BIG Tuesday & Informal Polls Ahoy!
December 1, 2009
Installment
Today’s installment is going to be BIG – about twice the size of a normal Choose installment.
I try to keep them to about 1k words intentionally – I want them to be short enough that they can be comfortably read by someone with only a short time to spend checking the site.
Sometimes 1k words just isn’t enough, and this installment is one of those.
So – fair warning. Tonight’s will be a BIG installment.
Poll
Secondly, the poll which will accompany today’s installment will ALSO be big.
Tonight’s installment will officially end the first chapter of Choose – “The Search For a Captain” (as it’s titled in the Read the Story page).
Chapter 1 is ending –
– and I’m not sure where I want to start Chapter 2.
So tonight’s poll will be one of the rare Very Important Plot Polls.
All polls affect what happens, sure, but some of them shape the fabric of the story itself.
Tonight’s poll is not one that I’ll be tying in multiple winning options, nor is it one that I can write the chapter ahead of time and plug the answer in.
What does that mean? It means that if you’ve got a favorite poll choice, I encourage you to sound off in the comments! Rally folks to your cause!
Have fun with it! <3
And Then What?
This being the end of Chapter 1, I have some options as to what I can do with the story as it’s been written. Consider this an unofficial poll (that I may turn into an official poll if I need a break over the Christmas holidays).
What should I do with Choose?
Not the website – I like the way the site is currently set up, with the voting and all that –
What should I do with the story?
It’s not a novel, really. It’s more like one of those slim mangas that you see at the bookstore, all lined up with numbers on the spines. This would be volume 1, I suppose.
Sure, I’d like to make the compiled version available, but that could take a while at the rate the story is currently progressing.
So! Informal poll time!
Publishing?
I have many options available. Choose as many as you like, as I can do them all so long as there’s a reason for it.
- I can publish a hardcover version through lulu.com (I’ll admit, this seems the silliest – as slim as it’ll be, hardcover doesn’t seem worth the expense)
- I can publish a softcover version through lulu.com
- I can publish an eBook version through lulu.com
- I can generate a pdf of the volume and make it available for download on the site.
- I can create an iPhone app for the story and make it available for download via iTunes (I think)
- Anything else. (Please comment)
Poll Formatting
Beyond that, there are questions of formatting. I think it’d be fun to include the poll options in the book.
- Should the polls be added in front of the installment they pertain to?
- Or all together as a compiled block at the back of the book?
Timing
It takes time to compile even an eBook version properly – longer than you’d think, given it’s already all typed up. (Nice thing is it only has to be done once, and can be used for multiple publishing types thereafter).
- Should I try and get a published copy ready before Christmas?
- Or take my time and get it out early next year?
Cashmoney
I am in no way trying to actually make money on Choose – you’ll note the lack of advertisements on the site. However, if I were to charge a few dollars’ markup on the books sold through lulu.com, I could then invest that money back into Choose. I think it’d be fun to get some more commissioned art of the characters and scenes, but the colored art commissions I’m looking at cost anywhere from $15 to $50. (And up, of course. Sky’s the limit on that. I suppose I could commission a bronze statue of Bones….)
Anyone have any advice with regards to whether I should charge for Choose, and how much if so?
Special Features
I’d like to add some “Special Features” to the published book, if possible. The art from Rhinne, for sure, but perhaps I should save up the homage stuff and only reveal that as part of the published book?
I could also go through and do some more editing on the chapters – they’re published dangerously close to the time I write them, so I’m sure they’re ripe to bursting with editorial oops’s that I just didn’t have time to catch. No plot changes, just tweaks.
Any other ideas on what I could add, things you’d like to see or know?
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December 1st, 2009 at 4:46 pm
Oooh… I’d love a published version :D
Although maybe it’d be better and cheaper to publish the whole thing once it’s done?
Or maybe several chapters at a time?
Either way I’d buy it ^_^ (I’d say softback from lulu would be best? I’d prefer to have a book I can show my friends)
Can’t wait for tonight’s installment!
Rhinne´s last blog ..ADVENT CALENDAR
December 1st, 2009 at 4:49 pm
@Rhinne
The only cost I would personally have if I went through Lulu would be the time taken to edit and compile. They don’t charge the authors for publishing (which is awesome and totally how it should be).
I’ll definitely publish the whole thing when it’s done…it’s just that there’s not a planned “ending” point – this could easily go on for years. ^_^
Softback from lulu makes the most sense to me, as far as physical copies go. *nodnod*
<3
December 1st, 2009 at 9:46 pm
I vote e-book or PDF (or both). They sound like they’d be the simplest, and least restrictive. Hardback…meh. What you said, there. Softcover? ’bout the same, IMO.
iPhone app? well, I have an iPod…but…I prefer my 24″ screen to the 2.4″ one ;)
Steve´s last blog ..How Not to Impress Me As A Potential Customer
December 1st, 2009 at 11:00 pm
Whatever you do, do something in hard copy. I can’t do ebooks/PDFs, it messes with my eyes. Short bouts of online reading is fine, but I couldn’t do too much. Besides, there’s little better than curling up with a soft blanket and a good book. So, I’d say softcover. I’d be perfectly fine paying for a copy.
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Methinks polls would be better at the end of the book. Point of interest, yes, but, with the length of your chapters, it could make the overall effect kinda choppy.
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Take your time to do it right, methinks. In order for the book to arrive by Christmas it would have to be ordered this week, and that’s just insane for you.
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Looking forward to today’s installment/poll!
December 2nd, 2009 at 1:23 am
@Steve
Thanks for the input!
@Cami
*nods* I agree on the polls. The more I think about it, the more that seems to make the most sense.
*hugs* Thanks, and thanks for answering so many of the questions. =]
December 2nd, 2009 at 1:54 am
Oh, boy… lots of questions.
First, I am all for longer chapters. More awesomeness at once, what could be better?!
I would go for a softcover and e-book through Lulu.com, or softcover and PDF. I would love to have a hard copy of the story, and I am sure others would like that too – and you getting some money to invest in some cool art would be great!
As for the polls, I join the voices for polls at the end of the book – they are cool on the website, but would be too distracting in a book format.
I am not sure how long Chapter 1 is in terms of words, maybe combining 2-3 chapters in one book might be worth considering?
I would love to have it for Christmas, but the stress is not really worth it – besides, even if you make it till Christmas, there will still be delivery times to consider. So just take your time. *smile*
Did I miss something? *blinks owlishly*
Iris´s last blog ..NaNoWriMo won!
December 2nd, 2009 at 3:27 am
I’d help! Hell, I’d spend extra time at school making the cover if you wanted.
Rhotley´s last blog ..Aion: Visions of the Future
December 2nd, 2009 at 4:44 am
Ooo, a softback would be awesome!
Also the more you write, the less time I spend at work bored. *What do you mean I should be working? I am! I’m working on keeping myself educated and informed.*
*goes to read the new entry*
Byrd´s last blog ..Need.. to.. Study..
December 2nd, 2009 at 2:39 pm
@Iris
*laughs* I think the only one you missed was the open-question of whether or not anyone had any ideas for “special content”.
I think I’m going to rename “Chapter” to “Volume”.
It’s a lot more accurate of a term.
As to wordcount, I’m not positive. I’ve tried to keep them around 1k words apiece (with varying degrees of success). Assuming I did so, there are 16 installments in Volume 1, which would put the published wordcount around 16,000.
Very thin (and it may be too thin, once I get things situated in Lulu, I’ll have to see) but I wouldn’t charge book-prices for it anyway. =]
@Rhotley
…you may come to regret this offer of help!! *giggles*
@Byrd
Educated and informed…on rainbow sprinkles, bubbleguns, and air pirates. Makes sense to me. ;)
December 2nd, 2009 at 2:44 pm
@Tami
Not a chance! I very much would like to have a soft copy myself…wonder if we could get some more art to toss in it? Maybe a sketch of Jinn’s sword, or one or two bubble guns?
Rhotley´s last blog ..Aion: Visions of the Future
December 2nd, 2009 at 2:50 pm
@Rhotley
We’ve got some of the sketches you’ve done (oh shush, they ARE going in. I’ve put my foot down and counted to three.)
Though since Jinn hasn’t shown the sword yet, it might make more sense to wait for Volume 2 on that, no?
I bet I could beg Rhinne real pretty for some specific pics (and pay her for them, naturally) and/or we could try and find an artist with a different style – like they do the different art at the end of mangas. <3
Anyone else reading the comments have any input/suggestions for art?
I may make a formal poll for it later, but I’m curious to know if anyone’s got any ideas off the top of their head. =]
December 2nd, 2009 at 5:22 pm
I’d like to buy a print copy of this. I think a softcover and e-book versions from lulu make the most sense. As for length… meh, whatever is easiest on you!
I don’t know if you can get enough, but a small sketch for each installment could be fun. Off the top of my head, the puke pail from her waking up in jail, the spider device from that installment, a mug of beer for the first installment, the crystal from the installment where she reveals her plan to Hank… just a little something that’s memorable for each. I don’t know how difficult it would be to get that done, could get costly quick, but they don’t have to be in color or anything. In fact I think it would look better for them to be sketches instead of clean drawings.
Lauren´s last blog ..Happy Thanksgiving and Blogoversary!
December 2nd, 2009 at 6:03 pm
@Lauren
What a fun idea! I’ll have to do some pricing and overall cost estimates for it. *thinkthink*
I definitely like the thought of them all being sketchy rather than clean drawings!