Friday, July 5, 2013

Day 5: Publication Preparations

Today, I did two things: I reached 3,000 words in The Hounds of Hell, and I drew up a list for everything I needed to do for the publication and promotion of the book, before and after its release. Be warned: this post might read as a wee bit Official. I apologise for the seriousness in advance. Normal insanity will resume in the future, probably.

The first thing I need to do is create a book trailer. Last year, Balor Reborn's trailer had to be limited to things I could find online that people didn't have to hear until they went into the trailer. Otherwise, there'd be spoilers. Couldn't have that now, could we? Even if it was just a trailer, it was a piece of content in and of itself.

This time around, I have the freedom of not being on camera all day. This not only allows me to take the writing process a little bit slower, it allows me to muck about with the trailer a bit more. My plan is to:

1. Record some audio. I have a script for this, and while I'm not sure my own voice is suitable for this, I can always edit it a bit. I just have to remember to speak slowly. As I'm sure you know - if you know me, or if you've ever watched me on YouTube - I have a habit of speaking quickly. Very quickly.

Thankfully, Audacity (it's free, and I recommend it) allows me to (a) change the speed of the record (look at me using all the technical words...) and (b) change the pitch of the volume. I can make my voice deeper and slower. I can't do away with how I sound, exactly, but I can at least make a difference so it doesn't sound exactly like me on the video.

After the audio is recorded, I need to:

2. Find suitable music. Thankfully, I know a place to get royalty free music for this, for free. As a poor writer, this is beneficial for me. The music needs to fit the trailer, and needs to sound good even when I lower the volume so I can be heard talking.

Then...

3. Create images for the video. I'm thinking Celtic artwork. I'll be "hand drawing" it all, using my tablet. I hope. If not, I'll think up something else, but I'd like to have some interesting artwork in there and be able to say that I did it.

That's all preparations for the video, which needs to be uploaded by Tuesday 9th. But that's not all I have to do. When the book is released, I plan on accompanying it with four flash stories. I'm not going to reveal what myths they relate to, but I can confirm this: they have no yet been written.

Fun, right? There will be one every day from the Tuesday to the Friday, taking place at various times. This effectively gives me a week from the date the trailer goes live to:

1. Write four flash stories.

2. Edit the book.

3. Format the book.

4. Write most of The Blood of Leap.

Even when I finish the book, I'll still have Camp NaNoWriMo to keep up with. I'm possibly going to be working like a mad thing on this series, but it'll be worth it in the long run. I figure, if I can get ahead of myself with trailers and stories and editing and formatting, the process of publication will be easier in the future. Plus, if I publish four flash stories every time I release a book - or just release one a week between books - I'll have a huge collection of stories on the Modern Irish Myth site by the time the final book is published.

Oh, but just for the record: the book has reached the 15,000 word mark, and my Camp NaNoWriMo word count has gone over 10,000 words. I've officially caught up with myself, after only writing 800 words yesterday.

Somehow, I don't think productivity is a problem for me right now.

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