I hate to say it, but pretty sure that A Distant State isn't going to reach its goal. It was a nice dream and I do appreciate the support that I have had so far in this journey. It seems like crowdsourcing just won't cut it for this project. No worries, I'm still moving forward.
I posted an update on the Facebook page that I set up for A Distant State that I'll paste here:
Six days into National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and I'm ahead of goal so far. Material has been flowing with no struggles. After reviewing the already written parts prior to November 1st, I decided to rework the previous chapters 16, 17 and 18. Now that I am 11,000 words in and I just finished the re-writing of Chapter 18, which took the closure out that I had previously written to allow the novel to have more material. The next 39,000 words will be telling more of the story of the passengers onboard the Libertad.
Other notes on the progress, I received the Chapter 2 edits back from the editor (Thanks, Mom!) and will be making those changes and sending Chapter 3 Dylan-edit draft to the editor in December.
Thanks for sticking with me. Things are coming together and come December, full editing takes place on the complete novel.
You can find the facebook page at this link: https://www.facebook.com/adistantstate/ to stay up to date with my last postings, leave me some feedback, and stay abreast on the latest news.
Sorry for the lack of updates and the length of this update. Even though I haven't made any updates that doesn't mean that A Distant State is fading. Matter of fact, I've been hard at work getting ready for November where I will complete the manuscript for the complete first draft. The outline for the last dozen chapters are all completed, with some room to the let the story grow organically. I saved the last bit of the first draft for National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo, which is held the month of November.
If you have ever thought about writing a novel or wanted to do some creative writing, I encourage to try it some time. It's a good time even if you never wanted to be published.
In case you didn't know what it is, here is a blurb from their website (http://nanowrimo.org/): National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30. Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought about writing a novel.
Actually the first part of A Distant State was written in November of 2013 and shelved to be reviewed later. Tearing into the novel has renewed my interest in getting it finished and see if I can get this bad boy published in one shape or another. Inkshares was the first real attempt to see if A Distant State was ready to be published.
The good news is that I've doubled down to make this an obtainable goal, whether it is from Inkshares, Lulu.com, Createspace, or a traditional publisher. With the outline and notes in place, I'm just waiting for November 1st to pick up the story with Aleski and Cloee in their adventures on the Libertad.
Now for the bad news, the deadline for Inkshares e-book goal is down to twenty three days. There are only seventeen pre-orders which is a far shot from the goal of 750. I really appreciate the support that everyone has provided throughout this process, but it doesn't look that the book is going to reach the finish line with Inkshares on this pass. We will see what happens when I have the manuscript completed and a complete first draft edit has taken place.
In the meantime, I have created a Facebook page for A Distant State that I'm going to continue to update after the completion of the Inkshares campaign. The link is: https://www.facebook.com/adistantstate if you would like to follow on in the journey to the completion of A Distant State.
As I have said numerous times before, thank you very much for your support and pre-orders. Just a reminder that if the book doesn't reach the goal, your account will not be charged and you aren't short any cash.
As always, Comrade, the Republic over the individual.
Thank you to all of you that have pre-ordered so far. The Nerdist Campaign is winding down tomorrow and even though A Distant State didn't finish in the top 5 to be published, there were several very interesting submissions that I pre-ordered and look forward to reading when they get published.
Where does that leave A Distant State? Well, still chugging along. With 48 days left that means I need to sell an average of 14 books a day to meet the e-book goal of 700, more to get the novel in print.
No matter, I will finish A Distant State and that in itself will be an accomplishment, but we still have over a month so anything can happen in the meantime.
Current status of A Distant State - Chapter 2 is at the editors (Thanks Mom!) and chapter 3 is currently still be self-edited when I find the time. I have plotted out and began work on the outline for the final chapters of the novel that I'm planning on using NaNoWriMo to finish up complete first draft, which needs about 50,000 more words. I'll slowly work on cleaning up the remaining chapters until November.
In case you don't know what National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is then they said it best in their about statement:
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30. Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought about writing a novel.
It was that experience that finally helped me get the stories out of my head onto paper (or digital ink). You can check out their website at http://nanowrimo.org/. If you do sign up to write this year, add me as a buddy - dmcintosh and we can encourage each other along in our novels.
Thanks again for all of your support so far as we travel down this path together.
As promised yesterday, a new updated version of chapter 1 is posted. This includes some grammatical fixes, tenses being standardized and clarifications in some wordy sections. So if you'd like to take a gander, feel free. Also, be sure to include any feedback of something you liked or didn't like so I can review it to make the book better!
Thanks again for all of your support in making A Distant State come to life.
Just a quick update today - Fourteen copies pre-ordered. That is great! Just over sixty days left in the funding so there is still a good chance of getting e-book level met.
I received a chapter 1 edit from another set of eyes so I'm currently applying the changes now and hope to have a better chapter 1 for your review hopefully by tomorrow evening. Work and kid schedules have me pressed for time at the moment.
As for the status of the novel, I haven't gotten very far into editing chapter 3, but have been working on making notes for plotting out the last section of the book. The plan I've decided on is to make A Distant State a solitary story that can stand on its own, but leave enough mystery and untold story that I could follow up with a sequel if the demand is there for it.
It has been an interested ride so far and we are still climbing up the hill. Can't wait to take the next steps with you. Thanks again for all of your support.
I'll post another update once I have the edited Chapter 1 published on Inkshares.
I wanted to thank each of you as well as say Hello to the new followers of A Distant State. I'm extremely happy with the pre-orders so far, but would love to see more to give it a chance to be printed.
This past week was insightful. I finished reading the complete novel in it's current format (minus the last few chapters to be written), I've completed editing the first pass of Chapter 2 and prepared Chapter 3 for edits. Basically, I just print out the chapter on paper in a double spaced format to read and mark up with ink. I know that my edits won't be the final ones needed but it gives me a chance to proofread before passing it on to another set of eyes.
Some high level to share - Chapter 2 sees the launch of the NACR Libertad happen as Castro says good bye to the crew and passengers. Chapter 3 introduces the main protagonist, Alexi Breliv, and his mentor, Bohdana Kuzma, as they prepare for the Rebirth Ceremony.
When I've been writing, I've been listening to the playlist that I shared in the last update as it helps get me back into the same state of mind to try and stay focused on the setting. I'm putting thought into how I want the transition from current point of the written material to the ending that I'm envisioning for the novel. I'm also trying to formulate whether to keep this as a single novel or look at making it a trilogy. Once I make up my mind on that is how I will write the last couple of chapters.
As this is crowdsourcing publishing project, if you could share with your friends to encourage additional folks to look at it and pre-order that would be great! I'm very appreciative of those that have pre-ordered and thank you again. 9 books pre-ordered only 741 to go in 70 days.
Wow. Thank you everyone for your support so far. There are seven pre-orders in less than twenty-fours hours and A Distant State is moved up to the funding status.
So notes on how the project is going, I have finished reading the initial draft of the book and have some work to clean up in plot lines and character detail. I really needed a chance to re-read everything and thanks to an internet outage at home during the past week I was able to find the time to finish reading. This will give me a fresh perspective on the characters and where I originally had wanted them to go. Now, I can move forward with the edits for the chapters 2s to 14 and fix some of the discrepancies that I found.
I found the original notebook that I had handwritten notes and ship layouts that was buried on a bookshelf from the past two years so I was going through that yesterday.
Chapter 2 first pass on edits should be completed by this coming weekend and ready to post if the novel passes 100 pre-orders.
As a special surprise to the early pre-orders, I created a Spotify playlist themed for A Distant State. The playlist is heavy on Dmitri Shostakovich, who was a Soviet composer that died in 1975. You will learn the reason for the heavy rotation on the playlist throughout A Distant State. There is also a mix of other popular songs from the 60s that is appropriate to what is happening during the novel.
The Spotify playlist can be found at this link: https://open.spotify.com/user/dmcintosh24/playlist/7eky0AGuxHHL5aZOOlc4IM . Unfortunately, Inkshares won't let me create a hyperlink for easy clicking so you will have to copy and paste into your browser. If you are not a user of Spotify, then you will need to create a free account to be able to listen. Sorry.
If you have any feedback or questions, feel free to leave comments! I'd love to hear what you think. Keep spreading the word as well! Much like other crowd-sourcing projects, I need everyone's help.
I want to thank everyone that has followed A Distant State.
So just over a day going live with A Distant State. I've been busy behind the scenes. I've working on editing chapter 2, re-reading chapter 13, and I have a couple of friends that are post-editing for me. The two friends are both much smarter than I so that will only help out the overall reading experience of the novel.
As soon as the new edit of chapter 1 is complete, I'm going to post instead of the current sample that I have listed now.
Still no pre-orders, but I'm not discouraged as I see the progress of all of the other books (that there quite a book of good ones that I'll want to read).
I am looking for feedback on what you have seen so far and ways that I can improve the presentation, even if I don't succeed in meeting the pre-order numbers, although I'm hoping that the book does.
I hate to say it, but pretty sure that A Distant State isn't going to reach its goal. It was a nice dream and I do appreciate the support that I have had so far in this journey. It seems like crowdsourcing just won't cut it for this project. No worries, I'm still moving forward.
I posted an update on the Facebook page that I set up for A Distant State that I'll paste here:
Six days into National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and I'm ahead of goal so far. Material has been flowing with no struggles. After reviewing the already written parts prior to November 1st, I decided to rework the previous chapters 16, 17 and 18. Now that I am 11,000 words in and I just finished the re-writing of Chapter 18, which took the closure out that I had previously written to allow the novel to have more material. The next 39,000 words will be telling more of the story of the passengers onboard the Libertad.
Other notes on the progress, I received the Chapter 2 edits back from the editor (Thanks, Mom!) and will be making those changes and sending Chapter 3 Dylan-edit draft to the editor in December.
Thanks for sticking with me. Things are coming together and come December, full editing takes place on the complete novel.
You can find the facebook page at this link: https://www.facebook.com/adistantstate/ to stay up to date with my last postings, leave me some feedback, and stay abreast on the latest news.
Sorry for the lack of updates and the length of this update. Even though I haven't made any updates that doesn't mean that A Distant State is fading. Matter of fact, I've been hard at work getting ready for November where I will complete the manuscript for the complete first draft. The outline for the last dozen chapters are all completed, with some room to the let the story grow organically. I saved the last bit of the first draft for National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo, which is held the month of November.
If you have ever thought about writing a novel or wanted to do some creative writing, I encourage to try it some time. It's a good time even if you never wanted to be published.
In case you didn't know what it is, here is a blurb from their website (http://nanowrimo.org/): National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30. Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought about writing a novel.
Actually the first part of A Distant State was written in November of 2013 and shelved to be reviewed later. Tearing into the novel has renewed my interest in getting it finished and see if I can get this bad boy published in one shape or another. Inkshares was the first real attempt to see if A Distant State was ready to be published.
The good news is that I've doubled down to make this an obtainable goal, whether it is from Inkshares, Lulu.com, Createspace, or a traditional publisher. With the outline and notes in place, I'm just waiting for November 1st to pick up the story with Aleski and Cloee in their adventures on the Libertad.
Now for the bad news, the deadline for Inkshares e-book goal is down to twenty three days. There are only seventeen pre-orders which is a far shot from the goal of 750. I really appreciate the support that everyone has provided throughout this process, but it doesn't look that the book is going to reach the finish line with Inkshares on this pass. We will see what happens when I have the manuscript completed and a complete first draft edit has taken place.
In the meantime, I have created a Facebook page for A Distant State that I'm going to continue to update after the completion of the Inkshares campaign. The link is: https://www.facebook.com/adistantstate if you would like to follow on in the journey to the completion of A Distant State.
As I have said numerous times before, thank you very much for your support and pre-orders. Just a reminder that if the book doesn't reach the goal, your account will not be charged and you aren't short any cash.
As always, Comrade, the Republic over the individual.
17 pre-orders and 48 days left in the campaign.
Thank you to all of you that have pre-ordered so far. The Nerdist Campaign is winding down tomorrow and even though A Distant State didn't finish in the top 5 to be published, there were several very interesting submissions that I pre-ordered and look forward to reading when they get published.
Where does that leave A Distant State? Well, still chugging along. With 48 days left that means I need to sell an average of 14 books a day to meet the e-book goal of 700, more to get the novel in print.
No matter, I will finish A Distant State and that in itself will be an accomplishment, but we still have over a month so anything can happen in the meantime.
Current status of A Distant State - Chapter 2 is at the editors (Thanks Mom!) and chapter 3 is currently still be self-edited when I find the time. I have plotted out and began work on the outline for the final chapters of the novel that I'm planning on using NaNoWriMo to finish up complete first draft, which needs about 50,000 more words. I'll slowly work on cleaning up the remaining chapters until November.
In case you don't know what National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is then they said it best in their about statement:
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30. Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought about writing a novel.
It was that experience that finally helped me get the stories out of my head onto paper (or digital ink). You can check out their website at http://nanowrimo.org/. If you do sign up to write this year, add me as a buddy - dmcintosh and we can encourage each other along in our novels.
Thanks again for all of your support so far as we travel down this path together.
Dylan
As promised yesterday, a new updated version of chapter 1 is posted. This includes some grammatical fixes, tenses being standardized and clarifications in some wordy sections. So if you'd like to take a gander, feel free. Also, be sure to include any feedback of something you liked or didn't like so I can review it to make the book better!
Thanks again for all of your support in making A Distant State come to life.
Just a quick update today - Fourteen copies pre-ordered. That is great! Just over sixty days left in the funding so there is still a good chance of getting e-book level met.
I received a chapter 1 edit from another set of eyes so I'm currently applying the changes now and hope to have a better chapter 1 for your review hopefully by tomorrow evening. Work and kid schedules have me pressed for time at the moment.
As for the status of the novel, I haven't gotten very far into editing chapter 3, but have been working on making notes for plotting out the last section of the book. The plan I've decided on is to make A Distant State a solitary story that can stand on its own, but leave enough mystery and untold story that I could follow up with a sequel if the demand is there for it.
It has been an interested ride so far and we are still climbing up the hill. Can't wait to take the next steps with you. Thanks again for all of your support.
I'll post another update once I have the edited Chapter 1 published on Inkshares.
Thanks, Dylan
I wanted to thank each of you as well as say Hello to the new followers of A Distant State. I'm extremely happy with the pre-orders so far, but would love to see more to give it a chance to be printed.
This past week was insightful. I finished reading the complete novel in it's current format (minus the last few chapters to be written), I've completed editing the first pass of Chapter 2 and prepared Chapter 3 for edits. Basically, I just print out the chapter on paper in a double spaced format to read and mark up with ink. I know that my edits won't be the final ones needed but it gives me a chance to proofread before passing it on to another set of eyes.
Some high level to share - Chapter 2 sees the launch of the NACR Libertad happen as Castro says good bye to the crew and passengers. Chapter 3 introduces the main protagonist, Alexi Breliv, and his mentor, Bohdana Kuzma, as they prepare for the Rebirth Ceremony.
When I've been writing, I've been listening to the playlist that I shared in the last update as it helps get me back into the same state of mind to try and stay focused on the setting. I'm putting thought into how I want the transition from current point of the written material to the ending that I'm envisioning for the novel. I'm also trying to formulate whether to keep this as a single novel or look at making it a trilogy. Once I make up my mind on that is how I will write the last couple of chapters.
As this is crowdsourcing publishing project, if you could share with your friends to encourage additional folks to look at it and pre-order that would be great! I'm very appreciative of those that have pre-ordered and thank you again. 9 books pre-ordered only 741 to go in 70 days.
Thanks for your support! Dylan
Wow. Thank you everyone for your support so far. There are seven pre-orders in less than twenty-fours hours and A Distant State is moved up to the funding status.
So notes on how the project is going, I have finished reading the initial draft of the book and have some work to clean up in plot lines and character detail. I really needed a chance to re-read everything and thanks to an internet outage at home during the past week I was able to find the time to finish reading. This will give me a fresh perspective on the characters and where I originally had wanted them to go. Now, I can move forward with the edits for the chapters 2s to 14 and fix some of the discrepancies that I found.
I found the original notebook that I had handwritten notes and ship layouts that was buried on a bookshelf from the past two years so I was going through that yesterday.
Chapter 2 first pass on edits should be completed by this coming weekend and ready to post if the novel passes 100 pre-orders.
As a special surprise to the early pre-orders, I created a Spotify playlist themed for A Distant State. The playlist is heavy on Dmitri Shostakovich, who was a Soviet composer that died in 1975. You will learn the reason for the heavy rotation on the playlist throughout A Distant State. There is also a mix of other popular songs from the 60s that is appropriate to what is happening during the novel.
The Spotify playlist can be found at this link: https://open.spotify.com/user/dmcintosh24/playlist/7eky0AGuxHHL5aZOOlc4IM . Unfortunately, Inkshares won't let me create a hyperlink for easy clicking so you will have to copy and paste into your browser. If you are not a user of Spotify, then you will need to create a free account to be able to listen. Sorry.
If you have any feedback or questions, feel free to leave comments! I'd love to hear what you think. Keep spreading the word as well! Much like other crowd-sourcing projects, I need everyone's help.
Thanks for believing in me and A Distant State!
I want to thank everyone that has followed A Distant State.
So just over a day going live with A Distant State. I've been busy behind the scenes. I've working on editing chapter 2, re-reading chapter 13, and I have a couple of friends that are post-editing for me. The two friends are both much smarter than I so that will only help out the overall reading experience of the novel.