Tales of the Parodyverse - Re: Publishing and Software

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Anime Jason

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Member Since: Sun Sep 12, 2004
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Subj: Re: Publishing and Software
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2015 at 05:35:57 pm EST (Viewed 1 times)

Reply Subj: Re: Publishing and Software
Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2015 at 11:53:46 pm EST (Viewed 398 times)

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Quote:

Generally with software I've already finished it, or have some kind of prototype - because I'm absolutely against raising money for something I have no chance of delivering. So most of the costs are actually gone already, except for advertising/marketing, where I have no idea even how to estimate it.

It's not an product I have a great deal of experience in so I can;t really advise you. You might start by looking into whether there is a freebie demo version possible, and then release that via sites like CNET.

Quote:

What's scary is, Traders is nowhere near complete. It's just started. See why I thought maybe posting a one-chapter preview here might be interesting?

if that's what keeps you writing that's what you do.

Quote:

World Class is also just started, but has less going on at the beginning.

As long as it hooks the reader and keeps them turning the pages.

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Returning to a previous point, when you are ready you need to get in two or three beta-readers.

Quote:

I actually know someone who's pretty good at nit-picking, but she's not an experienced professional book editor or anything. Just a heavy reader who's picky.

Experiences professional book editors are expensive. I've never had one.

Small press editors tend to be variable in quality, some good and others not so good. For most it is not a full-time job, just as many of their authors are not full time. My experience is that most do not dig very deep in their editing, usually staying with imposing house style on grammar and offering occasional text amendments.

The rule of thumb in small press and self-publishing is that you will probably be your own best and strictist editor. And proofreader. And promoter.

Beta readers aren't editors. They're half proofreaders and half focus group. If there are bits of story they didn't understand then you know which parts need revision. If there are character choices they don't buy then you have to either change the plot or work harder to sell the twist. They are the canaries in your coal mine.

Mostly the PVB doesn't - or didn't - work too well as a beta site. Posters here are mostly supportive, reluctant to criticise hard work. It's a different audience feedback. There's also the "silent response" which is hard to interpret - apathy, dislike, just too busy to read it?

On a couple of occasions when I had more time I did major beta reads and editorial passes at work-for-publication that posters here had prepared. It's a time-consuming job, painful for me and the writer. But there are places on the internet that offer that level of critique and even some that offer it positively and effectively. When you are ready - by which I mean a full first draft of something done from start to end - then you may wish to seek them out.

I'm a bit worried I'm getting overbearing and pedantic on this topic so I'll wind up there.

Posted with Mozilla Firefox 42.0 on Windows XP

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Untold Tales of the Lair Legion #349: Change and Decay · The Hooded Hood · Mon Dec 14, 2015 at 07:18:03 pm EST
- That's a rich gumbo of a tale. · WGMY 104.1 · Sun Jan 03, 2016 at 10:48:15 pm EST
  - Full of thick swamp mud. · HH · Mon Jan 04, 2016 at 09:55:35 am EST
- Loved the interations of the couple LOL LOL..great ironic dialogue ;) (no text) · Yo just read the firs part, tomorrow more · Tue Dec 22, 2015 at 03:53:44 pm EST
  - You're rationing yourself? It's Christmas. Binge. (no text) · HH · Tue Dec 22, 2015 at 05:45:11 pm EST
- Man alive... that is a lot of continuity. One would think that new guy would get a hernia just sorting through it all. · Visionary · Thu Dec 17, 2015 at 12:55:20 am EST
  - The brief was "write a PV story", so I decided to leap right into the middle of it. · HH also had an itch to finish off some subplots he left dangling. A lot of subplots. · Thu Dec 17, 2015 at 09:33:23 am EST
  - Don't worry · Al B. Harper · Thu Dec 17, 2015 at 04:24:12 am EST
    - What, me? · Visionary · Thu Dec 17, 2015 at 06:08:32 pm EST
      - Never! · Al B. · Sun Dec 20, 2015 at 04:46:35 am EST
        
        Re: Never! · HH · Sun Dec 20, 2015 at 06:57:32 am EST
      - I advise you not to ask Daio about it. (no text) · HH · Thu Dec 17, 2015 at 07:16:48 pm EST
    - Worry if you want. · HH · Thu Dec 17, 2015 at 09:35:07 am EST
      - We should all worry. · Al B. Harper · Sun Dec 20, 2015 at 04:48:28 am EST
        
        We have Visionary for that. · HH views him as a sort of worry-sump · Sun Dec 20, 2015 at 07:00:56 am EST
        
        He's also good for other things...like....offering as a hostage to invading aliens. I mean peace negotiator, did I write hostage? · Al B. Harper · Mon Dec 21, 2015 at 08:16:39 am EST
        
        Hey, the man's an accredited intergalactic ambassador. · HH · Mon Dec 21, 2015 at 04:44:05 pm EST
- As conditions go, decay beats intertia (no text) · killer shrike looks forward to seeing what's next · Wed Dec 16, 2015 at 09:42:25 pm EST
  - Tell that to the quote's originator, hymnwriter Henry Francis Lyte, who died of TB three weeks after penning it. (no text) · HH is a ray of joy in the mornings; well early afternoons · Thu Dec 17, 2015 at 08:43:14 am EST
- I hate it when my quantum buffer fields are breached! · Al B. Harper · Wed Dec 16, 2015 at 03:24:47 am EST
  - It's all really a matter of personal preference. · HH is so tolerant · Wed Dec 16, 2015 at 05:44:50 am EST
    - Shaken not stirred? · Al B. Harper · Wed Dec 16, 2015 at 10:30:07 pm EST
      - Depends how much you liked that cow-girl picture. · HH · Thu Dec 17, 2015 at 10:11:56 am EST
        
        I hear her milkshake brings all the heroes to the yard. · Al B. Harper · Sun Dec 20, 2015 at 04:38:57 am EST
        
        From whom would you hear such things? · HH · Sun Dec 20, 2015 at 07:13:23 am EST
        
        CSFB! · Al B. Harper · Mon Dec 21, 2015 at 08:07:32 am EST
        
        Re: CSFB! · HH · Thu Dec 24, 2015 at 06:02:09 pm EST
        
        PAPG! · Al B. Harper · Fri Dec 25, 2015 at 06:24:18 pm EST
        
        Re: PAPG! · HH · Mon Jan 04, 2016 at 09:53:27 am EST
        
        Re: GPAP! · Al B. Harper · Mon Jan 04, 2016 at 10:07:54 pm EST
        
        Re: GPAP! · HH · Tue Jan 05, 2016 at 01:00:16 pm EST
        
        Oh, I had someone in mind from the first... · Al B. Harper · Tue Jan 05, 2016 at 06:19:04 pm EST
        
        Splendid. · HH · Tue Jan 05, 2016 at 10:45:51 pm EST
- So, it looks like there have been some changes ... I look forward to catching up. :) (no text) · CrazySugarFreakBoy! · Wed Dec 16, 2015 at 02:05:52 am EST
  - Not just changes but also decays. (no text) · HH felt that CSFB! was possibly the person most likely to enjoy a zombie apocalypse · Wed Dec 16, 2015 at 05:47:49 am EST
- This is change we can believe in! But that's mostly due to Retcons! · L! · Wed Dec 16, 2015 at 01:34:22 am EST
  - When you have infinite redo-levels you can generally get the result you want. · HH · Wed Dec 16, 2015 at 05:59:04 am EST
    - Is that something that happens normally or do you have to enter in a cheat code for the infinite redos'? · L! · Wed Dec 16, 2015 at 08:54:41 pm EST
      - You have to be... the Hooded Hood. · HH · Thu Dec 17, 2015 at 09:18:18 am EST
        
        is that an available add on? · L! · Thu Dec 17, 2015 at 05:06:08 pm EST
        
        It may be a limited time offer. · HH · Thu Dec 17, 2015 at 07:15:42 pm EST
        
        Any exclusions apply? Do I need a coupon? · L! · Thu Dec 17, 2015 at 08:12:24 pm EST
        
        Regional limits may apply. May contain nuts. · HH · Thu Dec 17, 2015 at 09:22:50 pm EST
        
        Nuts? Why would the PV be filled with Nuts? :) · L! · Sat Dec 19, 2015 at 01:58:38 am EST
        
        For starters, it's kind of the job description of Herringcarp Asylum. · HH · Sat Dec 19, 2015 at 10:19:31 am EST
        
        Only kind of? · L! · Sat Dec 19, 2015 at 05:38:26 pm EST
        
        Re: Only kind of? · HH · Sun Dec 20, 2015 at 07:18:59 am EST
- Re: Untold Tales of the Lair Legion #349: Change and Decay · J. Jonah Jerkson is stupefied by the audacity of the new Hooded Hood · Tue Dec 15, 2015 at 09:56:39 pm EST
  - 50% of marriages end with divorce? That's not the likely outcome here. · HH · Wed Dec 16, 2015 at 06:02:06 am EST
- Change isn't bad, it's the decay that concerns me. · Anime Jason · Tue Dec 15, 2015 at 12:09:45 pm EST
  - Well, the villains are rotters. · HH · Tue Dec 15, 2015 at 03:35:15 pm EST
    - Always with the excuses, those villains. · Anime Jason · Tue Dec 15, 2015 at 05:17:20 pm EST
      - Re: Well, the villains are rotters. · HH · Tue Dec 15, 2015 at 06:09:42 pm EST
        
        Re: Well, the villains are rotters. · Anime Jason · Tue Dec 15, 2015 at 08:51:14 pm EST
        
        Re: Well, the villains are rotters. · HH · Tue Dec 15, 2015 at 09:38:13 pm EST
        
        Re: Well, the villains are rotters. · Anime Jason · Tue Dec 15, 2015 at 11:45:17 pm EST
        
        Re: Well, the villains are rotters. · HH · Wed Dec 16, 2015 at 06:23:59 am EST
        
        Re: Well, the villains are rotters. · Anime Jason · Wed Dec 16, 2015 at 09:08:07 am EST
        
        Re: Well, the villains are rotters. · HH · Thu Dec 17, 2015 at 09:10:15 am EST
        
        Re: Well, the villains are rotters. · Anime Jason · Thu Dec 17, 2015 at 02:21:03 pm EST
        
        Publishing and Software · HH · Thu Dec 17, 2015 at 07:05:50 pm EST
        
        Re: Publishing and Software · Anime Jason · Thu Dec 17, 2015 at 11:53:46 pm EST
        
        Re: Publishing and Software · HH · Fri Dec 18, 2015 at 05:35:57 pm EST
- Ah, those happy memories of playing House of the Dead: Overkill. Well, with a plot this time... · Manga Shoggoth · Tue Dec 15, 2015 at 05:04:29 am EST
  - It's those sharp plot twists that you can cut yourself on. And then you smell of blood. · HH warns you not to go out to the old summer house in the woods where those kids died in the 60s · Tue Dec 15, 2015 at 08:16:45 am EST
    - At the moment I smell largely of varnish. Low oudor varnish. · Manga Shoggoth Summer? In this country? · Tue Dec 15, 2015 at 09:33:14 am EST
      - Nobody should question your life choices. · HH said it was an old summer house · Tue Dec 15, 2015 at 10:41:53 am EST
        
        Re: Nobody should question your life choices. · Manga Shoggoth · Tue Dec 15, 2015 at 02:46:31 pm EST
        
        Re: Nobody should question your life choices. · HH · Tue Dec 15, 2015 at 03:24:24 pm EST
        
        Re: Nobody should question your life choices. · Manga Shoggoth · Tue Dec 15, 2015 at 06:28:11 pm EST
        
        Out of character · HH · Tue Dec 15, 2015 at 07:04:55 pm EST
        
        Out of character? With a cast of thousands? · Manga Shoggoth · Wed Dec 16, 2015 at 05:29:18 am EST
        
        Out of characters, then. · HH · Wed Dec 16, 2015 at 06:26:18 am EST
        
        That was the whole point of multibyte character sets... · Manga Shoggoth · Wed Dec 16, 2015 at 10:22:57 am EST
        
        Sounds like Hallie villains. · HH · Thu Dec 17, 2015 at 10:16:48 am EST
        
        Update on HTML artefacts · HH · Thu Dec 17, 2015 at 03:56:24 pm EST
        
        Yup - Notepad++ has come good features (it isn't an editor I use much, but other people at work speak very well of it) (no text) · Manga Shoggoth · Fri Dec 18, 2015 at 12:07:54 pm EST
        
        And so to the next problem... · HH · Fri Dec 18, 2015 at 06:52:44 pm EST
        
        May be easy enough... · Manga Shoggoth · Fri Dec 18, 2015 at 07:56:00 pm EST
        
        You had to say "easy". · HH · Sat Dec 19, 2015 at 12:12:58 am EST
        
        That's the secret of IT - it is all easy. Of course, being as mad as a sack of felines helps. (no text) · Manga Shoggoth · Sat Dec 19, 2015 at 05:55:18 am EST
        
        That's 'lethal' - 'lethal as a sack of felines'. Do not let the cats out of the bag. (no text) · HH · Sat Dec 19, 2015 at 10:22:38 am EST