Tag: Revisions Page 1 of 3

Craobh Update for Kindle Users

On August 16, 2016

I want to let everyone know that the Kindle version of Craobh was missing an essential scene at the start of the last chapter. My apologies, I somehow missed adding the scene to the chapter when I compiled the novel for the Kindle using Scrivener.

All other formats are correct (i.e. CreateSpace, Kobo, and Smashwords).

I contacted Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing and they agreed that the omission was significant enough that it warranted them sending an email to those who purchased it. You should see an email soon. Here’s what they said to me in an email:

“I would like to let you know that our Technical Team reviewed the changes to your book [Craobh], and they consider the content updates to be major quality corrections.

We’ve sent an e-mail to customers who own the book to notify them of the update. These customers can download the update through their “Manage Your Content and Devices” page. At this time, customers who download eBooks through Kindle Unlimited don’t receive updated content. Our technical team is working on improving this process.”

I sincerely apologize for the error. It was entirely my fault. The good news: the last chapter should make better sense now!

Ciao!

Donald D. Allan

Craobh: First Revision Completed

By donald

On April 17, 2016

In Craobh Volume Two, Editing, The Art of Writing, The New Druids Series

Craobh: A New Druids Series, Volume Two

The first revision of Craobh is completed. I opted to go for a straight grammar and typo revision for this first pass. I removed the poorly chosen words, the “that” word, the -ly adverbs – all the usual bad writing habit stuff. I’ve stayed at 137K words. That’s about 17K words more than Duilleog.

I’m really pleased with this second novel. I learned so much writing Duilleog and it is reflected in this second volume. Some loose ends are tied up. More back story added. Some cool fights and magic! What more could you want?

Oh, you want the actual book in your hand? Well, good news on that front. I have found a professional editor who has agreed to help me out. I should have the novel back by mid-May. I make the necessary changes and I should be good for a May 31st, 2016 release date.

Fingers crossed folks!

Global Ebook Awards 2016 and Duilleog Second Edition

By donald

On February 4, 2016

In Duilleog Volume One

Duilleog cover with Global Ebook Award Nominee badge.

Awards Nomination

Duilleog is now nominated for the Dan Poynter’s Global EBook Awards for 2016 in the category Fantasy/Other World Fiction. Winners will be announced in August 2016. Until then I get bragging rights. Not sure what else to say other than Amazon, Smashwords and Kobo have all been updated to reflect the nomination. The updated book cover looks like the media added to this post. Its nice – but not yet a bronze, silver or gold badge. And yes, I need stinking badges! Or if you prefer the Blazin’ Saddles version. Or my favourite version from the movie UHF. But I digress.

Duilleog, A New Druids Series novel, Volume One

Good News! Everyone who purchased Duilleog Edition One from Amazon will soon be pushed the Second Edition! I had to work with Amazon on this. It was my first time and it was rather simple. Big shout out AGAIN to Steve Chase for his notes he drafted that led to Edition Two. I simply handed those notes into Amazon and they accepted that as evidence of the changes. Amazon is not a bad company at all and they protect buyers and sellers. It would be nothing for someone to scam Amazon by selling something and then pushing out new versions all under the auspices of a new edition. So I had to show where the changes were. Amazon breaks it down as follows:

Corrections to distracting errors. If we find only minor corrections, we won’t notify customers by e-mail, but we’ll activate their ability to update the content through the “Manage Your Content and Devices” page on Amazon.com.
Corrections to destructive or critical errors. If we find major corrections, we’ll alert the customers who already own your book via email. These customers have the option to use the “Manage Your Content and Devices” page on Amazon.com to receive your book updates.
Corrections to critical errors needed. If we find more major corrections are needed, we will temporarily remove your book from sale. We’ll notify you of the issues we found so you can fix them. Once the improvements are made, just let us know and we’ll email customers just like we do for major corrections.

I should know in seven days or less which of the above corrections categories they select and let everyone know here. It should be #2 because I moved the Craobh excerpt into Duilleog as an Epilogue. That was “destructive”. heh.

For those that bought the trade paperback version: I will put the Epilogue up here for you to read once I release Craobh.

Beta Readers Wanted

By donald

On February 4, 2016

In Craobh Volume Two, Editing, The Art of Writing, The New Druids Series

Craobh: A New Druids Series, Volume Two – Beta Readers Wanted!

Beta Readers Make Everything Pretty!

I have posted a request for Beta Readers on Goodreads for my second novel in the New Druids series, Craobh. This will be a first for me but something I feel needs to be done to take my writing to the next step. My first novel, Duilleog, was written solo, without anything more than a proofreader (who did a terrible job as it turned out). For Craobh, I want better feedback before I go to print, but I can’t pay for a freelance editor. And I can’t pay for beta readers. I can only hope that someone out there simply wants to be the first to read my next novel and is happy to jump on board and help. I am offering a free copy of my first novel Duilleog to any takers. If you are interested then please send me an email at donalddallan@gmail.com and I will get back to you soonest. First come first served but I reserve the right to be selective!

By selective I mean I need to get the right vibe from the person and sense a genuine interest in being one of the first to read my material. It’s asking a lot – but my options are limited. So send me emails and make a request! This is work but I can promise this: I will acknowledge you by name in the acknowledgements section of the novel! <— that’s a genuine carrot right there!

Craobh is still on track for a Spring 2016 release. I want the revised draft done by end-March. Then fine tuning and to print by end-May. Word count is now at 75K but I have done some minor editing on Part Three. I’ve written a couple of sections that perhaps I shouldn’t keep. It’s hard to give up the text. One I should move to the next novel – the other I should perhaps delete. Decision, decision.