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Archive for Andy Gavin – Page 3

Hardcover Mechanical

Jan25

The The Darkening Dream‘s hardcover mechanical came in and I submitted a proof. This is the third version of the book, the e-book and the trade paperback already being for sale.

Look for them here

As a long time book lover (over 10,000 books in my library) I wanted a hardcover, even though the paperback will be cheaper, and it’s unusual for a small imprint like mine to do a hardcover edition. Plus it’s even more unusual for the hardcover to come out after the trade (a few weeks in this case), but I’ve never been much for doing it the normal way. I just love the feel of a nice hardcover. I’m printing it through Lightning Source which is the only POD printer I know that does real dust jacket hardcovers. And some people say the quality is better than Createspace too, but boy the sign up and interface are 100x more obtuse — which is one of the many reasons Amazon will continue to crush the competition.

Anyway, Apple also turned up the iBooks version the other day — finally! The whole process only took them a month! (I had to make a new iConnect account, as for some mysterious reason app accounts can’t also sell books!). But in any case, if for some odd reason this is better for you than the Kindle version, here it is:

Related posts:

  1. The Trade Paperback is Launched!
  2. The Darkening Dream for Christmas!
  3. Paperback Getting Close
  4. All Things Change
  5. For sale at B&N and Google
By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Darkening Dream
Tagged as: Amazon, Amazon Kindle, Amazon.com, Andy Gavin, Apple, Cover version, Dust jacket, E-book, Hardcover, IBook, IBooks, Lightning Source, Paperback, Print on demand, The Darkening Dream

The Magic of The Darkening Dream

Jan23

Related posts:

  1. The Darkening Dream
  2. The Darkening Dream for Christmas!
  3. 11 reasons you should buy The Darkening Dream
  4. The Darkening Dream – Soliciting Reviews
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Darkening Dream
Tagged as: Andy Gavin, esoteric, Gabriel, Kabbalah, Magic, Occult, Supernatural, The Darkening Dream, vampires

The Trade Paperback is Launched!

Jan17

Glamour shot of my trade edition

I got the latest proofs back from CreateSpace for my novel, The Darkening Dream, and they are looking great. While there are perhaps a few little tweaks possible to make them perfect, the presses are ready to roll, so I turned it on.

Now it’s winding through the mysterious process at Amazon.

You can buy it here!

Or if you’re an e-book person, those editions have been for sale for a couple of weeks and you can find them here. Amazon is in the process of linking the two versions together and the like. They have a big system where every component is on different server clusters and updated on different timetables. It might even take them a couple days to get the page 100% sorted. But you can still order.

Now I only have the hardcover edition to do. Because it’s print on demand there is really no reason not to do one for those who like hardcovers (like myself). The only extra hard cost is the dust jacket mechanical and some minimal Lightning Source setup fees (they being the POD printer I know that prints hardcovers). What we can’t really figure is the several hours of time it took to fill out their 80 page contract and application and fax it back to them. No web form! They need to get with the times.

You can the trade paperback front and back here:

or the spine here:

The interior looks great also with all the nice chapter heading illustrations and proper typography.

Related posts:

  1. Paperback Getting Close
  2. The Darkening Dream for Christmas!
  3. 11 reasons you should buy The Darkening Dream
  4. For sale at B&N and Google
  5. New Cover Art is here!
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Darkening Dream
Tagged as: Amazon, Amazon Kindle, Andy Gavin, CreateSpace, E-book, Hardcover, Indie Publishing, Lightning Source, Paperback, Publishing, The Darkening Dream, Trade Paperback

Paperback Getting Close

Jan12

The “beta” of The Darkening Dream‘s Trade Paperback cover has come in and I submitted another proof. With any luck I might get it on sale next week, the week after for sure. The interior layout has been complete for almost a week too. I can’t wait to see this puppy in the flesh. It should look great.

You can see some of the old paper test versions below. My long standing Lulu (ick) ARC on the left and an older CreateSpace proof on the right. Even with that hybrid cover the CS proof is looking and feeling great.

Apple also finally turned on my iBooks account today and so the iBookstore version should be up in… well however long it takes them to approve it. Given that it took ten days just to validate the account it might not be instant. All the sites except for Amazon and slow slow slow. For example, I uploaded the new cover to Barnes and Noble a week ago and it still hasn’t updated!

Related posts:

  1. Cover Takes – Opinions Wanted!
  2. The Final Cover
  3. New Cover Art is here!
  4. Dreaming Along
  5. Making of a Cover
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Darkening Dream
Tagged as: Amazon.com, Andy Gavin, Apple, Book Cover, Cover art, Cover Design, CreateSpace, IBooks, iBookstore, Lulu, Paperback, The Darkening Dream, Trade Paperback

The Final Cover

Jan05

And if you believe I’m really done, I’ve got a bridge to sell you…

But anyway, I’m done for now.

Click to embiggen.

As you may have noticed if you were following the last cover post, I went with the orange — again for now. The gray is perhaps prettier, but the orange pops. I also changed up the author font to a more vintage typeface to imply the 1913 time frame of the novel. And we made various other tweaks like brightening the girl which is mostly for shrunken E-Book versions of the cover where she got lost in the shadows.

Anyway, I’ve already uploaded the new version to all three E-Book sites I’m currently live with. Amazon has already updated, but the lamer, slower other sites will lag behind. If you downloaded the old cover and want to upload I suspect you can just “delete” the book from your Kindle app and retrieve the new one from the archives. I’ll test that myself soon.

So you should just go and buy it if you haven't

Related posts:

  1. New Cover Art is here!
  2. The New Cover Concept
  3. Cover Takes – Opinions Wanted!
  4. Making of a Cover
  5. Cover Commission
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Darkening Dream
Tagged as: Andy Gavin, Book Cover, Cliff Nielsen, Cover art, E-book, The Darkening Dream

Special Prize Winners

Jan03

The first round of the crazy Naughty Dark Contest already has not one, but two special prize winners! And these lucky guys are both from Crash’s home country, Australia.

Tyson Cleary of Tasmania

and

William Errey from Perth

For more info on the contest, a detailed list of prizes and rules can be found here!


Both guys also wanted copies of the original Crash Bandicoot and here they are prior to shipping. I signed both cover and CD, including my special unforgable “symbol.” Yes, like Prince, I have a symbol. But you’ll have to ask the Painted Man what it means.

Thank you both immeasurably!

It’s also worth noting that this has made the virtual hat for the first round even more lucrative for the rest of you. Due to their prize winning each first round ticket is worth at least a 2% chance of winning a prize now — and if someone else claims a special prize, it could be even greater. So read up on the rules and participate.

Start by purchasing The Darkening Dream!

Related posts:

  1. Announcing the Naughty Dark Contest
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Contests, Darkening Dream, Games
Tagged as: Andy Gavin, Australia, Contest, Contests, Crash Bandicoot, Giveaways, List of prizes medals and awards, Naughty Dark Contest, Tasmania, The Darkening Dream

For sale at B&N and Google

Jan03

My novel, The Darkening Dream, is now for sale at Barnes and Noble and the Google bookstore.

Buy it Now!

The Nook version is fine, but use Google only if the others don’t work for you. Google’s processing engine rips apart the EPUB and puts it back — with less than dazzling results. You can read it fine, but they mangle my nice CSS formatting and butcher the little chapter start illustrations. I’m still trying to get an improved version through their system.

Paper versions are coming in about two weeks.

Truly it’s no wonder Amazon is winning the E-Book war. I simultaneously started the process of uploading to: Amazon, B&N, Google, Kobo, Sony, and Apple. The results, from best to worst:

Amazon: Took 15 minutes, it was ready 7 hours later.

B&N: Took 15 minutes, nice previewer, took 7 days to post.

Google: Took 2 hours. The interface is one of the worst ever designed. I wasn’t even sure it was processing when I was “done.” Took 48 hours to post. Mangled the book and the price and have been struggling for days to get an updated version posted.

Sony, Kobo, Apple: Still waiting for my applications for accounts to go through. This should be instant! Haven’t even been able to submit the actual book yet.

As a note too, I refuse to use Smashwords until they allow a direct EPUB upload. Using their crazy meatgrinder is not appealing at all.

Find out more about the book here.

Related posts:

  1. New Cover Art is here!
  2. The Darkening Dream for Christmas!
  3. The Darkening Dream – Soliciting Reviews
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Darkening Dream
Tagged as: Andy Gavin, Barnes & Noble, E-book, Google Bookstore, Novel, The Darkening Dream

Announcing the Naughty Dark Contest

Jan02

This is the kickoff post for my new experimental — and hopefully permanent — giveaway program. Via this contest you, dear reader, will have the opportunity to win signed copies of Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter games as well as my books and cool toys. All you have to do is participate in my gleefully elaborate scheme to help sell and promote my new novel, The Darkening Dream.

A detailed list of prizes and rules can be found here!

Or by clicking anytime on the big contest icon in the sidebar.

So if signed copies of any of the following look up your alley, read the rules and participate! And even if you aren’t a collector they apparently have significant dollar value because a set of four signed Crashs sold on Ebay recently for over $453!

Related posts:

  1. Naughty Dog – 25 Years!
  2. Crash for Charity
  3. Naughty Dog – A Pedigree Breed
  4. New Naughty Dog Franchise – The Last of Us
  5. 11 reasons you should buy The Darkening Dream
By: agavin
Comments (5)
Posted in: Contests, Darkening Dream, Games
Tagged as: Andy Gavin, Contest, Crash Bandicoot, free, Giveaways, Jak & Daxter, Naughty Dog, Prizes, The Darkening Dream

Cover Takes – Opinions Wanted!

Dec31

Even after the product launch has begun, I’m still tinkering — and such is the way of it in the new world of agile product development. My current cover (to the left) now has an awesome image, but the overall effect isn’t quite bookish enough. So in the interest of total transparency (or mind numbing boredom?) I’ll continue to let you in on these intermediate steps of the creative process.

My cover designer, Pete Garceau, has whipped up a couple concept sketches. To the right is a darker colored take and below one in the original color scheme. You can click them to embiggen.

These are NOT in any way finished. Just concepts.

What I want to know for you, reader, is:

1. Which color scheme do you like, and why?

2. Your opinion of The Darkening Dream font/logo?

Please let me know in the comments!

Discover more about my novel, The Darkening Dream here or on all sorts of other links in the left sidebar.

It’s worth noting, that in the specialized world of book design the book designer (interior), the cover designer (logo design cover layout), and the illustrator (who paints the image on the cover) are sometimes all different people!

NOTE: I updated this post at 10:43am PST with slightly newer takes on the covers. The “older” two can be found here and here.

Related posts:

  1. New Cover Art is here!
  2. The New Cover Concept
  3. Making of a Cover
  4. Cover Commission
  5. Untimed – The Second Cover
By: agavin
Comments (19)
Posted in: Darkening Dream
Tagged as: Andy Gavin, Book Cover, Book design, Color Schemes, Cover art, Cover Design, Covers, E-book, The Darkening Dream

Kotaku Dreams

Dec30

Gaming site Kotaku has run a quick little feature on The Darkening Dream today.

What do you do after founding and retiring from one of video games’ most successful development houses? If you’re Naughty Dog co-founder Andy Gavin, you write books.

The first of said books is The Darkening Dream, a shadowy fantasy novel about a young girl caught up in a battle that pits ancient supernatural forces like vampires and Egyptian gods against each other.

You can check out the full post here.

Thank you guys! And I’ve already seen a big sales jump. I hope all the fans of my old stuff love my new stuff too.

Discover more about my novel, The Darkening Dream, here.

Related posts:

  1. Done Again, Hopefully
  2. Call For Feedback
  3. Beginnings and Endings
  4. The Darkening Dream
  5. Video Game Page & Book Status
By: agavin
Comments (5)
Posted in: Darkening Dream
Tagged as: Andy Gavin, Arts, Darkening Dream, Egyptian pantheon, Fiction, Kotaku, Naughty Dog, press, The Darkening Dream, Video game

11 reasons you should buy The Darkening Dream

Dec26

1. It’s a great book.

2. It’s only $2.99 — but the price might go up soon.

3. You loved Crash Bandicoot.

4. You loved Jak & Daxter.

5. I was a great boss, friend, or co-worker.

6. My vampires don’t sparkle.

7. There are several beheadings.

8. Decrepit ancient Egyptian gods are cool.

9. The girl on the cover is really cute.

10. I handed you a glass of $100 wine at some point.

11. The book includes a “cesarian by vampire scene.”

And 4 refutations to your protests:

1. I’m poor – but it’s only $2.99.

2. I don’t have a Kindle – you can read Kindle books on a smartphone, iPad, or the web.

3. I’m too lazy to click twice – bad excuse.

4. I don’t read – do you really want to admit that?

Buy it now!

Then after you do, retweet, share, like, or otherwise spam this post or a link to the book on all of your social media! 🙂

Related posts:

  1. The Darkening Dream for Christmas!
  2. The Darkening Dream – Soliciting Reviews
  3. The Darkening Dream
  4. All Things Change
  5. On Writing: Passes and Plots
By: agavin
Comments (6)
Posted in: Darkening Dream
Tagged as: Amazon Kindle, Andy Gavin, Crash Bandicoot, E-book, IPad, Jak & Daxter, Kindle, Naughty Dog, The Darkening Dream

The Darkening Dream for Christmas!

Dec25

As a surprise move, I’m stealth launching The Darkening Dream — right now! — although only the Kindle edition.

If your stocking has been stuffed with a brand new Kindle, or you already have one, or you read on the Kindle app anywhere (iPad, Android, etc.)…

Buy it now!

Stealthy introductory price of $2.99. Which is certainly a bargain given that it took me two busy years to write and a lot of work to produce the layout, cover, etc.

So, you might ask (after you have purchased your copy — hint hint), what is a stealth launch?

Well, firstly, while the book is totally done and the E-Book version is all typeset, I’ve only put up the Kindle version. In the next week or so I’ll try and get all the other E-Book variants up (B&N, iTunes, etc.). Also, I’m still finishing up the paper editions. These will look great but they take a bit longer because I have to wait for physical proofs (5 days), make changes, then wait again, etc.

But also, I’m bucking the marketing machine that over the last thirty years has moved more and more to “big launch and then go away” mentality. Pretty much all big products: movies, albums, books etc. are marketed this way now. The marketeers build everything up for a big launch, hope for the best, then turn elsewhere a few scant weeks later. Truth is, this serves the marketeers more than it does the customer. Novels don’t age very fast. I enjoyed The Maltese Falcon as much as any book I read this year and it’s 81 years old. And the potential reader who happens to stumble upon my book doesn’t really care if it was published today — or last year. And it will take me time to collect reviews, get the other editions out, build up more web linkages etc. Later, when I have more of that in place I’ll begin the bigger marketing push.

So try it out and see what you think. Afterward, please review the book on Amazon. Reviews matter!

If you’re still not convinced:

Find out more about the book here
or read the sample chapters
or even check out a bit about the characters.

Related posts:

  1. The Darkening Dream – Soliciting Reviews
  2. All Things Change
  3. The Darkening Dream
  4. Christmas is for Dim Sum
  5. The Newbie’s Guide to Publishing
By: agavin
Comments (8)
Posted in: Darkening Dream
Tagged as: Amazon, Amazon Kindle, Android, Andy Gavin, Christmas, E-book, IPad, Kindle, The Darkening Dream

Naughty Dog – 25 Years!

Dec23

www.vg247.com has written a very nice piece on Naughty Dog’s 25th anniversary.

There’s been a few anniversaries in the gaming world this past year: Ubisoft’s 25th, Blizzard’s 20th. But it seems there may have been one that slipped under the radar, which is a big surprise considering this studio is now perhaps one of the most widely-recognised on the triple-A scene.

Naughty Dog is 25 years old this year.

But all things have an origin.

Jamming, man

In 1986, high school students Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin joined forces to found what was then known as Jam Software. The pair had been experimenting with computer programming, tooling around with C++, before combining their talents.

But it was in 1989 that the first seeds of the company as we know it today were sown. Making a new beginning, Jam Software was renamed Naughty Dog, with EA-published RPG Keel The Thief for Apple IIGS, Amiga and PC the first release under the new moniker. Its next effort, Rings of Power for the Genesis or Mega Drive, arrived in 1991 – another RPG published by EA.

And in 1994, Naughty Dog developed a 3DO fighting title for the now defunct Universal Interactive Studios (better known in recent years as Vivendi Games) called Way of the Warrior, with both single-play and multiplayer.

Based on Way of the Warrior’s success, Mark Cerny, then head of Universal Interactive Studios, agreed to back the company’s next games. What came afterwards signaled the beginning of Naughty Dog’s true success.

“Whoa!”

In 1996, with a distribution deal secured, Naughty Dog released a unique platformer called Crash Bandicoot. It was published by the fresh-faced Sony Computer Entertainment, which had released its debut console, the PlayStation, over 1994 and 1995.

Despite a few errors (our first game was actually published in 1985) this is a nice article with lots of good stuff and some fun videos from the different eras. Check out the full text here.

And if you are interested in what I’m doing now, here.

Related posts:

  1. Naughty Dog – A Pedigree Breed
  2. Making Crash Bandicoot – part 1
  3. Making Crash Bandicoot – part 2
  4. New Naughty Dog Franchise – The Last of Us
  5. Crash Bandicoot as a Startup (part 7)
By: agavin
Comments (14)
Posted in: Games
Tagged as: Andy Gavin, Apple IIGS, Crash Bandicoot, Jak & Daxter, Jason Rubin, Mark Cerny, Naughty Dog, Playstation, Video Games, Vivendi Games

New Cover Art is here!

Dec22

The new cover for The Darkening Dream is almost done! To the left is the current mockup (click the double spread below if you want to see a large version). It still needs a few tweaks and real titles (those are NOT final titles), but it’s real close.

As I’ve discussed before, I commissioned a new cover a couple weeks ago from artist Cliff Nielsen, worked through a whole batch of ideas and sketches, shot the model in the studio, and voila!

I’ve basically got the E-Book interiors done too, having learned over the last two days how to generate MOBI and EPUB files from my base HTML. I even caught and reproed a bug in Calibre which a super responsive programmer fixed in an hour. These files took a lot of work but they look really awesome with all the little interior illustrations and very nice, clean, formatting.

My last thing is to get real titles done and then I’m ready to go with the E-Book version by around the New Year! Although, titles and Amazon approval might drag that out by a couple days.

Please write in the comments what you think of the cover.

The old cover -- made by yours truly

To see photos from the cover shoot, click here.
For more info on the new cover artist, click here.
For more information on The Darkening Dream.
For more posts on writing, click here.

Related posts:

  1. The New Cover Concept
  2. Cover Commission
  3. Making of a Cover
  4. Untimed – The Second Cover
  5. Dreaming Along
By: agavin
Comments (6)
Posted in: Darkening Dream
Tagged as: Andy Gavin, Art, Book Cover, Cliff Nielsen, Cover art, Darkening Dream, E-book, The Darkening Dream

Making of a Cover

Dec19

On Sunday we shot the live model for my new cover for The Darkening Dream.


The artist, the amazing Cliff Nielsen, works out of a 1903 former power station! This was totally awesome given the 1913 setting of The Darkening Dream.


The interior is even crazier!


And our studio location where Cliff has set up his stage area and lighting.


The artist behind his camera. Turns out he’s a Canon 5D Mark II shooter as well!

Enter our lovely young protagonist, Sarah Engelmann, played by the talented Dana Melanie.


It just takes a bit of costume and some hair styling to take her back a hundred years! This cover is a bit allegorical. In the book, Sarah is plagued by dreams of violent super natural deaths, and entangled with more than a bit of the violent supernatural during her waking moments.


So for the cover we are trying to capture a bit of a nighttime Sarah caught in the junction between these waking (natural) and sleeping (supernatural) worlds. Just a note for total verisimilitude, Cliff will have to Photoshop off the nail polish (like 2 minutes work) because Western women didn’t wear nail polish between late antiquity and the 1930s! (Although the Chinese did)


Cliff earning his keep.


He shot using the 24-70 2.8L which is a great lens for studio work.


Hair fix.


I thought this shot during break an amusing contrast of period and modern.


Dana was a fantastic sport and even put up with a second — and creepy — crucifixion pose. In the context of The Darkening Dream this isn’t really Jesus type crucifixion, but more Conan on the Tree of Woe or Odin sacrificed and hung from the world tree Yggdrasil. Rest assured, it has certain magical/occult significance in the story.


Cliff had to shoot from high up on a ladder.


During this part of the shoot it was suggested that I draw in a small dark mustache and cultivate a sinister silent movie villain laugh.


Or perhaps it’s the reverse.

All in all, it was a fantastic shoot and we got great images. I can’t wait to see the finished cover in a couple of days.

Read more about The Darkening Dream here.
Or check out the cover design here.
Or read the first two chapters for free.

Related posts:

  1. Cover Commission
  2. The New Cover Concept
  3. The edits are all in!
  4. Untimed – The Second Cover
  5. Making Crash Bandicoot – part 4
By: agavin
Comments (4)
Posted in: Darkening Dream
Tagged as: Andy Gavin, Book Cover, Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Cliff Nielsen, Cosmetics, Cover art, Dana, Nail polish, Photoshop, Sarah, The Darkening Dream

Sample Chapters!

Dec18

With my novel The Darkening Dream steaming along toward release, it’s high time that I offer a taste of the book itself. So to that effect, I’ve put up the first two chapters as a sample.

Check them out here!

I even used my CSS mastery to format them in fairly close approximation of the real book. Although I used times, which is a good looking screen font, instead of Arno Pro like the printed book. But I did include the appropriate interior art that I’ve been developing. This includes chapter heading illustrations and custom separators. Each different point of view has a separate icon, in the case of these two chapters the horn for Sarah (our protagonist) and the tree for Charles. Why, is fairly clear even in these brief chapters.

Please share your opinions on the opening either here or below the sample itself.

Also for those who care about the geekdom, I upgraded the little red buttons I use on various places on the site to support roll over highlighting. This was easy, but figuring out how to flow the pair of them underneath the sidebar book cover took longer than all the other tasks today, including the styling of the sample. HTML/CSS is like that. At first I forgot about display:block and then, for some slightly mysterious reason, I had to use float:left to get them to sit side by side. Go figure.

By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Darkening Dream
Tagged as: Andy Gavin, CSS, Sample Chapters, The Darkening Dream

The New Cover Concept

Dec17

As I’ve discussed before, I commissioned a new cover a couple weeks ago for The Darkening Dream. Well I’ve got a concept sketch now (to the right, click it to embiggen). You can compare it to the old cover at the bottom of the post.

NOTE: This is still just a sketch, not the final new cover and the titles are quick hacks that I whipped onto the concept sketch. Still, I wanted to see what people think.

We shoot the model this weekend. Cliff Nielsen, the artist uses a composite style in which he blends photographic and hand drawn elements. The final result will even better and much much more detailed and specific. This sketch is to get a sense of layout, color, and positioning.

Overall I’m stoked.

The interior is also rocking along and I hope to have the E-Book on the “shelf” (i.e. Amazon etc) right around the New Year.

So write in the comments: What does this cover say to you, would you pick up the book and see what it’s about? What do you think it’s about?

The old cover -- made by yours truly

For more info on the new cover, click here.
For more information on The Darkening Dream.
For more posts on writing, click here.

Related posts:

  1. Cover Commission
  2. Untimed – The Second Cover
  3. The Darkening Dream – Soliciting Reviews
By: agavin
Comments (12)
Posted in: Darkening Dream
Tagged as: Andy Gavin, Cliff Nielsen, Cover art, Darkening Dream, Design, E-book, The Darkening Dream

The Darkening Dream – Soliciting Reviews

Dec14

With my planned launch getting closer I started aggressively soliciting online book bloggers for reviews of my first novel, The Darkening Dream. This is a rather tedious process (spent about 10 hours on it yesterday) of combing through lists of review sites, then checking out their policies (sometimes nicely tabbed at the top, sometimes mysteriously difficult to find) and then constructing review query emails.

Still, it’s amazing how many cool review sites are out there these days, and how many of them cover independently published books.

To that effect, if any of you readers run a legitimate book blog*, I’d be happy to trade you a free advance copy (electronic or paper) for a review. No requirement that it even be a good one 🙂 I like to think the book itself will stand (or flop) on it’s own, and I’m a firm believer in editorial freedom (and my own right to knock or praise things on this site as I see fit). For more information on the book itself, click here, or on the cover to the right. I’ll also post any reviews I find out about on my review page with a link back (unless they are scathing and not in the least bit funny :-)).

If you’re interested in reviewing, contact me here.

On the production front I’m awaiting (hopefully any minute) the final sketch for my new cover. The interior layout is also proceeding apace. I have final artwork back on my interior icons and hope to get an alpha of the complete paper typography any day now. I’ll share some of this with you shortly via other posts and even a planned two chapter sample. I also taught myself today how to generate epub and mobi files for the e-book version, which was a piece of cake.

*NOTE: by “legitimate book blog” I mean any site which regularly reviews books in a reasonably professional manner and has a publicly posted submissions policy.

Related posts:

  1. The Darkening Dream
  2. About Book Reviews
  3. Uncharted 3 Reviews Live
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Darkening Dream
Tagged as: Advance copy, Andy Gavin, Book Bloggers, fiction reviews, Literature, online reviews, Review site, reviews, Reviews and Criticism, The Darkening Dream

Untimed Fourth Draft Finished

Dec12

After nine days of solid crunch I’ve finished the fourth (and hopefully final) draft of my second novel, Untimed (read more about it here). This involved reading the book three whole times in one week. Ug! But the book is essentially done done! I have just a few little tweaks remaining and some work to do on promotional/pitch materials and I’ll need to figure out how to sell it. This book really kicks ass. It clocks in at 75,000 words (just 300 pages) but a tremendous amount happens. Plus the voice is great and (I hope) hooks from the first line.

Now I really have to start gearing back into the production on my first novel, The Darkening Dream, and get that out the door. And start thinking about a new book for January. Woah!

To find out more about my writing, click here.

Related posts:

  1. Untimed – The Last Draft?
  2. On Writing: Yet Another Draft
  3. Untimed – Two Novels, Check!
  4. Untimed – Two Novels, Two Drafts!
  5. Weekend Draft
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Untimed
Tagged as: Andy Gavin, drafts, Fiction, Line Editing, Novel, Untimed, Writing

First Pro Review

Dec10

The Darkening Dream just received it’s first pro review, from Kirkus Reviews.

Read it here on the new review page. Highlights include:

 “A vampire novel with actual bite” and “wonderfully twisted sense of humor”

In other writing news, I’m through all the heavy lifting with regard to the Untimed line edits and hope to be done in a day or two! Woot! The book has shrunk 6,000+ words down to 75,000 without loosing any scenes.

Related posts:

  1. Video Game Page & Book Status
  2. The edits are all in!
  3. Villetta Update
  4. Revision Slog – Novel as Algorithm
  5. Website Upgrades Coming
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Darkening Dream
Tagged as: Andy Gavin, Indie Reviews, Kirkus review, Kirkus Reviews, The Darkening Dream, Untimed, Vampire, vampires
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