It's in the nature of publishing that things move very slowly until suddenly they're moving very quickly indeed. It seems only a couple of weeks ago that I was working to finish off the third draft of The Black River Chronicles: Level One sequel The Ursvaal Exchange, while Mike and I back-and-forthed about getting our star copy editor Anne Zanoni and our genius cover artist Kim Van Deun booked in.
And the reason for that is that it actually was only a couple of weeks ago. But now the third draft is in Anne's more than capable hands, and now Kim and I have discussed where we'd like to go with this second cover, and basically it's all happening, with the finish line still a little way off but definitely in sight. Having given my all to the third draft for the last couple of months, I'm rather glad that the book will be Anne's problem for the next few weeks, and that my main job now is just geeking out with Kim over how cool we can make this thing look. Even based on the rough sketches I've seen, I can say that the answer is going to be, very damn cool indeed. I sort of wish I could share them, but I can't, and not only for the obvious, publishing-secretiveness type reasons either. Nope, I have to keep quiet because Mike's told me to sort out all that cover-related stuff myself this time around, and he doesn't want to see anything until it's done. No pressure right? Well, not really, as it turns out, since all I have to do is prod Kim in the general direction of ideas for an awesome image and then let him knock it out of the park. Basically, covers are by far the most fun part of making books, and anyone who says differently is a liar.
(Though, hey, audiobooks are pretty fun too. And I just reminded myself that the Level One audiobook that was recorded a while back has finally made its way through whatever labyrinthine process it takes to get an audiobook on Amazon. It's also really astonishingly cheap - $1.66 at time of writing - and since it's not likely to stay that way forever, this might be the ideal time to nab a copy, yes? And because I can't stop thinking or talking about covers right now, can I just say that this is my favourite version of Level One's: it's just so satisfyingly square, and I like the logo down there in the corner too. Digital has cool logos, and they don't get showcased enough.)
Anyway, we were talking about The Ursvaal Exchange, right? We don't have a release date locked down yet. at least not to the day, but I can say with confidence that it'll be out before Christmas, and hopefully by a comfortable margin. There'll be more news, of course, as we have it; and who knows, perhaps a bit of a sample too? That certainly seems like the sort of thing we could rustle up.
And the reason for that is that it actually was only a couple of weeks ago. But now the third draft is in Anne's more than capable hands, and now Kim and I have discussed where we'd like to go with this second cover, and basically it's all happening, with the finish line still a little way off but definitely in sight. Having given my all to the third draft for the last couple of months, I'm rather glad that the book will be Anne's problem for the next few weeks, and that my main job now is just geeking out with Kim over how cool we can make this thing look. Even based on the rough sketches I've seen, I can say that the answer is going to be, very damn cool indeed. I sort of wish I could share them, but I can't, and not only for the obvious, publishing-secretiveness type reasons either. Nope, I have to keep quiet because Mike's told me to sort out all that cover-related stuff myself this time around, and he doesn't want to see anything until it's done. No pressure right? Well, not really, as it turns out, since all I have to do is prod Kim in the general direction of ideas for an awesome image and then let him knock it out of the park. Basically, covers are by far the most fun part of making books, and anyone who says differently is a liar.
(Though, hey, audiobooks are pretty fun too. And I just reminded myself that the Level One audiobook that was recorded a while back has finally made its way through whatever labyrinthine process it takes to get an audiobook on Amazon. It's also really astonishingly cheap - $1.66 at time of writing - and since it's not likely to stay that way forever, this might be the ideal time to nab a copy, yes? And because I can't stop thinking or talking about covers right now, can I just say that this is my favourite version of Level One's: it's just so satisfyingly square, and I like the logo down there in the corner too. Digital has cool logos, and they don't get showcased enough.)Anyway, we were talking about The Ursvaal Exchange, right? We don't have a release date locked down yet. at least not to the day, but I can say with confidence that it'll be out before Christmas, and hopefully by a comfortable margin. There'll be more news, of course, as we have it; and who knows, perhaps a bit of a sample too? That certainly seems like the sort of thing we could rustle up.
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