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What book is everyone writing right now?

blutoski said:
There's at least one Christie and recently also a Foyle's War based on that premise - "death by mistaken identity". (the key plot device for the Foyle's War was inspired by a historical factoid - street signs were removed in English seaside towns to slow down any German invasion and the blackouts made finding your way at night very difficult; murderer went to the wrong house and the occupant coincidentally had the same name as the intended victim and was shot - killer learned about his mistake in the newspaper the next day)
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Although I don't know for sure, I'd bet there are several murder mysteries that feature the "death by mistaken identity" theme. When I was writing my screenplay, I knew that there was no way that I could avoid all similarity to other plots that might be out there, but if I did my own work, I'd produce an end product that would be different.

I have some experience that many other people do not, and I used my experience as the basis for some of the plot points.

A little more about my story: When we last left our detective, he went from having no leads at all to having too many leads. He starts investigating the leads. He is satisfied that, even if the victim was killed in the belief that it was someone else, there would still be the malice aforethought to support a murder conviction. He doesn't get far with his leads, though, due to circumstances beyond his control; but he slowly realizes something ... if this WERE a case of mistaken identity, then it seems there is something MISSING from the circumstances of crime. A friend of the detective makes an offhand remark about the crime, and suddenly the missing thing (thingS, actually) become apparent.

If the murder HAD BEEN due to mistaken identity, would it it have happened the way that it did?

But then we get back the original quandry: if the murder was NOT a case of mistaken identity, then whodunnit?

As I mentioned, this Canadian mystery television series sometimes films near my house. One of the episodes aired so far this season had a prominent scene filmed about ten blocks from my house. I suspect they're all done with location shooting for this season, but I always keep my eyes open! When they're filiming, there are trailers nearby....
 
Just got the proofs. Basic look-and-feel is OK but peppered with silly glitches. How many sets of proofs does it usually take to iron this nonsense out?

Rolfe.
 
Rolfe said:
Just got the proofs. Basic look-and-feel is OK but peppered with silly glitches. How many sets of proofs does it usually take to iron this nonsense out?

Rolfe.
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Not sure what service you're using, but two is the most it's taken me. I go through the on-line proof page-by-page first, then order hard-copy, re-adjust if necessary, order one more, and that's usually it. However, once I received paperbacks with a missing back page even after all that. Turns out it was a printing error & a new set was produced. I use my proofs as display copies for people to paw through at fairs, etc.
 
Skeptic Ginger said:
Man, you've got to get some of that published. Why haven't you finished some of the beginning stuff?

Or have I forgotten something from 18 pages ago? :o
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Most of it's "supporting" material; world building and so on. Currently sitting at 4,428 files and 6.86GB.
 
I, as a minion of the what are you writing thread do hereby urge you, nay, insist that you finish one volume and get it out there.

What's holding you back?
 
But that's enough about you.... :D

I think my text proofs are going to be playing ping-pong for a few weeks yet. However I have my finalised cover. You may all gasp in admiration.

FullCover.jpg


Rolfe.
 
Ta muchly.

By the way, note the book review that Bob Black has written.

The evidence painstakingly uncovered and meticulously analysed by Dr Kerr leaves absolutely no room for doubt that the bomb suitcase was already on the Pan Am luggage container AVE 4041 before the feeder flight from Frankfurt arrived at Heathrow. The prosecution scenario (surprisingly swallowed by the trial court) of the bomb being in an unaccompanied bag sent from Malta via Frankfurt to Heathrow is utterly destroyed. Whoever was responsible for the bombing of Pan Am 103, Morag Kerr has conclusively demonstrated that it was not Abdelbaset al-Megrahi.
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That is quite a strong statement. Bob is a QC, a retired law professor, and he knows the case like the back of his hand. He has never said this about any Lockerbie book before. He states, in fact, that the book conclusively proves that the man vilified to his grave as the "Lockerbie bomber" was innocent.

That should be quite good publicity for the book.

Rolfe.
 
Rolfe said:
Ta muchly.

By the way, note the book review that Bob Black has written.

That is quite a strong statement. Bob is a QC, a retired law professor, and he knows the case like the back of his hand. He has never said this about any Lockerbie book before. He states, in fact, that the book conclusively proves that the man vilified to his grave as the "Lockerbie bomber" was innocent.

That should be quite good publicity for the book.

Rolfe.
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Go Rolfe ;)

It might take a few years yet, but this will make a difference.
 
Get one book finished, Gumboot. You're going to put all this effort into your story only to find no one wants to read it.

Talk to Tiktaalik, get the first one published on Kindle so I can buy it. :D
 
Skeptic Ginger said:
Get one book finished, Gumboot. You're going to put all this effort into your story only to find no one wants to read it.

Talk to Tiktaalik, get the first one published on Kindle so I can buy it. :D
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I am a bit iffy on publishing on Amazon because of how they treat non-US authors. It isn't really worth it unless you're selling a lot of books.
 
gumboot said:
I am a bit iffy on publishing on Amazon because of how they treat non-US authors. It isn't really worth it unless you're selling a lot of books.
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Not sure how it works in NZ, but I'm in touch with a number of authors in the UK, and they've posted in several threads on Goodreads regarding how to deal with US tax laws. Apparently there is an art to it, and it's not always obvious what needs to be done. But it is workable. If you change your mind, I'm sure I could either copy-paste their advice or point you to the correct Goodreads threads to find that info.
 
Thanks for the heads up Rolfe and I appreciate the cover art question on my book (releasing 11/16/13). Before getting into the questions regarding the design I would just like some general feedback. Does it arouse your curiosity enough that you would pick it up and find out what it is about? Comments welcome.
 

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I find it unusual to have the author's name above the title. And then the subtitle is above the title too. I'd certainly open it up to have a flip through, and read the back blurb.

Rolfe.
 
A little background on my book. I have had a lot of back problems this year that would get me up in the wee hours of the morning. I decided to use that free time to write. I have been a big reader most of my life and for the past eight years have worked in both a library and a bookstore. Just about every morning for about three months I would sit down at the computer and write about 1000 words. My goal was to have fun writing a book that would just be a fun read. It is in the Urban Fantasy/Romance genre as that is the genre I enjoy reading the most. As I finished each installment (I wrote it in a somewhat serial form) I would get feedback and advice from a few of my friends, some of whom are members here. They gave me a lot of encouragement and advice and we had a blast with it. Somehow most of my characters ended up with similar names, purely coincidence of course.

I decided to go the traditional publishing route and submitted my manuscript directly to a few agents (not interested) as well as some publishers. After eight rejections I found a publisher that loved my book and offered me a contract. They handled the cost of editing and cover art, and have promised 5 digital editions and one print edition. They distribute through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, as well as their own website. I had zero cost and will get a percentage of the net profit. It's a truly amazing process, my original cover artist was in Brussels, my editor in Dublin, and my publisher in NY. A truly international effort. I had some input on what I wanted with the cover art but that turned out to be impractical in my case.
 
Rolfe said:
I find it unusual to have the author's name above the title. And then the subtitle is above the title too. I'd certainly open it up to have a flip through, and read the back blurb.

Rolfe.
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Thanks. I like it. The head cover artist at my publisher ended up handling this one. My suggestion had ended up at a design company that does photo art but they had some difficulty designing a cover with three female characters on the front (which was my suggestion) so it ended up as a real art project.

If you opened it up to the first page, you might find a character named Rolfe, not you of course, this one is male, a shifter bear. Rolfe actually survives Book One.
 
The subtitle you mentioned is actually called the tagline. This is the e-book cover, the print one may be a bit different (I don't have the print edition yet).
 
That's just great, Rose.

I have great respect for people who can actually do this. When I was a child I believed I wanted to write, because I read voraciously, and how hard can it be? However, I discovered that I do not have an original thought in my head. I consume fiction like it's going out of style, but I cannot create it and wishing does not make it so.

I have a friend who has recently finished a novel she has been writing for years, and she has had rejections from two or three agents which has discouraged her a bit. I will have to tell her about your experience. (Mind you, I'm not hugely gripped by my friend's book, something to do with her use of language, so there may be problems there.)

Getting a good editor and professional people handling the typesetting and design is so important. Did your editor make many changes? How did you find the process?

And do tell more about the cover art. Why was your own idea impractical? After that fell through did they simply impose a design on you, or what?

Rolfe.
 
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