Accountability, author's timecard, word count written, feeling lonely out there?

[Starbeam]

At the top of the page there should be a ruler with two little arrow looking things, highlight all your text and drag the TOP arrow over however far you want the indent. That should do it.

If you're using 07 and don't see the ruler look at the top right hand side where there's a button just above the scroll bar that says "View ruler."

Hope that helps.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that one.  Although I'm not sure if that'll work if the indent thingie is already set, or if you can slide it back and redo it.  *goes to play with pages*

And mind still goin' essplodey all over the place...got something around 12 pages, front and back, to type up.  And counting.

[Kali]

The indent thing worked fine, once I worked out some problems with some stuff having manual line breaks and some stuff having paragraph marks (stupid cutting and pasting).  It's all properly formatted now!  Thanks!

Today's work was more on the editing front, one nice top-to-bottom sweep for things like Ethan's eye color, making sure Father Christopher's voice doesn't sound too colloquial, and minor rewrites of a couple of scenes I knew were awkward or just plain didn't fit with what I'd already established.  I'm happy to have added to my word count, despite some deletions, and it's almost 82k now.

Still to do, add in the CU stuff and figure out a way to do so in a way that makes Ethan look even shadier.  That's the only big edit remaining, honestly.  Then I have to make sure that Risa's eyes stay the same color throughout, add in a bit of Savannah flavor text, make sure I'm acknowledging injuries when appropriate, explain why magic as I've described it lets Rachel lock and unlock doors at will, and... and that's it.  It'll be ready for beta readers.

Hardly seems possible.

[Enjorous]

Do you have Beta's already?

[Kali]

I had asked for beta volunteers back in April, but given the time that's passed I'll probably ask again, perhaps by reviving that post.

Today, I have done no editing.  Instead, I've had fun with beginning marketing something that, in all likelihood, will never find an agent (how many first novels do, after all?).  I fished around and found a web hosting site, got my domain, and am in the process of building my author's website.  There was some excellent advice posted about what an author's website should contain, so I plan to put up a) a pic of me when I get one that doesn't make me look like a drunken clown, b) a blog, c) a "novel info" page with behind-the-scenes tidbits, character notes, and possibly location pictures.

I will tackle most of this after I go enjoy a movie with no socially redeeming qualities, namely the latest Resident Evil movie.

[meg_evonne]

Kali, can you post the web host site with the author site suggestions?  Thanks!

And let's see.  Oh yeah, finally got through the paper revision, tackled some interesting delimnas, tonight I begin changing the e-copy to match the paper copy, then I'll print off the official copy for the editor who is simply being gracious to review it.  Maybe five query requests out, unless I start agonizing over my synopsis.  I hate those things.  I simply, unreasonably hate them. 

If anyone has a site where successful synopsis (okay what is the plural, too tired to look it up) have been posted, please please post it?!?

Crossing my fingers on your agent queries!

[Starbeam]

Finally managed to get last week's writing typed up--just over 7700 words.  Already have about 3 pages or so to type up from yesterday.

[Kali]

The post was in the middle of a huge thread on the NaNo boards, but I copied it.  I'll drop it here.  The post was written by a woman who goes by KimberlyDawn on the NaNo forums, and her critiques of query letters have been spot-on.  I've learned a lot just by reading what she has to tell other people about where they're messing up and why.

------------------------------
You can combine the blog into your website with wordpress. I'd recommend doing something like that--I, myself, set up a shell for my website using just one line of php. It was very easy to set up wordpress and it's easy to update.
Bottom line:
Hosting should be: no more than 10 bucks per month. (I got more in allowance than that a month =P) I have unlimited hosting myself.
The domain should not cost more than 10 bucks a year.
The design should be KISS. (Keep it simple stupid.) At max maybe 3 images. One of you. And maybe some decoration.
You can integrate your blog easily.
Your website should feature a back end Analytics for you so you can figure out your hits per month.

Examples of good websites:
http://www.mercedeslackey.com/
DianaGabaldon.com
http://murverse.com/
http://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/
http://www.neilgaiman.com/ (Though the running in of the text at the top is unsightly. ^^;; Makes the designer in me cringe.)
http://www.brandonsanderson.com/ [main feature is the bar that tells the progress on his books. the rest can use a bit more polish.]

Good author sites feature:
- Behind the scenes of making a book, but without the bitch and whine. =D
- Secret Info about the books they can't find elsewhere. Dictionaries, Profiles of the characters, wikis, etc.
- User interaction, whether through blog, game, q&A. special features, contests, or forums.
- Info about the Author in a short biography and bibliography.
- Clear updates on the progress of the books (ala Brandon Sanderson.)
- KISS designs. Keep it simple stupid.

Avoid:
Strong colors that are not soft or neutral/Earth tones.
White text on black background.
Flashing text.
Heavy graphics.
A design that only works in one browser.
Complex linking systems: Keep your links organized into one area.

Wordpress is pretty easy to install into your website shell: I do that a lot.
Setting up a website shell with a little php to make a template isn't really that difficult.
.css will save your butt from heavy loading pages and cut down on load time.

[meg_evonne]

Super.  Thank you!

[Starbeam]

Something to add about wordpress and hosting--a lot of hosts will be set up so that they can automatically install it for you.  Something like two clicks of a couple buttons, and done.  Wordpress also lets you set up a blog on their site, but it's limited in what you can do compared to installing it on the host.  And the pricing on webhosts-from what I've seen, a lot of em have unlimited bandwidth/storage for about $10/month.  Cheaper if you do 6 or 12 month plans.  I've been looking at domain registrars lately, and I've actually not seen too many that are under $10/year.  At least none that look reputable.  Another good idea is to listen to the Writing Excuses podcast on branding yourself.  Basically says to put up a website that fits you.  My example for that would be my own site--it's sorta amateurish looking, but if it were too polished and professional, it wouldn't fit me.  And it has lots of stars.   

[Kali]

Today, I finished the edits and even managed to write a synopsis that both a) tells the complete main plot and b) still has my 'voice'.  I've been working on the synopsis for almost as long as I've been working on the novel.  Man.  What a pain.  Did you know there are people who actually like them?  We call these people "insane".  No, actually, it's usually people who plot everything out beforehand who don't mind the synopsis.  Why should they, they've already basically written one by the time they start writing the book.

I'm going to have to try that someday...

Next up, polishing the query letter and getting to work on a synopsis for book 2.  One that will, I'm sure, bear almost no resemblance to what actually gets written.  ...  I wonder if that'll be a problem.

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

Next up, polishing the query letter and getting to work on a synopsis for book 2.  One that will, I'm sure, bear almost no resemblance to what actually gets written.  ...  I wonder if that'll be a problem.

The trick here is not to write the synopsis until after you finish the novel...

[Kali]

The trick here is not to write the synopsis until after you finish the novel...

See, that was my thinking too.  But a synopsis as an outline works for some people, and Josh, in his very cool "how I got an agent" post, said that his agent was asking for a synopsis for Book 2 to send around to editors along with Book 1's complete manuscript.  So now I'm all, "I should write a synopsis."

Kali: Putting Carts Before Horses Since 1967

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

See, that was my thinking too.  But a synopsis as an outline works for some people, and Josh, in his very cool "how I got an agent" post, said that his agent was asking for a synopsis for Book 2 to send around to editors along with Book 1's complete manuscript.  So now I'm all, "I should write a synopsis."

Fair point.  My current project is probably the first thing I have done where there is going to be a genuine book 2 as opposed to "this is one story that happens to be too big to bind in one physical volume."

My understanding is, there are editors in the field who expect the next book to be what they got a synopsis of, and editors who do not mind in the slightest if it's a completely different book so long as its good, and both types will tell you clearly if you ask them.

Come to think of it, have I actually remembered to congratulate you on finishing?  Congratulations.

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

Through revision of chapters 1-10, fixing everything except one thing in 10 I need to think about a bit more. Overall length has gained about 500 words.

[Kali]

A good feeling, when you edit, pare stuff down, fix other things, and find out you came out ahead in word count.  Congrats to you, too, for finishing!  It was nice to have that feeling that someone else was heading for the wire while I was, even if your wire was set farther away than mine was.