Hello there!
Welcome to the new folks who have joined in the past month!
So what’s happening?
May seemed to go by in a blink, and while I worked on THE RED SKY, not as much as would have liked. Still some final editing, and then the fun part - putting it all together.
For those unfamiliar with the self-publishing world, I’ll provide a small look at what is a very big picture. There are plenty of options and avenues to use, so I’ll just speak from my own experience. Now that I’ve got the book back from the proofreader, I’m going through the text and making sure that margins, indentations, page breaks, and other formatting items are correct. It’s tedious work, but it has to be done to present a professional-looking and readable book.
I have the artwork done, but next comes the layout, which means meeting the requirements of the printer, as well as a separate layout for the ebook version. It means getting the interior done besides the actual text itself, stuff like the “Front Matter,” which is the first page of text beyond the title or author name that contains stuff like the Library of Congress info, ISBN number, etc. On the back end, I need to put together thank yous and acknowledgments for everyone who contributed or helped make this a reality.
Once the interior document is done, and my friend Jason helps me with the final exterior layout to make sure everything meets the measurements and requirements, it goes to Ingram Spark, which is what I use for self-publishing. There are costs here and there along the way, plus more after if you want physical copies to send out Advanced Reader Copies (or ARCs) to reviewers.
And in my own mind, I’m a little behind. So June means getting this all done and having a book ready to go for October.
Onto other things.
As you can see, it’s blooming season.
RECENT READS
SIX WAKES by Mur Lafferty
A who-done-it aboard a spaceship with a twist - there are six crew members, all of whom are clones. They wake up to discover their previous versions had been viciously murdered, but none of their previous memories from the past twenty-five years transferred to their new bodies. So how did they die? Why didn’t their memories transfer? And why is the ship AI offline? It’s an engaging mystery that fans of sci-fi and thrillers can enjoy.
RECENT TV/MOVIES
OUTER RANGE (Amazon, S.1) - What if David Lynch wrote and directed a western? It might be like this, and it’s good.
HILLSONG: A MEGACHURCH EXPOSED (Amazon) - Interesting but didn’t feel resolved based on the later revelations.
LULARICH (Amazon) - How to operate a 21st-century pyramid scheme selling tacky clothing.
THE MIND, EXPLAINED (Netflix) - Short but informative episodes on various aspects of the brain, including mindfulness, anxiety, creativity, and more.
MUSIC
Envy of None by Envy of None (2022)
So Red The Rose by Arcadia (1985)
Darker by C-Tec (1998)
On Second Thought by Sandpit (1998)
Born In America by Riot (1984)
Take In The Sun by Bike (1997)
Crawler by Crawler (1977)
Bring It Down by Madder Rose (1993)
A few reminders before you go:
READER REVIEWS! If you read and enjoyed THE BLACK SKY (or any of my books for that matter), I would be grateful if you left a positive review or a rating at Amazon or GoodReads. Reviews help other people find the book.
All previous newsletters are archived. Lots of stuff to check out including a link to the original 2011 screenplay of THE BLACK SKY, hints and helps to get started on the real work easter egg hunt teased at the back of the book, and more!
There’s a “music inspired by” soundtrack written specifically for THE BLACK SKY you can listen to at your favorite streaming sites like Spotify, Apple Music, TIDAL, etc.
For those that have read THE BLACK SKY, you may remember a mention or two of a bar called “The Dank,” the place Tessa worked at in college where she and Bishop met. I created a virtual playlist for this “punk rock bar,” which you can check out on Spotify.
THE RED SKY playlist on Spotify is all the music I listened to during the writing of THE RED SKY.
Stay Safe!
Tim
Listen to my 90s music podcast: Dig Me Out