Friday, March 16, 2012

A Chapter Break

 After working backwards through Jupiter War I next worked through it forwards again and at last it was time to send it off. ‘Sending off time’ arrives not when I feel I’ve finished a book, but when I realize I’m starting to make changes out of boredom with text I’ve read just too many times. So, today I sent off Jupiter War to Macmillan.

I was undecided about what to do next, whether to write synopses and blurbs or just get back to the Penny Royal thing. I decided on the former because Jupiter War is still clear in my mind. I was going to describe the process I use for this, but we’ve been there before. Anyway, at 5.30 I now have a 3,000 word rough synopsis (six pages), which I will tidy up and from which I will produce a one-page synopsis. From this, I will then produce a selection of blurbs – exciting descriptions of the book that don’t give the game away. I can then dust off my hands with satisfaction, and go back to Penny Royal. Of course it’s not all over. Peter Lavery or some other editor will attack it with a pencil, a couple of copy edits will come my way too…

Right, I am now feeling quite smug as I sip a glass of red wine prior to enjoying a nice curry. It’s a brief stop along the way, a page or chapter break, but I’ll be back at the keyboard soon enough. I sometimes try to envision stopping, or retiring, but that’s for those who don’t enjoy their jobs. The morticians will have to lever my cold dead fingers from the keyboard, I think.  

4 comments:

vaudeviewgalor raandisisraisins said...

if i had J Sullivan doing all my book covers i would never stop writing either. that guy pushes your stuff over the top. always exciting to see what's next with both of ya.

Jezcentral said...

Agreed, although I have a soft spot for the older "photoshop-layering" covers of the mid-noughties.

Neal Asher said...

The pictures are seriously cool. I definitely call it 'art' when something is added like that and I feel the urge to describe things that match. For example I wish Sullivan's gabbleduck was how I described it.

Neal Asher said...

The old covers have a place in my heart too of course, being the first time I saw those books in print.