The Journey Begins! š
F&F Revision Diary - Entry #1 (FREE TO READ)
Welcome, one and all, to the Freelance & Fishmaids Revision Diary!
For the next several months, Iāll be turning my Substack serial into a published novelā¦and I would love to bring you along with me!
Learn more about Freelance & Fishmaids here!
Revision Diary posts are intended to be more casual and intimate than my usual, with an honest look behind the curtain as I put together my first-ever novel. The goal is not to overwhelm anyoneās inbox with more stuff (no one needs more stuff), but simply to offer milestones along the path to publication, keep me on task, and celebrate forward momentum together!
(Also, in this age of increasing AI use in the publishing world, I believe more than ever that itās important to celebrate human work and process with all its messy flaws and foibles. Thereās beauty in the effort and true triumph in the finished product.)
Entries will post once or twice a month and will be full of fun perks, including:
Casual video chats
Behind-the-scenes information about my process, the challenges Iāll face, and the puzzles Iāll be solving
Announcements and updates
Private livestreams and Q&As
An intimate community of Ferris Island fans with first dibs on stuff like ARC copies and merch
ā¦and more!
This introductory entry is FREE TO READ as a sampler for what kinds of stuff you can expect to find in these posts. But after this, the only way to get in on the fun is to join with a monthly or annual paid subscription.
Below youāll find my Projected Revision Map for the next several months, as well as a SUPER exciting cover artist reveal. Take a peekā¦!
PROJECTED REVISION MAP
(Note: timeline may shift based onā¦you knowā¦life and stuff. š This is just a basic map to keep me on track.)
April: Structural Read
Goal: build a firm new outline for revision
Complete re-read of the serial from top to bottom, looking most intently at the bones of the story
Rearrange or combine subplots or characters
Locate spots where there needs to be more connective tissue
May: Adding Muscle
Goal: remove the āserialā DNA and focus on flow
Iron out the serialization edges, focusing on the gaps between episodes
Add more meat to descriptions and flesh out the first part of the story in particularāintroducing Caroline and her world more smoothly
June: Motivations and Character
Goal: hire a sensitivity reader - because this book contains main characters of color as well as other identities, I want to make sure the work is both respectful and complex.
Pay close attention to character arcs
Deepen motivational clarity/backstories
July: Polish to Publish
Goal: hire a proofreader - I trust my instincts, but itās vital to me that someone else takes a peek at this thing before it goes to print!
Final polishing stage before formatting
Show side-by-side comparisons between serial and novel
August: Formatting!
Goal: send rough digital copies to select ARC readersāpaid subs get first dibs!
All about the formatting choices going into this book and how I prep a book for publishing
Layout and inside sneak-peeks
September-October: Prep for Launch!
TBD!
Every Book Needs the Right Coverā¦
Okay, I have been sitting on this news for AGES and it is finally time to announce the incredible, phenomenal, freaky-talented human artist who will be designing not one, but TWO covers for my upcoming Ferris Island projects.
Introducingā¦ā¦ā¦the fabulous A. C. Sanders!!
Aubrey is not just an amazing illustrator and cover artistā¦she is also a Ferris Island reader and fan, which makes her perfectly-suited to capture the essence of my work in her designs! I could not be more excited to work with her on this project.
After reading both seasons of Freelance & Fishmaids, Aubrey created this beautiful fan-art of Caroline, Reyville, and magical camera Scully (and made me cry, lol):
As you can imagine, when she expressed interest in working with me on my cover designs for these books, I was both stunned and thrilled.
Weāve already started the process, chatting and sketching and brewing ideas for the Freelance & Fishmaids cover, with one eye on the future Saybloodās Children cover as well, trying to keep some visual consistency across the two books.
Aubreyās instincts are spot-on, and her illustrations are fanciful and epic and just gorgeous. You will love what sheās come up with!
I trust her completely with my characters and this beloved world of Ferris Island, and I canāt wait to share more of this artistic journey with you as we go forward!
This is just a sampleā¦
As mentioned, henceforth, the rest of the Revision Diary will be a paid-only perk; Iāll be posting one or two updates per month until the novel is done, and paid subscribers and comps will also be considered first for eventual free ARC copies before publication!
NOVEL VLOG AWESOME
GOOD ART GOOD
AC SAUNDERS: GOAT? YOUR NEWS AT 11
VERY EXCITE
This is awesome and I am HERE for it! It reminds me of Ben Wakeman's In the Works series that he does! YAY!