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Joined: 5/15/2013
Posts: 10
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Hi, I'm new also. I'm working on revising my 2nd novel. The first I wrote and immediately trunked. It's waiting for the time I'm actually competent enough to complete it. That time is not now.
The second (the one I'm working on), I started last summer with NaNos summer camp. It was a fantasy horror story built vaguely on a childhood memory. Then I didn't finish (and discovered the summer camp format didn't really suit me.) I started a different novel for regular nano this year and completed my 50k (whee, first time!), and even shoved in an ending although the novel wasn't really complete.
And sometime in there realized how well the two worked together. So I shoved them both into one file, got a much better story out of it, and am now working on revising/rewriting/writing them into a one thing.
I'm currently working on the 4th scene. It has approximately 45 scenes - at least that's what's in the outline - of around 1500 words each. There are 3-4 scenes in a section and often changes POVs - 2 MCs - every other section. So looong ways to go and I'd really like to be done by nano next year (got a new idea for then). I joined the summer writer's club and this forum and I'm hoping that helps.
Oh PS - this is the novel pitch/logline. It's less horror, more post-apocalyptic fantasy now: With his marriage in tatters, a haunted man teams up with a street-urchin psychopomp to bind the ghosts infecting post-apocalyptic America.
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Joined: 4/24/2013
Posts: 45
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LeeAnna
I just got a haircut in Maya Borderlands style 
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I'm in the BC summer writer's club -- I *will* finish the first draft of this YA this summer!!! :runs screaming:
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Joined: 4/30/2011
Posts: 662
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@Maya: Nice. I used to have that hair cut too.
I would join the Summer Writer's Club, but I have to finish this book. That is my goal. Nothing but editing till I get it done.
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Joined: 10/14/2012
Posts: 229
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I used to have hair.
Progress... Starting (re-starting) the submission process. I hear it's a doddle. 
Might not be on for a while, what with having to read all the offers of contract about to pour through my letterbox...... or because the arms of my new jacket seem sown together in error, and that makes typing difficult.
Mike
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Joined: 4/24/2013
Posts: 45
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Goals:
Summer Writing Club, keep up with the pace and the new writing project, while editing the first book of my Dragon series.
oh, and doing the Coursera on-line writing class, so, have to finish it succesfully, half way there.
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Joined: 5/20/2013
Posts: 5
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All right. Here we are, what, fourteen days in. Still chugging along with everything I have in the mill at the moment. This project should be seven thusand words if done by the five hundred word/day goal. At this point I have ten thousand two hundred and fifty two. Not bad for an old duffer with a full time day job and several other committments. Talk at you again later.
Dane F. Baylis
Author.
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Joined: 4/30/2011
Posts: 662
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I finished editing chapter 9 today. Editing has been much easier once I got past the first chapters, which were always a bit iffy.
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Joined: 10/20/2011
Posts: 350
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I hope editing gets easier as I get further along. I just finished the rewrites for Chapter 5 of "The Wedding Game" (finally!). I'm going to run it through Pro Writing Aid and then post it within the next few days. Meanwhile, I'm editing Chapter 3 of "The Conference House" so that should go up soon.
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Joined: 5/20/2013
Posts: 5
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Just cracked 1000 for a total count of 14,500 for the first three weeks of this gig. Found a character who likes to talk for himself and I'm not sweating the small stuff. Come on! All first drafts SUCK!
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Joined: 1/10/2012
Posts: 192
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Hi, all. I accepted the summer writing camp challenge and used the opportunity to overhaul all of my existing chapters of Aequitas. Not sure if I should post them here or not. Once I finish that work (I'm closing in on ch 6 right now), I will press on to new chapters. Glad to see some people here!
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Joined: 1/10/2012
Posts: 192
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While I'm considering whether to post my revised chapters (and eagerly await all of your thoughtful suggestions), I am also considering taking a page from LeeAnna's book and creating a thread, politely begging people to take a look at my chapters.
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Joined: 8/21/2011
Posts: 394
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I'm back! (Sort of.) I've been away from Book Country for some time, but have been quite vocal on the "tell us what you think" discussion thread. . .
But, with respect to my writing, I am almost two-thirds of the way through my revisions of book 2 of the A Kaliphian Matter trilogy. I suppose I'll then have to test drive the uploading of manuscript portion of the new BC web site. 
Then I'll dive into book 3's revisions. . .
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Woot! Only four chapters left to write. I didn't post the previous two chapters on Book Country. I want to see what happens here before I consider doing that. But I have a good outline & plenty of notes to wrap this book up. Makes me happy and I haven't even finished yet 
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Joined: 8/13/2011
Posts: 272
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So it's been a while since I posted here and I've got quite a few bits of news to get over.
Firstly, I've uploaded the first chapter of my current summer project: The Visitors. A World War Z -ish take on the year before a threatened alien invasion and the conspiracies that break out beneath the surface to try and take advantage of the threat.
Next, I'm working on the first chapter of Cleanse The Demons From My Heart, the second volume in my urban fantasy series. I'm quite pleased with how it's going so far, so hopefully I can get it done quite quickly.
Finally, however, is the big news: I've published Slide The Scales From My Eyes through Book Country. You can see more details here: http://www.bookcountry.com/Community/Discussion/Default.aspx?g=posts&t=8589935709
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Joined: 1/10/2012
Posts: 192
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Ah, finally some familiar faces! It took my computer a really long time to get with the program and supply me with an "add reply" button. Sorry I've been away, gang.
It seems there are lots of changes afoot at BC, and I'm having trouble navigating. Hell, I don't even know if I uploaded my revised chapters correctly. I'm a little nervous to add more.
But that leads to my progress: I'm finally making some! I heavily reworked all of my previous chapters and have loaded 6 on the site. I've got three others finished and am FINALLY on double digits in my chapter count. It's embarrassing how slow my progress is, but whatever. I work full time, have a kid and a mother who is staying with us going on a month (and that woman can talk an ear off, I tell you!).
Anyways, if one of you is so inclined to check out my new chapters, can you let me know if I did them correctly? I have no idea how it displays on the site.
Thanks, and glad to be back!
Laura
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Joined: 8/21/2011
Posts: 394
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Finished up the last round of editing of books 1 and 2 of the A Kaliphian Matter trilogy (hope to repost soon). Now, I'm working my way through book 3. No easy task, considering how many changes I made to books 1 and 2! Good thing I'm doing all of this on a computer!
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Joined: 4/22/2012
Posts: 175
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I've missed you all! Happy to see everyone is continuing to make progress. I haven't worked on anything in quite a while, but next month I'm going to attempt to begin a memoir as my NaNoWriMo project. My daughter was born on July 26th and I am feeling the urge to get my story down for her. It's really difficult to write with an infant needing my nearly constant attention, so my thought is that I will write it in a series of 140-character Twitter notes (minus actually using Twitter - I'm addicted to Facebook, so I continue to be a Twitter hold-out because lord knows I don't need more things to distract me on the internet!). I'm feeling particularly influenced by the writing styles of David Levithan and Francesca Lia Block, but we'll see what happens in November.
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Joined: 6/7/2013
Posts: 1356
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Hi Nicki! Congrats on the birth of your daughter! That is so wonderful.
And good for you taking on NaNoWriMo this year. If you can do it with a newborn baby girl, that makes me feel like I can do it, too.
Be sure and jump in on our NaNoWriMo Discussion Board here on Book Country--we are taking part in a big way this year, and there are lots of Wrimos joining the site!!
Lucy Silag
Book Country Community and Engagement Manager
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Joined: 1/21/2013
Posts: 47
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Resurrecting this thread like I (finally) resurrected my project tonight.
Hadn't touched it at all in months, but I got back to editing and after such a long break immediately found a major logic hole in the chapter I had been working on. Fortunately it wasn't too hard to fix, so it was a good way to get back in the saddle.
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Joined: 6/7/2013
Posts: 1356
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Hi Ben--Great to see you back on the site with such great news about coming back to your project!! Is your profile pic new? I hadn't seen it before. I like it a lot!!
Lucy
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Joined: 1/21/2013
Posts: 47
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Yeah, I added that after you mentioned I should set one. It's one of the extremely rare pictures of me that I actually like.
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Joined: 7/23/2014
Posts: 159
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OMG? This thread still runs? OK
I finished The Phoenix Diary, and even received my first ever rejection letter, which I framed. It took a lot of work to get that damned letter. Thank you, Daw Books.
Now, I'm working on the prequel. The Phoenix Diary is set in rural America three generations after the collapse of civilization. The prequel story takes place during the collapse. The plan is to also write a sequel that deals with the civilization that emerges after the collapse. Overall, the idea is that all civilizations reset and then another, greater one emerges. I'm naming the prequel story about the collapse, Reset. When finished, I'll have novels of the collapse of civilization, the interim period where people kinda get back on their feet and dream of reclaiming old glory, and the emergence of a new civilization far greater than the one we have now.
I like hopeful themes.
Oh, and I just found a cool (new to me and free) way to write using any device that connects to the Internet. See:
http://www.bookcountry.com/Community/discussion/default.aspx?g=posts&t=8589936712
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Joined: 6/7/2013
Posts: 1356
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I love that you framed the rejection letter. Where did you hang it?
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Joined: 7/23/2014
Posts: 159
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Above my desk, to remind me that my writing has been recognized!
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Joined: 6/7/2013
Posts: 1356
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Very nice!
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Joined: 7/23/2014
Posts: 159
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Ha! I started this thread in May of 2012 and today I get to post that my book is being published.
Book Country will be publishing The Phoenix Diary this summer, probably in June. I chose self-publishing because tradition-bound publishing is struggling to survive and will not take a chance on new, unknown writers. As DAW Books, Inc. told me in their rejection letter, "As you may know, these are increasingly uncertain times in the publishing business, and it has never been more difficult to break out a new author."
The only advantage traditional publishing has over self-publishing, and it's a big one, is marketing. That is why some of us have started the WritersCo-op, to help each other market our books. (WritersCo-op.com is brand new, so please don't judge our potential by what is on the website today Join us if you wish!
Book Country offers a self-publish package for zero up-front cost to the author and then they take 15% of sales. That's a bargain to get on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Google Books & other retailers, and, to have your accounting from all these retailers done for you!
The publisher's logo on the back cover of your book says, "Book Country, A Penguin Community."
Working with the Book Country staff has been a professionally and personally happy experience.
Woot! Finally!! The book is getting published!
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Joined: 6/7/2013
Posts: 1356
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GD, such great news that your pub date is coming soon! Thanks for the update!
Also thrilled to hear that you've enjoyed using the Book Country self-publishing tools.
Don't forget that you can use your Book Country profile page to market your books. You can upload an excerpt of your book to Book Country, along with the cover and details on where members can buy and read the rest. You can also announce publication news on the Member News and Announcements discussion board. Connect with members and trade reviews--hopefully when folks read an excerpt here, they'll be inspired to read the rest--and become one of your first fans!
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Joined: 7/23/2014
Posts: 159
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Thanks, Lucy. The marketing tools are especially appreciated. And Vanessa is a real gem -professional and personable, she goes out of her way to help.
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Joined: 11/17/2011
Posts: 1016
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Hey, GD. I'm going to publish here also. I feel very comfortable here. I'm glad to hear you've had a good experience.
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My process won't be quite as easy as simply uploading text, though I've already decided not to gunk up my pages. My tendency is to go overboard, same as with the writing. I am going to create one important illustration per chapter.
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Next week I have a week of vacation. I'm going to work up my courage, join A Small Orange, and start learning how to build a web site. I don't have any finished art for Sly yet, though I do have some character studies, and I'm going to comb through my files for old art that might do double duty, to get some visuals on the site immediately.
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The name of my site will be: MyGuySly.com
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Joined: 7/23/2014
Posts: 159
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MyGuySly.com
Great domain name, Mimi! Relates to your book, easy to remember & short to write; MyGuySly.com has everything an author might want in a domain name.
& yes, Book Country is the self-publishing way to go. I have no difficulty recommending any company that provides me with outstanding service and Book Country does that.
If your book is published before your website is up, just send me some graphics & text & whatever links you want and I will happily put up a page for you on WritersCo-op.com. We can always link that page to your own website. Like we did for Atthys Gage's novel,Spark.
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Joined: 4/26/2011
Posts: 56
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After much much much rewriting, one of the projects I first workshopped here has caught the interest of an agent. I'm now represented by Trident Media in NYC! Thanks to GD and all you guys who helped with your criticism and encouragement!
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Joined: 6/7/2013
Posts: 1356
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Such awesome news, Nicholas! Remind me, which project is it?
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Joined: 4/26/2011
Posts: 56
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It was called A Lamentation of Swans on this site. We'll see what it gets called if it ever gets picked up for publication
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Joined: 6/7/2013
Posts: 1356
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Ah, yes, I remember this. A beautiful title!
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