A while back, I wrote a novel called Saving Jack. The idea for the story had come to me at this very place a year earlier as I was sitting on the dock fishing. So, I suppose you could say that Loon Landing was my muse, adding to the long list of it’s magical powers. Anyway, I like the novel, so much so that I am planning on publishing it as an e-book on Amazon. To that end, I have employed my daughter, Kaitlin, to edit the work. She has editing experience, has a Masters Degree in English literature, and an English teacher’s intolerance for bad grammar. I sent her the transcript as a Google doc so I can actually see the suggested edits she makes in real time and either accept or reject them. It has been a humbling experience.
When I was in high school and should have been learning all about grammar and sentence structure, I was otherwise engaged in more pressing matters such as the proper construction of paper airplanes, flirting with the many beautiful girls in my classes, and skipping school to go swimming. While it was all great fun, I have lived to regret my less than stellar performance at Patrick Henry High. When Kaitlin gets finished with a chapter it looks like a disaster, like there has been an ink pen accident involving the color green, slashes and dashes everywhere!!
She makes very few plot related suggestions aside from an occasional - develop this character more. It’s almost exclusively grammar and balky phrasing. In her defense, I probably approve 95% of them. She is making the manuscript so much better, earning her money. When I attempted an apology of sorts for all of my errors, she attempted to reassure me with this classic—Dad, you’re a great writer, its just that you struggle with grammar and phrasing. That’s like a pitching coach telling his rookie pitcher—Kid, you’re a great pitcher except for the fact that you have no control, your curve ball has no bite and you need to work on your velocity!!
The plan is to scrub all of my grammar and phrasing embarrassments away and come up with a clean copy. Then, come up with some compelling cover art. After that, I will devote myself to the business of getting it self published for sale on Amazon. To make it work, I will have to market Saving Jack. I will start with promoting it here on The Tempest. The hope is that many of you will be willing to purchase it in ebook form for the currently undecided price of between $5.99 and $9.99. The second part of the plan is that those who do buy it will love it and immediately start telling their friends about it and spreading the thing around Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and more importantly...write glowing reviews of it on Amazon! Of course after the thing sells 100,000 copies, a bidding war will erupt between all the major New York publishers, I will end up on a book tour, get interviewed on the Today Show and make a million dollars, and about the time it gets made into a movie I’ll be ready to publish A Life of Dreams. ( I think this is an excellent example of what Kaitlin is talking about when she says—confusing phrasing)!!
Anyway, I’ll keep you all posted on the development of this project. Set aside your $5–$10 bucks now.
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