Happy July 1st! Ya girl has a four-day weekend, so let's talk about goals for the month and beyond.
First, a quick update. My proof copy of Foundling (book 1 in the series) arrived this week, and that meant it was time to bust out all those pretty pastel highlighters I've been dying to use. I can't lie; it was difficult to mark up a book, but the pretty colors helped some.
I'm starting off with basic line edits and then keeping a list of other changes/continuity issues I need to address. I've already completed five chapters plus the prologue. I'm a little scared because I'm really enjoying the book! I feel like I might be biased toward it because it's mine. Anybody else read back your own work and think, yeah, I'd pay for this?
So, for my first goal: Finish this editing round on Foundling in the month of July.
For the first time since learning about NaNoWriMo many moons ago, the stars have aligned, and I have a project to work on for the month. In the past, I've either not been writing at all, or was just not at a good place in my current project to set that kind of goal when the competition came around. So, yay for that!
Looking beyond July, I suppose it's time I began considering soliciting beta readers. Here's the thing about that. For those who don't already know, I've been working on some iteration of this story for over twenty years. Yes, really. Each time I finished drafting it--or, more than likely, before I finished--I would come up with some massive changes and basically start from scratch, saving only a handful of scenes to reuse.
I turned 37 last November, and for the first time ever, I felt my inner clock start ticking. I realized I couldn't keep dinking around with these books if I ever hoped to finish them, much less give myself permission to work on any other books without inevitably being pulled back to Foundling. So this year, I named the book, re-outlined it, played with the outline for a month or so until I was happy with it, then hammered it out.
In short, I've lived, and fallen in and out of love, with this story for more than half my life. A large part of me does not want to make any further changes to it. And that might mean I don't solicit any feedback on the book. I'm very seriously considering just publishing it without any beta readers. If I do hire betas, it will only be to identify areas of the story that don't flow well, make sense, or maintain continuity. I may yet do that. But I gotta tell you folks, I think it would destroy me if I had to do any further developmental edits in either Foundling or its sequel, Blackbird. I just need them to be done. Can anyone relate?
I know you're probably saying, that's all beta readers do anyway. Yes, true. But... I'm on the fence.
Second goal: *Consider* beta readers.
I'm even more on the fence about hiring a professional proofreader. It will cost somewhere in the ballpark of $1,000.00 USD to get this done, and I'm not sure I'm prepared to spend that kind of money. On the other hand, I have a feeling I may regret not doing it.
So, first things first. I'm no slouch when it comes to grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, etc. I've ordered myself the condensed Chicago Manual of Style. And the internet is full of tools to help with this sort of thing. I think I might go solo on this series and save myself the money. Not because I expect to make any money on the Foundling series. Honestly, I'd be flattered if I sold ten copies in my lifetime. But because, once again, I've poured my blood, sweat, and twenty years into this series, and I'm not sure I feel like forking over a grand to have a stranger spend a couple weeks on it. That could just as easily be an argument for having it done, I realize. So, once again, I'm still considering on this.
Camp NaNoWriMo Goal: Complete first pass of edits on Foundling.
Remaining Q3 Goals:
- Begin edits on Blackbird
- Hire beta readers (maybe)
- Hire a proofreader (maybe)
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