printout. I don't want all the lettering to be huge, so I made everything relatively legible....

I'm back!

I finished off my shots (YAY), and then I went on a trip I had been planning a while. Now I'm back!

The copy editor hasn't sent me back the layout yet (I might have been a little too convincing with my, "No worries about a deadline! I won't even be around!"), so today I finished up the cover for the paper book. (Now that I know how long it is, I can make the spine the correct width!) I think it looks pretty good, although I'll have to see how the first test copy turns out.

Whoo!

I have finished proofreading the revised layout--YAY! Now I just have to go over the corrections and make sure they're OK, which I should be able to do in plenty of time to get layout in the mail on Monday!

Progress report

I had my shot yesterday, so I was a little apprehensive about today...which went fine from a productivity standpoint at least. I input the final corrections from two days ago, and then I proofread the layout through Chapter 20.

The problem was, what is now Chapter 20 used to be part of Chapter 19 (which now contains some of what used to be Chapter 18). I've been going back and forth on where exactly to break those chapters for a bit, but reading it today, I realized that I had a long chapter with a internal break, and in the course of the break we 1. change locations, 2. fast-forward through some action, and 3. change narrators. I decided that was really just too much for an internal break to handle, and that I had to make a new chapter.

Honestly, it is late in the process to make that kind of decision: It's added a page, meaning that from Chapter 20 on I'll need to change chapter numbers and page numbers (including turning left-handed pages into right-handed pages, and vice versa), and adjust how the newly-facing pages relate to each other. Let's just say that, if I were a publishing house, I probably would not be fixing this. But I think I can manage it without delaying sending things to the copy editor by much--and luckily I can delay my next shot until Tuesday if I have to.

Progress report

Lots going on today, but I was able to check the corrections in the revised layout so far and flag things that need further noodling before it goes to the copy editor. Also, I've managed to nail down a copy editor! Score!

Progress report

Doing the second revision of the layout, which I'm happy to report is taking a lot less time than the first revision. I proofed and inputted changes for the front matter and nine chapters--whoo!! I'm printing out a fair copy for the copy editor (I will double-check that the changes were made correctly before I send it on its way). Of course this means I need to track down a copy editor--I should get on that, I suppose.

I feel a little pressure because I'm going to have to "step up" my allergy shots starting next week--that's the twice-a-week schedule for six shots, so basically September is pretty much fucked. I'm hoping to arrange things so that the layout is with the copy editor while I'm busy getting high.

Whoot!

DONE!!! revising the layout! I'll probably give it a couple of days and then go over it once more. Then it's off to the...I mean, then I have to track down a copy editor--wow, it's been a while....