Writing • Page 43

Snagged a copy of your novel! Will definitely give it a read.

 

TYSM!!! which one? just curious

 

Below Torrential Hill. Got the paperback from Amazon!

 

That one’s my baby (they’re all my babies)

I hope you enjoy! It’s poetic and dark and strange so hope you’re into that sort of thing

 

Most definitely!

I really struggled to find the ambition to self-publish. Expected a massive time sink and headache but as long as you spend the money on shit like Atticus and scrivener, it was a very easy process.

 

I'm fast approaching the point where I need to format my draft into an actual book and it's stressing me out lol

 

I’m at 82,000 words in my novel. I still probably have 10,000 left, but I’m starting to worry if it’s going to be too long for a book aimed at kids/teens.

 

I did a very quick search just now, and found a list that tabulated page counts for the most popular/most library-requested middle grade novels released in 2024. It depends on the genre, but the averages for each were between 250 and 300 pages, which (depending on formatting) is gonna be 75k–90k words.

So off the cuff, I'd say if yours isn't specifically MG but is in that MG/YA zone, and it's not, like, pure poetry, then your word count is probably fine!

Also in my experience kids/teens will grab long books if they seem cool. Publishers might try to keep things a little shorter, but the readers themselves aren't as bothered.

 

Doing some final comb-throughs of the manuscript. I, a 36 year old human, just this last week that there is a difference between a hyphen and an en dash. Going through and making that change en masse was fun.

What line spacing does everyone use? In Scrivener I have mine set to 1.1 but I'm seeing anything from 1.15 to 1.25.

 

I’ve been doing some more editing for the first half of the book the last month and have dropped the word count by 5,000. I’ll probably end up lowering some more for the second half once I edit it more. My goal was 85,000 but if I can end up with 90,000 after editing then I’ll be happy

 

Mine got a lil bloated and ended up at 139k I believe. Oops!

 

Mail day, looking forward to reading @OotyPa

 

Thank you- I so hope you enjoy. I got yours yesterday!

 

my suggestion, and maybe this isn't helpful at all, is paying someone to handle formatting (if you're self-publishing)

I promise you it makes life easier

 

I might know a guy

 

makes life easier for whom

 

I think my friend who self publishes uses Vellum for formatting.

 

you count the times you throw up
because you’re so OCD
counting all the letters in bulimic
as you lock the door 7 times
and ask me not to leave
she says every day feels like sunday
under a breath
heavier than my will to breathe
you’re so empty now
emotionally and physically
so go back to square one
and count backwards
from the day you fell out of love
to the day you loved me

 

Was one of the featured readers at a virtual reading tonight. Read a bunch of super new poems and was somewhat nervous about it. But it went well! Feels good

 

Sold 120 copies of my first book since release a few weeks back. Pretty cool feeling and a nice little profit.

@OotyPa still got your book queued up after I finish the special edition Jurassic park novels my fiancé got me. Have read those books probably a dozen times since elementary school but I always enjoy them

 

That is a massive achievement, dude. 120 copies in a few weeks is no joke. Congrats!

 

Pretty happy with it! Just gotta find a way to keep it going!

 

wow congrats! that is indeed quite an achievement, super cool to see

 

I have a few things to share.

I was one of the finalists selected for the Winter 2025 issue of Chapter House Journal, an Indigenous poetry publication. it's an honor to have one of my poems published there.

A few days ago I wrote a little essay on the Indigenous punk band, Blackfire

And last month I had another poem published in a new anthology highlighting Southwest writers. The book is titled Four Corners Voices: Stories, Poetry, Essays

Here's a little glimpse of my poem in the book:


For the anthology, a few contributors including myself held a live reading at a local theatre. the event sold out and it was awesome to be a part of that whole thing!

 

So dope! Looking forward to reading these! You should also submit to Moonstone Press