Author
I’ve been running a promotion campaign on Amazon and Freebooksy this past weekend, and the results were amazing! The book reached #4 on Amazon’s Top 100 list for free Sci-Fi, #1 in free Friendship Fiction, #2 in free Family Life Fiction, and even #91 on the overall Top 100 for free books.
I’m thrilled that more than 1,400 readers have already chosen to give my book a try, and I truly hope you’ll enjoy it.
It’s official! Not That Kind of Companion is published and ready for you, in paperback and Kindle editions:) I hope you all will enjoy it.
It’s available globally, but here are some quick links:
Amazon DE – https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0FLLN9P86
Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com/dp/8269425109
Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/8269425109
eviews are always appreciated and can be shared on Goodreads.com
In less than 72 hours my first book will be published on Kindle. Paperback will come shortly as well (I just need to tweak the cover a tiny bit).
I’m really happy to have come to this part, getting my book out there:)
The manuscript has been formatted, and the cover resized and made into a PDF. A bunch of questions and options are set, and now it’s just a bit of waiting and last checks before publication. First as a paperback and then soon after as a digital version.
It’s been 2517 days since I started writing on book one. And though I’ve had long breaks, including writing the first draft of another book, it’s been a fair while. But what an experience it has been.
The first day I wrote, I wrote eleven pages (4333 words). However, that text required extensive editing, and as I continued writing, I also revised my previous work. That helped me remember where I was in the story, and also get a handle on some of the worst errors right away. I have had days where I wrote as much as on the first day, but not more than one or two.
“We don’t do it because it’s easy. We do it because we thought it would be easy.”
I read this quote a few days ago and think it’s both funny and, to a large extent, valid. I didn’t know what I was getting into when I first started writing. And I’m delighted I didn’t. Because it’s unlikely that I would have prevailed as a starter at all. When the first draft was done in mid-2019, I still had to do a lot of editing to get the text presentable. But I did it, and now I know that I can (even if I easily forget it). If anyone wants to read the first book, well, that’s another story. But because I have written the book and will publish it, I will find out. Either way, I will most likely continue to write my story. Since it’s not done, it’s good fun to do, and I know I can.
With some great help from the artist Aleks Szczubełek the cover for book one is now finished, and I’m stoked about it. And the book title is now in place. It’s Not That Kind of Companion.
I’ve been working on last minute edits and formating the manuscript to work with Amazons print on demand service. It’s been a journey and I’m starting to see the finish line. Looking forward to publishing day.
It’s been a fair while since I posted last. About three and a half year, jikes. Well for a fair amount of time I’ve not written any, but dealt with a new job, some health issues and all the normal things that happens in a life. But I got back to writing a while back. So I have finished the first draft for book two, and I’ve for the last few months been doing the final polish on book one. It’s now 99% ready for publishing.
The picture above is a draft for the cover image for book one. I’m really happy that I was able to get an artist to help me really mirror my vision and a key scene from the book. More will follow very soon.
Progress has been slow this last year.
Book one in Jane and her robots series is close to ready for publication but awaits completion of the second book. Book two first draft is at 30k words (goal is around 60-70k).
My day job is writing-related, and it has taken a toll on my creativity surplus. I have also been troubled with headaches several times a week much of this last year. I have had more success on my writing this last month, and I’m therefore hopeful for the future. My goal is to have the first draft of book two done by the summer of 22 (no promises)
Have a good holiday and new year
T.B
Progress on Jane and her robots book two has been slow the last month (AKA not done any writing), but I have spent some time working on another project (temporarily named sky) that’s in early development.
I wanted some portraits of the main cast of Jane and her robots. I got help from Boomi_art, a freelance illustrator and concept artist, and the result is, in my opinion, very close to what I had envisioned. To begin with, I have gotten portraits of Jane and Mei. And hope to get more made soon.
Today I got a bit of writing inspiration. So I am warming up by writing this post, and hopefully, I can get some actual story writing afterward. Time will show.
Christmas is closing in, and it’s high time for an update. The last time I posted was in May, and I had just started working with my editor, Beth. The process went very well, and I got to improve Book One in many ways. Beth is a seasoned editor and took really good care of me and my book. I make teaching materials for a living and had lots of problems with dyslexia as a kid. So I’m used to getting feedback and edits on my non-fiction writing. Getting edited for my fiction writing was a new experience and both challenging and a blast to work through.
I spent most of the summer revising my manuscript and sent it back for proofreading.
The manuscript came back after proofreading, and I went through it with a fine-tooth comb. After that, my book was done. Wel,l not really, there are always improvements, and as I’m writing book two, there are some details that I need to alter in book one. Beth recommended that I not publish book one until I had finished book two. I agreed with her, and since this is a passion project and not my day job, it’s something I can do.
After “finishing” book one, I needed a break, and have only worked intermittently with book two since. I have also spent some time flushing out some other related stories, but this is very long-term stuff that very well might never see the light of day. With 2020 soon behind us, I hope and believe that I will have more energy and creativity to write more in the coming months. But time will tell. Merry Christmas, and hope you are well out there.
With Corona and everything, things have gone slow lately. But I’m now glad to be able to announce that I have found an editor to help with book one. Her name is Beth, and she will help me with copy editing and proofreading. She has a lot of experience, and I think we will work well together.
A talented editor doesn’t guarantee a successful book. There is just so much they can do if the concept and draft they are given are rubbish. So the question is how good my drafts and story are, to begin with. As you might guess, this is both a scary and exhilarating process.
I still have two days to work on the manuscript before handing it over for copy editing. So there will be some late evenings to get everything ready.
I will get the manuscript back in a few weeks and will then have some time to work through the feedback and suggestions before the proofreading stage.
Because there are so many who are writing books these days, I have not even tried contacting a publisher. I don’t have any delusions about how hard it is to write a good book and get a chance with a publisher. Especially for a new writer like myself, this would be a tall order. So self-publishing is the route I have chosen. I, therefore, pay the editor out of my own pocket. But having seen how much improvement the story got just from my beta-readers’ feedback and my own revisions. I’m sure that it will be money well spent to get a professional working on it as well.
I will post again when I get the manuscript back.
TB
