Book Done, Search Has Begun

Sorry for the dearth of recent posts… the good news, the manuscript for Dark Matters: The Chosen is complete at 91,000 words and 40 chapters. I’m very happy with the first draft. Or more accurately, the 128th draft – a few revisions were done over the summer. 🙂

Over the past few months, I’ve given portions of the book to people I know that are “in the business” – professional editors, a few publishers, and even one NY Times best-selling author. Based on their feedback (not all of it glowing, believe me), I’ve decided to spend several months pursuing the traditional publisher route. This means finding an agent to represent the book – a daunting task for a first-time fiction author (the first agent I approached says he received 5,000+ requests in 2012 and signed just 5 new clients). But I’m fortunate to have the time and resources to go down this path, and if it doesn’t pan out, I can still choose to self-publish next year. So that’s the plan.

One other bit of good news, I’ve hired someone to help with the search and to do PR for me and the book – she is an amazing resource for on-line research, publisher/agent information, and general marketing and promotion. In fact, she’s already gotten me invited to the sold-out 2014 World Science Fiction/Fantasy Convention in Washington DC. So look for us in DC in November. Thanks Jodi! I have to admit, to see my name listed just a few down from Stephen R. Donaldson and the others is pretty cool!

http://worldfantasy2014.org/members.php

So stay tuned for more in the coming months. With the book (mostly…) complete, I should have more time to keep everyone in the loop. Or email me to say hello!