The bitch of not having a subscriptions tab: keeping track of threads you've posted in.

The joy of remembering to check this thread and finding a few months of new reading: priceless.


I ain't quittin you!

--greyguy/Designtated/PFunnk/2t2Crash--short check in, much thanks, hard copies will exist, understand
all concerns, BUT I am fiddling with a 153,000 word text now, same length "Salem's Lot"--and will NOT
be dropping this/otherbooks/ the long game here for any reason short of asteroid hit.

--2T2 much thanks and good to see you again, means a lot.

GENERAL NOTE: Update soon, fiddling with some real life nonsense, Amazon options, normal BS, hopefully everyone can tell from updates we are
right down in the end zone. Yes, book will be on Amazon. Yes, there will
eventually be paper copies. LIKELY, I will have to find some way to
streamline/manufacture "custom" "Books" because Amazon "Createspace" is
all kinds of FFF.

DCB - forgive me if this is an overstep, but have you thought about contacting the author of "Lights Out?"  He is a member here and if I remember correctly, he started a publishing company or found funding to deal with some of the BS you are going through.   Might be worth exploring for the dead tree option.

I'm really sorry to hear Amazon is giving you (and others, no doubt) such headaches, DCB.

The big boys don't get big by accident, it would seem.

Please, do what's right for you, bro. We'll go where you do for this magnificent work.

Loved the new additions, by the way.

--mnmiv, no not remotely out of line, looking at broad field of information--there is a 'quick easy' way to do
this: 100 dollar pro cover/looks like every other "prepper" cover--or "work in progress cover" for now, hire
real artist later--normal kindle/e-book formatting--not good for this because of length/title pages/inserts
and page structure--working on formatting now--got a genius formatter/proofer but she is a very high
in demand fancy pants software developer--just normal stuff/delays now, fitted in with 'real life."==
Big issue with cover, Amazon has limits on "information on the cover"--the fuckitude is endless--the
fact that this is 150,000 words causes all kinds of problems--needs to be 'set up' in mind of new
readers as two 'movements/passages/"books"' -- although everything is resolved in book two,
this affects title, title affects genre, genre affects keywords, Amazon has all kinds of rules
about "keywords/genre/title/serial/not serial" and etc.  Fun.

--Former11B much thanks, slow steady progress, and yes have learned much much more than I want
to know about Amazon and etc.--fits perfectly with "owners' and "renters'--no accident that J.Bozo
is a FFFing globalist scum.  No other choice at this time, essence of monopoly,--I would cheerfully take a huge
hit financially if I actually saw any other option to use.  At this time, I don't.  If against all odds I
can brand Gehr Waffen/etc. sufficiently to use no intermediary, I will.  An abstract goal at this time.
Appreciate patience, assume everyone can see we are in the endgame.

The next update will "park" Sylvia for a very long time, and will be the end of her for this particular
book(s).  All that remains is The Grand Finale: Pop Gehr describes the universe we live in, and
the universe he made, and cuts some brutal deals, then a trip to the Gehr Library, and one
last view of future problems.  All gigantic spoiler/reveals. About three "passages"/reveals.

Dude. I may be biased, but I think the cover I designed is far from the usual doomsday fiction cover-art.

Quite the contrary. I think it'll catch they eye of those who're otherwise not interested in such topics. Of course, as we say here: YMMV.

Use it or not, it's yours! Just give me a mention in the intro or something! LOL

What incredible timing.  I couldn't remember his screen name either but someone just bumped his short-story about a family forced to bug-out to the top of this forum.  (Link purposefully left out)

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE and comments--

--Former11B, understood on cover, very complicated issue(s)--genre, recognition within genre,ability, size, size of letters, Amazon restrictions on text,
length of book, also understand this cover will almost certainly 'cycle' through some/many options--many many issues here--

--greyguy much appreciated, time short, life stuff not just book stuff--a clear week would be well used, no such week exists--

------TEXT REMOVED .RE EPUB TOS ETC.-------------

How fitting.

Killing Sylvia off quickly would have been too good for her.

Great update!!

Almost too good for that traitorous bitch, but okay. I can live with it!

That's a fitting end.
Rather diabolical.

Good update. Very fitting for Sylvia.

--Ok, cover image elements loaded.  I think.  See below.

GENERAL NOTE: Seems endless, yes?  The tortoise and the hare, shaving millimeters.  Very close now.
See cover variation below...

--DFarm--yes the Librarians/Men on the Hill are in a long long game.  Generations.  Sylvia might be useful
someday.  In the meantime....practice.

--Former11B, yes she got off 'easy' but 'not so easy.'  Keep your cover ideas current and flexible.
This story will probably see many covers before one gets 'branded.'

--PFfunk--diabolical....would you like more?  Or less?  Very interested your answer.
Anything is possible.  Hopefully many books to come.

--coontrapper, the traffic on these threads confounds.  I think there might be some pinch hitting,
switch batting.  I like and need both boards.  This one very slow, the other, not slow at all.
Interdasting.

GENERAL NOTE: ON THIS COVER--the minds here, most patiently waiting for now three years, know
vastly more about this story, symbols, characters, than probably any future readers ever will.  So
they might quite reasonably expect a cover as refined as their knowledge.  But a cover has ONE PURPOSE--
not to invite the reader, but TO MAKE SURE THEY DO NOT REJECT/WALK AWAY/GO SOMEWHERE ELSE.
Very tricky, because this story is significantly different/longer/requires more attention than most in the genre.
So, a first try at getting the NEW READER/POTENTIAL READER....to keep looking.  Read a review.  Read the
sample.  And so on.  No answers here, certainly not yet--only practice.  And then more practice.  Key words:
Post-apocalyptic, survival, revenge--title, new development--there are no/very few/so few as to be 'not
familiar' 600 page/150,000 word books in this genre--the book divides perfectly into book 1, and 2, the first
setting up pretty much everything in book 2, this "sets in the mind" that this book is actually the equivalent
of two 300 page books, which it is, but....who knows?  We will find out soon.

Attached File

Damn man. Well done. 

Sweet progress, he'll yeah. Waiting for the day DC

--DesignatedM, thanks, long long haul--Grand Complication stories very very tricky--
not 'seeing' the story, that takes a minute--but 'arranging' story elements.  But.
We're almost there.  As long as "Salem's Lot."  No shit.

--zoe17, elaborate if you have the opportunity--the story I know you know, by now.
The cover will evolve--but that is some of/the first/elements and so on.

Ok, back to work--humorous--ok, not really--I can still open the file and find
'errors'/fixes/even typos after THREE FFFFING YEARS.  Just day-um.

One last great push on the boulder!

Thanks for letting us know how things are going.

I just deleted 4 paragraphs of my thoughts of the cover because I get the feeling that you know exactly how I feel about it.

I don't envy the job that you have trying to package this.  I wish you the best of luck, both in marketing this and in starting your career as a writer.

I'm waiting semi-patiently to buy this book(s)

--StimpsonJ yeah the boulder is pushing back.  Just....wow.  StJ is it time for some blade progress pics?

--DFarm--don't delete nothing/nada--the St.George derivative 'covers'/emblems/designs will have a place.
A Gehr/Librarian book would be nothing but the classics--the precise opposite of commerce.  Keep your
notes.  If all goes well they will be needed someday.

Very, very good DCB!  I like what you have done here with Sylvia!  A taste (maybe more) of her own medicine.  The dregs of the cup she prepared for Others / Us.  If only the rest of the world were so Just!  The "Commerce Cover" is not bad and would likely work for the purpose of enticing some readers inside for a look.  I would have been intrigued by it when I was in the position of the readers you hope to attract (i.e. ignorant of just how good / necessary the story inside is).

Keep on keeping on DCB!  Shoulder back to the boulder, a couple of more good heaves and it will gain its own momentum.

Wow! I am very late to this thread, stumbled into it by accident, and now have 3 years worth of thread and your story in the making to catch up on...it's a shame about all the work I won't be getting done the next few days!

Just thought I'd let you know you've picked up a new reader, one who is hooked but still only on page 4. I did pop ahead to the two last pages here, and skimming through your posts talking about the issues with Amazon is also extremely interesting (although, I'm sure, really frustrating from your end of trying to navigate their nonsense); I had no idea what the Kindle stuff looked like behind the scenes for a writer. So, subbed for more backstory on that aspect as well as enjoying the heck out of real story.

When I do any knife work, I will post.  Not gonna happen this week.

I like the cover. Its.... edgy.


--PFfunk--diabolical....would you like more?  Or less?  Very interested your answer.
Anything is possible.  Hopefully many books to come.

The diabolical conclusion is perfect. So, yes. The more the better. They're playing the long game. The ending matches the pace of the story exceedingly well.

Keep on.

Excellent work.  I like the cover.  I would love a printed edition to read over and over, to high light and make notes on.

I'm not a big fan of the font on the cover. To me it looks almost comic-bookish. It seems like I'm in the minority on that and it's not like it will keep me from purchasing it or anything.  I do like the 1911 in the gloved hand...

Good luck getting it put together, I'm sure it isn't an easy process.

DCB, any news?

TriumphRider

GENERAL NOTE: very very close.  Do not want to post a date yet, small things add days/two/three--just found out 'old format'
changed the 'end of lines' on sentences/paragraphs, some here might have noticed that as much as possible, the page/sentences
are often 'scaled'--in other words, every sentence on a one sentence line has to 'fit' a word count/border--this is being fixed now.
Reformatting on 'new kindle' variation of old/Injured Reserves.
A visual conceit, I admit, but because this story requires considerable information density--some information must be 'set off'
on individual lines, and so on.  But getting...very very close.

----GreenGiant--much thanks, sorry for delay, and etc., but almost done.  Yes The Librarians calculate their retribution very carefully.
Lots...of experience.  And you never know when even a rusty tool might be of service, someday.  On the cover, yep, exactly, no
way to compress this story very well--many many possible covers, this will be just the first, I think.

--missme, very good to see you, if you see this, and you are still far back in the story/thread I RECOMMEND YOU READ
AND FINISH HERE AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.  The entire story will be published soon.  About 99 percent will appear here.
But...not forever.  On Amazon, that would be a subject so huge--hm, well, if all goes well there will be subjects for a 'blog'--and
Amazon would be one, far more than specific to writers/writing--Amazon is a window into the future, and a very unpleasant future.

--StimpsonJ, look forward to escaping into a St knife video as soon as possible, when possible.

--PF, thank you on several domains.  Cover is 'good enough' with some mods, working on another 'most likely' cover
very very soon.  Friday at the latest.  Long game--exactly.  Generations.

--KOW, there will be printed editions if I have to print them myself, and mail them.  It could take awhile, but short of
death, yes.  This whole book/design/theory/evolution was built around idea of eventual real books, and remembering
and re-visiting all the other old 'real' books without which we would not have a country and etc.

--greyguy no harm no foul as in zero on the cover.  It is a compromise, subject to more compromises, and modification.
If I do 'real well' and the story becomes known for the story, the eventual cover is one we all know: St. George and
his serpent, perhaps cut into silver.  Black, and silver.  Really, the cover should have no text at all.  Just the coin.
One can dream.

--TriumpRider, much thanks the prompt--I lose a day, then days, and oh yeah, that's a coupla weeks--think I'm making
progress--reason I hesitate to post a date.  Just...real close, TR.  Almost there.

--------TEXT REMOVED .RE EPUB TOS ETC.----------

I should get something done this weekend...at least a little grinding.  Grinding is mostly a 'feel' thing, but there are some common mistakes worth covering in a video, so it is a video I have needed to make.  Most Musso blades I have seen have an interesting solution to the plunge cut.  It looks like an after-effect of the forging out of the blade side of the stock.  So to me it appears the original designer had stock that was not as wide as the blade he wanted to make (very common, and the most efficient solution) so he heated the stock, bent it over to the blade side, pointed it, and then forged out the blade side to get the desired width.  In doing so the blade form got...well...ugly at the blade side of the ricasso, the choil if you will.  So to make it 'purty' he simply ground the swollen section round in profile and then, and this is the clever part, took his plunge cut across the ricasso at an angle to include the choil area.  It's simple, and solves all the problems the forging caused in that area, and looks good.




...sigh...

Another fool who will end up staring at a knife and wondering "What's with the hammer?" before it is over...before he is done.  It is never 'over'.




This would be simpler than the previous stuff...do you have an actual coin with the image you want?

Awesome stuff DCB. I'm looking forward to this going to print.
Are there plans in the works for autographed hard copies?

Video



And a hosed up vid with some dupe footage...sorry...

GENERAL NOTE: very very very close.  SEE COVER EVOLUTION BELOW.  Spent weekend on cover.  Have
tech wizard SO with fancy tech tools.  I do not know how to use those tools--many hours experimenting.
Recall that purpose of cover IS ONLY TO 1. Stop the eye.  2. NOT OFFEND/SEND AWAY--In other words, REASSURE--
Not look completely amateurish/homemade/etc.  2.  Only then, invite further examination--3. Get NEW READER
to check reviews/sample/etc.  There are many many versions of this cover.  I will probably cycle through quite
a few over time.  See cover below--

--StimpsonJ--"took his plunge cut across the ricasso at an angle to include the choil area"--probably beyond scope/scale
of this thread but I would love to watch/see/understand terms used here.  Gonna have to make a knife someday...even
if it won't cut butter.  Just awesome.  COIN--no actual coin yet, but many drawings/sketches.  Have a number of sterling
silver 'blanks' bullion coins to work on at some point.  I will definitely be making Gehr ID coins/library cards at some
point. 

--2T2Crash--there will definitely be hard copies at some point.  Given schedule/uncertainty/life/history I am leery of saying
when ( three years????  This took three years?????  Yes.  It did. ) But my intention has always been to have hard copies,
some method/mechanism to sell/send, and if desired, signed and even annotated.  The first 'hard copies' will be hand made
'relic' books as suggested long ago, for Piddler, and one other person here who went above and beyond, and likely more.
This will be a time issue, obv.  The same process that has me fiddling paragraphs and commas could completely submerge
in making relic/leather/wood/silver/screwed and glued "books."  And the coins.

--StimpsonJ the tapered tang is maximum cool.  This blade looks much slimmer/livelier/more agile than I had imagined.
Do you have any kind of bone/antler you can split/screw/plug for a handle?  Possible to hammer/pierce/forge an iron/steel
guard?  I can't wait to see this blade cut something.

NEW COVER EVOLUTION:

Attached File

It is definitely weighted like a chopper at the moment, but there is some more weight to be lost off the blade yet.

I have some antler I may try to use, if that fails then the imitation ivory will probably get the nod.

Steel hardware...no problem.



I like that better, the hand/gun in particular.  Still not my favorite font though.

--StimpsonJ--fine chopper.  Antler/iron guard max cool.  Font--agreed--custom font very
very difficult.  I made that font.  Came out way too cartoonish.  Working on other fonts
this weekend.  But will probably start with this cover.  Because....soon.

Best cover this variation would be hand/gun and NO TEXT AT ALL.  But not possible/allowed.

Cartoonish is a good descriptor. I like the glove and 1911 though. 

That is my take on it too. In my head I think of the title in a font that looks like it came from a classic typewriter. Maybe you could even put in a consistent flaw or two on specific letters like some of the old ones had? A letter that is slightly lower or higher than the others or uneven ink application...

All that I know is that you could publish it bearing a pink cover with pictures of bunny rabbits farting out rainbows and I'll still buy a copy...

I agree that the glove and 1911 are spot on.  The font is a bit odd looking but I like parts of it.  I kinda dig the slight "Devil Tail" on the S character.  Maybe unintentional / subconscious but shows the Good / Bad struggle in us all.  Sometimes bad things happen in order for good to come of it.  Maybe digging too deep, but with this story (and the careful intentionality of the author), I doubt it!  

Keep it up!  Can't wait for the Cover Buffer to fall silent and hear the Auto-Gutenberg fire up!

ETA:  Errmm, greyguy I'm not sure the Rainbow Farting Pink Bunny Rabbit cover would work for everyone, but to each his own!  (I would still buy, but have to wrap it with some kind of dust jacket since Pink Bunny covers are not really present in my modest library).

Bunnies can be frightening

I like the new art a lot!  The font is a little comic book-ish, but it's eye catching.

I'd definitely give it a closer look after seeing that cover, even not knowing what I know about the story.

Good work, and keep it up!  I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel!

The cover:

It looks like an x-ray. IF I knew nothing of the story I'd wonder why there's an x-ray of a hand holding a gun. That would pique my interest.

If you made the jacket sleeve more detailed/realistic, it wouldn't look so much like a TSA bodyscan picture.

The x-ray look isn't a bad thing. I like it, but I'd be expecting some kind of sci-fi element with that cover.

That's just me.

The font is comic book-ish. I like it. I figured that's what you were going for.

Keep on.

GENERAL NOTE: shaving close.  How close: last Wednesday I considered posting mega last spoiler
sequence, then cover, then publish.  The cover is the hold up at this time.  Everyone is correct on
the font.  It is too cartoonish, needs to be fixed.  Also have another 'effect' suggestive of smoke/fire/nuke
for the background.  Might try and resolve to skeleton glove a bit.

GENERAL NOTE: so....real close.  In the 3-5 days prior to publication there will be 2-4 updates,
last spoilers.  One spoiler only will not be see here: "The Devil's Hand"--then the last cover.
Visibility of story here will be 'reduced' to satisfy Amazon/other TOS.

Just day-um.  I am looking at 'the book' every day. It is....big.

Post publication I am going to kick back, stare at the sky....for a minute or two.
Then I am going to make Piddler's relic book, and maybe a few more relic
books.

--StimpsonJ that will be a pretty fine stabber for a chopper.  Antler...crossed fingers.
Steel hardware--awesome.  Question: what is technique used on original Puma
White Hunter knives, used to have one, copper/brass rivets of some kind in handle--
very beautiful, oxidizes beautifully, and never came loose.  Saw a couple of those knives
used pretty hard, they are too light for the 'chopping' implied by shape, but good steel
and excellent slicers/shavers.

--StimpsonJ, yeah the font is bugging the shit out of me now.  And I loved it.  For like...
a day.

--Designated, yes double FFing yes on cartooooonish.  Camp horror.  Rocky horror picture show.

--greyguy no pink bunnies but thank you.  Typewriter/classic font is my next project.  Weekend.
Must fix font.

--GreenGiant--'devil's tail'--yes that is the direction 'vibe' I was aiming at, but over/undershot.  Creepy.
Inside the mind of Tim Bassinger, and Sylvia.  Insect minds, lizard minds, devil minds.  Good call
GreenG.  Just too damned hard to pull off. I am not a photoshop person, just have access to the
tools.  Had a 'pro' looking over my shoulder and giggling.  But she can't do it--doesn't know the effects
vibe feeling etc. that I want.  She will be able to zap through about a thousand fonts this weekend though.
I should post her picture here.  No....I shouldn't.  Everybody would forget the book.  Really.
CoverBuffer....exactly.

--StimpsonJ I went and looked at the bunny.  Holy Sht.  Creepy bunny.  And our tech world--
that used to be the newest and the bestest.  Wow.

--DFarm--cartoonish but 'eye-catching' has been my residual justification.  First rule: make people
stop and look.  If I scratch out this weekend, could still use this cover, for a while.  But I think after
one year there might have been ten covers.  Until I get one that really works.  If possible.

Ok, yes there is light at the end of the tunnel, and it is not a train.

Good to see everybody.

Back to work.

DCB

I had to look up an image, but it appears to be a brass washer captured under a brass rod that is pressed/peened to tighten against the washer and thus the handle material.  Looks very effective, if a bit ugly IMO.  The holes would be uncomfortable I would think.  Advantage is if the scales ever did loosen up, just smashticate the brass rod a bit more to fix.  Of course this can also be done for any handle with through rods as long as you don't get so heavy-handed you expand the rod end enough to split the handle material, assuming it will crack.  I have seen numerous examples of really old knives with stag scales where this happened.

Wow! Been gone awhile and just caught up....poor Sylvia

Like the cover and wondering, if just maybe, it should be labeled books 1&2 rather than 1-2.  'Cause some cynical old fart such as myself might think it's a 1 of 2...just a thought!

Here, this ought to get DC stirred up...



First stab at a concept the knife/knives might get.

Is that going to be on the handle slab/scales?  That will be sweet!

The debate rages on in my head.  

I only just tonight ever tried scrimshaw.

There is a variant of this idea I started with, but I need to draw it several times to see if I can make it work where I think it would be cool on the knife.

That material is the simulated ivory...I was really just checking to see if it would scrimshaw well and if the concept worked.

I really enjoy watching the knife project. A skill I would one day like to pick up.

Hmm, nothing from DCB in more than 10 days...

Guess this is now a knife making thread!

I need to get off my butt and start hammering, but for now I'm honing my skills virtually.  Been watching videos from Walter Sorrels https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkLxJCuQZ4hStBfs8TCnT9Q
and lately Alec Steele https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWizIdwZdmr43zfxlCktmNw

It would be nice to have some of the tools/equipment these guys have, but I need to get out there and get to work with what I do have.

TriumphRider

GENERAL NOTE: I'm digging the knife making thread!

GENERAL NOTE: much thanks patience, time short, see cover images--these are trials, absent text, can only use one, there are....many. Very
difficult, this cover thing.

GENERAL NOTE: REMINDER--VERY IMPORTANT--

------------------BEFORE PUBLICATION------------

1. I will post a 'very rapid' series of updates, up to 99.5 percent entire story/book.

2. Those updates will not stay up for 'very long.'

3. Before publication the story as posted here will be/must be 'adjusted' in length to satisfy AMZ/other TOS. Attached File


4. Before publication I have to 'test' text/cover on AMZ/kindle
interface. Because of formatting/titling/length/chapter headings/and
etc. this book does not 'fit' in some respects--this will require some
adjustments.

5. Other relevant issues will appear here shortly.

6. Getting very very close. Understand close to everyone here is
days/maybe soon, hours. For me 'close' is a percentage of....three
years.
But there is very little left to do, although some of that is difficult. VERY CLOSE.

7. See cover mock-ups/backgrounds. Some version of these are in the running. Working on cover tonight.

Attached File

--StimpsonJ the knife art is awesome.  "Smashticate" brass rod...awesome!

--Piddler on 1 and 2--on such decisions are many hours lost/spent/charred to a crisp.
Have spent....a lot of time trying to come up with 1/Graphic and 2/informational
solution.  Your point is well taken.  "Book 1 and Book 2" is best.  Tons of text
for cover though, and cover already 'crowded'--

--StimpsonJ the claw is creepy as FFF.  And the font--now I want to save
the cartoon font.  Ahhhhhhhh....

--DFARM--handle/slab/scales--hopefully, and see StimpsonJ below--

--StimpsonJ "the debate rages"--yep in 'art' realm in fixed media, when a 'final'
form must be determined, and all other options discarded....much pain!

--coontrapper--I bet everyone here regularly imagines pounding/shaping/designing
the perfect knife/tool.  Cutting instruments have to have been the first tool.
Scrapers date back over 2 million years.  Really fine hand-axes at least a
million.  The late iterations of all stone tools are vastly more 'artful' than
utility required.  Our ancestors were plotting the perfect edge, hundreds
of thousands of years ago.

--TriumpRider I have a friend who has been collecting anvils for over 40 years.
He said many years ago I could have pretty much any one, less a few with
fancy dates/names/age, that I was willing to move.  No place to put it.
Someday, maybe.

Ok back to work on cover today, Monday, Tuesday.

DCB

I love that word.

But does it meet the expectation of the image of the dragon dragging itself onto the spear?

Not pain so much as the annoyance of watching all other options moving forward collapse into a single option...good or bad.

So true.  If a paleo man fell through a wormhole, he'd freak of course, but on his first trip to Cabela's he'd stare in awe at the blades, arrows, and fish-hooks.  So many!


Also, this image wins!
Attached File