So I have been sending out query letters for "No Finish Line" and have had a few requests for full manuscripts and am now waiting on replies from them.

In the meantime I have been working on other projects - first of which is NaNoWriMo. I have cranked out over 50,000 words this month to make me a NaNoWriMo winner. The novel - called "Drawing Dead" - is unfortunately not finished. At about 52,000 words I still have six chapters left to write which is a lot. I figure it should come in around 75,000 words when it is done.

My other projects were to create some childrens books. I had an idea for a series of children's books a while back called the "In The Corner" series. Each story embodies things kids do that they might get a time-out for and the lessons that they learn from their experience. They are short picture books aimed for younger readers (and to be read to young children) and are based on my kids. I have two done so far and am working on a third.

Posted on Tuesday 28 of November, 2006 [16:43:23 UTC]

It's been a while since I posted on this blog so I figured I would add something today. I have been pretty busy lately with "No Finish Line". The writing has been done for a while, but I have several people looking at in and edit/proofread capacity and I am hoping to have the final version ready soon.

I have also been working on my query letter and synopsis as I am starting to send queries to literary agents to see if I can get someone to pick it up. Don't get me wrong, I love LULU and probably would not have finished my book if it had not been for them, but I was really happy with the way my book came out so I figured I would give it a shot.

The first four queries went out yesterday. They were all to agents that required that you send it via email. I already got rejected by three of them with a form email - oh well, still lots of agents out there to send it to. I have seven more ready to go in the mail and will probably stop at the post office tomorrow morning and get those out.

I also created another blog that is going to kind of summarize along the way all the steps I have gone through to try to get No Finish Line published. It is located at http://www.nofinishline.blogspot.com and I try to put updates every time something happens with my book there.

Well, that's all for now - check out my other blog as I will keep that one updated more frequently (hopefully weekly at a minimum).

Posted on Friday 08 of September, 2006 [19:56:04 UTC]

I received the replacement copy of my book yesterday, which is just in time since my wife's birthday is today. The new copy looks perfect - no problems with the cover at all this time and the interior still looks great.

Posted on Thursday 20 of July, 2006 [13:22:17 UTC]

I just got an email from Lulu support and they are sending me a replacement book for the one with the cracked spine. Hopefully it will be here soon as I have a few friends I want to show it to.

Posted on Sunday 16 of July, 2006 [10:40:52 UTC]

My book arrived yesterday afternoon. I was pretty excited when I got home and saw the box on the counter. I used the USPS media mail so I wasn't expecting it for a few more weeks, but it actually got here in 3 days from the day Lulu said they shipped it (taking into consideration the weekend and holiday that were in there). So I was very happy with the shipping time and glad I didnt bother to pay any more than the $2.50 that I paid for shipping.

After the wife went to bed last night, I cracked open the box to check it out. The cover art itself looks great - very professional. I did notice almost right away a few chips in the cover art at two of the corners of the book, which I wasnt happy about. I also later noticed that there was a large crack in the spine of the book, going right through the title of the book. That kind of sucked. I went onto the Lulu website and reported the problem right away, hopefully they can do something to rectify it.

The inside of the book looks great. The paper has a nice feel to it, and the printing is very professional. It was also just pretty cool to finally see the book in print.

This copy is just a preview copy for myself. The book is still being edited and proofread right now, and reviewed by a few triathletes to get their views on it. All in all, I hope that the cover printing issues are just a fluke for this copy and other than that I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

Posted on Thursday 06 of July, 2006 [11:59:53 UTC]

I was really excited today. I sent my manuscript for "No Finish Line" off to a friend who majored in English for an edit/proofread. But I was too excited to wait so I ordered an advance copy. I also sent a copy of the manuscript to a few triathlete's that I know for their feedback and comments - hoping to get a quote or two for the final cover.

My wife doesnt even know I wrote a book so I plan on giving her this copy as part of her Birthday present in July. I am thinking she will open it, not even read the author's name and wonder why I got it for her because it is nothing like the types of books she usually reads.

Posted on Friday 30 of June, 2006 [12:22:39 UTC]