Where To Go From Here

Good news!  The last possible publication I sent one of my short stories to has officially rejected me.  The reason why this is cause for celebration is because I am now knee deep in revisions that are leading toward the development of the 'Ignorance Is' project into a book. And, as always, I have found a few new things along the way to researching e-publication marketing in preparation for the change from short story to novel.  I will detail these over the next few blogs; but I wish to share two now.

One of such things is the standard for writing length for the Hugo Awards (see here).  It seems that I only need a mere 40,000 words for the work to be considered a novel in my genre.  No, I am not considering aiming for a Hugo.  At this point, I am simply trying to expand the work so that it fits the category of novel, thus enabling a credible e-publication on Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP).  Still, a pipe dream has a tendency to smoke in all directions.

Another thing I have learned is about the craft of story writing.  The devices employed in a short are much different that those perhaps used in a longer work.  For the short, economy if key.  However, in a novel, I am free to give more flavor and texture.  I do not find myself asking "does this directly relate back to my protagonist on the ledge of a building?"  It doesn't have to.  Instead, I can dabble in the emotions of the character, giving her more depth and ennui.  I can stir the back story, motivating the conflict.  I can even add extraneous bits so that my reader doesn't think I am taking them for granted.

So, stay tuned.  I have a story to tell.  And I have just discovered I need more than 7,500 words to properly tell it.

Version 2 of the cover.  Note for those making their own cover: letters must be much more conspicuous than this.