Native Moments is with the final editor. This is the stage I’ve been dreading. This means it is over. All the hard work I’ve put into this leads up to this moment. No more changes. My worst fear is opening the book for the first time and seeing a mistake. Or if I ever decide to read it again, thinking I should’ve had a different ending. … Continue reading Final Edits
I finished the 150 pages of edit suggestions from editor #1. I agreed with about 99% of them. Amazing what I missed. I thought I knew every word of that manuscript. I left out words, misspelled words, misused words and had some jumbled sentences that she helped me clarify. On top of her suggestions, I had some really great and brutally honest feedback from a respected … Continue reading First Round of Edits are Finished.
I’ve been doing a lot of starting and stopping when it comes to reading lately. Can’t seem to get fully invested into a book the last few weeks. A buddy of mine has been telling for a while now that I must read Stoner (New York Review Books Classics) by John Williams. It arrived in the mail yesterday. I skipped the introduction because I felt it … Continue reading Stoner, Preorder Contest and The End
You ever get stuck reading the Art of Fiction? Sometimes, I can’t enough. Even if I’ve read them before. Here is one I read today. John Gardner’s #73 from 1979. Enjoy. INTERVIEWER You have been called a “philosophical novelist.” What do you think of the label? GARDNER I’m not sure that being a philosophical novelist is better than being some other kind, but I guess … Continue reading Paris Review Interview with John Gardner
At some point, the satisfaction I felt from reading a well written story crossed over to wanting to be able to write a well written story. I wanted to learn the craft of storytelling to see if I could tell a compelling story, one that stuck with the readers after they finished it. I wrote a story that I thought would be fun to read. … Continue reading Overcoming self doubt and criticism
It’s a good feeling to see Native Moments rise in the ranks with the presale orders. Yesterday it climbed to #17 in the surfing category. Today is back down to #61. But it is staying at #2 so far on the Hottest New Releases list. Thank you to all who have already placed orders. Can’t wait until you actually get to read it. Eight months … Continue reading Amazon Rankings, BEA and Writing a Synopsis
Just spent way too much time procrastinating by redesigning the blog, but I think it looks cleaner and hopefully easier for everyone to navigate. Also, a friendly reminder that Native Moments is now listed at #10 on the Good Reads Anticipated Books for 2016. With a few more votes it may be able to break the Top 5. Continue reading New Look
Someone on Good Reads created a list of the most anticipated literary fiction books of 2016 and Native Moments has been included. If you have a Good Reads account please follow this link and give Native Moments a vote. I promise I’ll ease up on the self-centered posts in the future, but I’m learning all these new websites that I apparently need to be active on. Up until about … Continue reading List of Anticipated Books for 2016
Choosing the right photo for the book cover is much harder than I anticipated. This will be people’s first impression of my work. As a debut novel, I feel as if I can’t make any mistakes. This is what will start building my readership. Before, writing was purely a selfish act. Now, as a soon to be published writer, it is no longer about what … Continue reading Book Covers
A couple of posts ago, I said, “Tuesday is the day.” That Tuesday was yesterday. A publisher had contacted me and said he was meeting with his partners to discuss my novel, Native Moments. I didn’t hear from him yesterday and thought, I guess no news is bad news. That’s how it works in publishing. However, this morning, I got a call. The publisher said they … Continue reading Update from the Publisher’s Meeting
Nic Schuck 