June 5, 2010
I know it's been pretty quiet on my page as of late, mostly because I've nothing statistical or noteworthy to offer--no big "wows" to speak of--although in the silence, there's been plenty of busy. THE INFORMATIONIST continues on through the production process with first pass pages complete and galleys soon to press.
THE INFORMATIONIST
First pass pages are the aftermath of the copyedit process, everything laid out and looking like a store-bought book should, except printed on standard 8 1/2 by 11 paper. Going through the first pass pages has meant having to read the book straight through for maybe, well, about the thirtieth time or something. At this stage it would be really easy to NOT read those 300+ pages yet again, to cheat and instead just sign off on it. But some of the errors left behind were doozies (in a funny sort of way), and it is my name on the book. Before too long we'll be on to thirty-one, because there are still yet second pass pages before it goes to print.
Galleys are advance reader copies that are printed before all the typos and errors get cleaned out. They are intended for book buyers, reviewers and so forth, and are used as a marketing tool to get the word-of-mouth buzz on its way. Galleys are essentially cheaper, rougher and smaller print runs that can be as basic as a black and white cover slapped over a bound paper copy, to a full four-color mimic of what the real book is going to look like--it varies book to book and depends on what the publisher has in mind as far as promotions go, and how far along in the production process things are by the time the galleys are printed.
THE INNOCENT
Revisions and Editing:Most work time has lately been taken up with the second book, bringing it through several revisions which essentially saw about twenty percent of the book cut out, and a different twenty percent added in. In some places the changes are subtle, in others substantial. This is the part of writing that I love most: taking something that's, well, sort of okay, and turning into something far better. But it's also tedious and somewhat like banging your head against a wall until the wall caves, and not something that can easily be accounted for on a regular basis. Hence the silence.
This coming week I will submit, and I expect within several weeks after that I'll hear back on it, and I will weep while attempting to digest the way the guts have been torn out of it. If it's really horrifying, I'll drop off the radar while I try to put my ego back in place. And then, I'll get a grip and stoically set to work reassembling the pieces. When that's been done, I will feel nothing but gratitude toward my editor, because it will, at that point (probably at the end of summer) be far better than anything I would have done on my own.
THE DOLL
In between the lulls of what goes on with THE INFORMATIONIST and THE INNOCENT, continues the work on book three, which for now, is called THE DOLL.
At the moment book three is in the framing stage, and I'm about two thirds of the way through putting the story ideas in place. Once that is complete I'll be at a place where I can truly focus on writing it, and the ?word count? status messages will start up again.
I expect that the process of writing the third book will be a bit different. Unlike the first two, the third is not under contract. In order to get under contract I will need to submit the first three chapters and an outline of the rest of the book. I?ve never outlined before. This should be interesting.
So, that said, the next time you ask, "How's the book," you might understand why I pause, and then hesitantly answer, "which one?"
Taylor Stevens is an award-winning and New York Times bestselling novelist who—by odds and expectations—should never have become either successful or published. Like many aspiring authors Stevens had no credentials or platform, and no direct route into the publishing world. But, unlike most, she was also limited by a life of cultural isolation and a sixth-grade education.
Born into an apocalyptic cult and raised in communes across the globe, Stevens grew up as a child laborer, cooking and cleaning for up to a hundred at a time, caring for younger commune children, or out on the streets begging on behalf of commune leaders. Books, movies, music, and pop-culture from the outside world were strictly forbidden, and she finally gained unlimited access to fiction after returning to the United States in her early thirties. Her books have since been published in over twenty languages, with The Informationist optioned for film by James Cameron’s production company, Lightstorm Entertainment.
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