Inheriting S.O.F.I.A. Published AGAIN!

My new and improved 2nd Edition of my first novel, “Inheriting S.O.F.I.A.” is now published again on Amazon.com.

Inheriting S.O.F.I.A. novel available on Amazon.com

I had to make some tweaks to the printed version which should be live in a couple of days, but I’ve downloaded the eBook version and it’s looking good.

I’m so happy to have this novel back in the world again with the proofreading updates, along with some story enhancements, that I think have improved the novel overall. Writing a novel is a monumental task, but as soon as I completed this one, I’d already had an idea for another one, called “Burts Bots” which I’m now able to restart efforts for again.

I do hope that people enjoy this story, but I’m also excited about the newest project as well. I’ve been stuck in regret mode due to having to take Sofia off for editing, which I, of course, never found enough time for. To be honest, proofreading and editing, while important, especially for fixing elements of the first draft story, is not as fun as the general initial writing process. And after you do the part of cleaning up any story element issues, taking your third and fourth pass for general proofreading, isn’t that fun at all, if I’m honest. I think it was a good idea, at that point, to have handed the project over to a professional proofreader as it really added a lot of value and allowed me to get the book in presentable shape. I’m very happy with the end result.

So with my final tweaks to the print book version format, this novel is off to the races. I’m hoping it does well, and will win, place or show, but the work is done and it will be accepted as it is. God is in control, and I hope it’s a book that honors Him and that people find fun to read, but only time will tell.

Now my next novel project, “Burt’s Bots“, has free reign in my mind now and I’ll be able to concentrate my efforts on that story without any lingering guilt over not addressing the previous one. Allowing one’s imagination to create a new world, new people, new places and a story to hold someone’s interest, is a fun process indeed. The more you discover ways to bring the story alive on paper in an exciting way, the more thrilling the process is for the writer. When you’re in the zone, and creating scenes and situations you really like for the story, the more fun you will have in that process. My only hope is that the readers will feel the same exhilaration the writer feels writing it, when they actually read it.

Only time will tell, but best to enjoy the journey along the way.

Progress Report:
“Inheriting S.O.F.I.A.” Novel Progress: 2nd Edition NOW PUBLISHED on Amazon.com

“Burt’s Bots” Novel Outline progress:
Outline:  1,777 words  (Getting the story down first)
Novel 1st Draft:  19,463 (Went back to outlining 1st though, and will complete outlining before continuing.)

The Birth of My Novel

After many, many hours of work, my 1st novel, “Inheriting S.O.F.I.A.” is finally published and ready to be found by the world.  It is now published on Amazon.com, iBooks, Barnes & Noble (Nook), Kobo, Playster, Tolino and Scribd.  Amazon even allows me to offer a paperback version that they will print on demand, which is an awesome feature.  I’d ordered the proof copy to be sure that it looked okay, and found the size to be a bit large, so I created a new, smaller version that will be up online in just a few days.  I’m not sure how many people are still reading paper books, but it’s great to have that available and you know I’m going to get some extra author copies as well.  Nothing beats holding your own novel in your hand.  Mind blowing.

I must admit, although the world doesn’t much know my novel exists at this point, it’s amazing to me that I’ve published my novel.  Being able to self-publish your book is a major boon to independent authors wishing to get their work out there.  Would it be awesome to be accepted by a literary agent who would pitch and sell my novel to a traditional publisher?  You bet it would be, but what was the necessary first step to getting published years ago, is not the roadblock it once was.  Now authors can very easily self-publish and get their work into the hands of readers around the world.  A process now possible for all authors, although with wildly varying results.  Self-marketing seems to be the key to your book being discovered, so this process is now underway.

For what is a writer if no one ever reads their work?  Answer,… a sad writer.  Not wanting to be sad, I’m now working on getting the word out about my first novel.

Progress Report:
“Inheriting S.O.F.I.A.” Novel Progress: DONE, published!
1st Draft Novel:  78,198 words
2nd Draft Novel Rewrite:  Completed 2/11/2018!

“Burt’s Bots” Novel Outline progress:
Outline:  1,316 words  (Rereading outline to date now)
Novel 1st Draft:  13,367 (Went back to outlining 1st though)

| Image

Judging a Book by its Cover

We all know the saying, which is quite wise when it comes to people, but there’s a reason this saying came to be.  Many a book has been put aside, passed over, or never read at all because of its cover and the instant impression someone had about what the story inside might be like.  So with my book about to be published soon, I needed to find a cover that would relay a part of what the story was about, so people will find it intriguing enough to at least read the description, and hopefully buy the book.

This seemed like a tall order as one my central characters was female, or at least a representation of that, and also a computer.  I did a lot of searching and had a few other possibilities, but this one seemed the best as the woman modeling for it looked the closest to how I envisioned Sofia to appear, and it included elements of both digital and fiber optics technology.  What would be an odd backdrop for other author’s books was the perfect one for mine.

I searched quite a few sites to find one that would both fit my needs and my budget.  There were more sources than I expected and found many that would allow you to work with the artists to customize your cover to meet your exact needs.  Needless to say, that came at a price.  For that kind of service and customization, it would seem worth it and a fair price to pay those artists for that work, but I needed something more economical.

I settled on a great source of many different book covers created by a plethora of graphic artists where the prices were quite reasonable.  On SelfPubBookCovers.com they had many different covers for a variety of genres, but to find the right cover, you have to put in the time to search.  I’d actually started this process a while back, so I had some time to keep looking for what would work best.  This helped as new covers get uploaded all the time.  You have the ability to save a cover, but it can still be bought by others, so no guarantees there unless you shell out the cash to make it yours.  Their site also allows for you to put in your own text, using different fonts and effects to make it look just right.  Even after purchasing, you can go back later and make edits and download the graphic again.

I’ve uploaded the cover in the Amazon Kindle Self Publishing site for my initial tests and it looked fine, so I hope that this was the right choice.  Only time will tell.

Progress Report:
“Inheriting S.O.F.I.A.” Novel Progress: DONE, publishing soon!
1st Draft Novel:  78,198 words
2nd Draft Novel Rewrite:  Completed 2/11/2018!

“Burt’s Bots” Novel Outline progress:
Outline:  1,216 words  (Added more notes to the outline)
Novel 1st Draft:  13,367 (Went back to outlining 1st though)