Exoskeleton Update

Together at last - all the Shares in paper.
Together at last

Since my birthday last month, I’ve been cranking up the production.

For the first time ever, all the Shares are now in paper. I’ve got the galley proofs for all of Tanyth’s adventures enroute. If you’re counting, that’s six books converted from ebook to paper in the last four weeks.

STOP.

You can’t buy them yet. I still need to mark them up and get the galleys approved. I have a schedule that should have all the Shares available by mid-December. Tanyth’s books will be a bit later. I’m working at it, but I can’t predict how much time they’ll take to mark up and release.

Right now I’m working on getting the edits loaded into South Coast so I can release that one this month, too.

The goal is to clear out all the back work, removing it as a distraction so that I can focus on the new work.

Fingers crossed that the levers and pulleys don’t malfunction, but the mental exoskeleton seems to be working.

16 thoughts on “Exoskeleton Update

  1. I have the first 4 signed and all in eBook, but now I want all the new covers as a pretty set for my shelf. but I think I am anticipating the Tanyth set more because I only have them in eBook.

  2. Thank you, thank you and THANK YOU! I really enjoy paper books and don’t own a kindle. I know, the way of the world seems to be going to e-books, but I’ll hold off as long as I can 🙂 I look forward to getting all of the paper books you publish, Mr. Lowell.

    1. You don’t need to buy a device to read ebooks, Ted.

      I have both a Nook and a Kindle, but I read most on my smartphone because I always have it with me.

      Print should be available before year end. (Fingers crossed.)

  3. I have started fantasizing about what a ‘Cookbook by Ishmael’ would look like. -With a special addendum from the Over Easy.

    1. I want Cookie’s cookbook. I cant tell you how I have imagined the flavor of those spicy beefalo casseroles. And the Breads, Oh My Gosh. The breads make me so hungry.
      But all that aside, It is good to see you up and running Cap.

  4. Might I impose on you for some details of this “mental exoskeleton” of which you speak? I’m a insulin dependent type-2 diabetic and no matter how tightly I control the condition, there are days when my mental gas tank is sucking on empty and I cant seem to muster up motivation to sneeze much less get anything productive done. Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated.

    Waiting anxiously for south coast in E-book form.

    1. I have a google calendar with task-list. It syncs to my smart phone and reminds me of what I want to do and when I want to do it.

      I periodically check my values:

      1. I never need motivation to do the things I love.
      2. Writing isn’t a chore. It’s a gift I give myself.
      3. It’s okay to set boundaries on months that don’t end in -ovember.

      For me, the challenge has been to clear away enough distractions that I can focus on new work. I also know I will become distracted so I try to plan distractions that will not take up hours of time or require huge outlays of energy.

      1. Thank you. That actually helps. The sensation of everything that needs to get done is, I think, one of the primary motivation-destroyers. It gets to be overwhelming in it’s totality but when organized and prioritized along with scheduled mini-goals, it becomes doable.

        Thanks again for the assistance.

  5. It’s great to hear about your progress. I can’t wait and am crossing my fingers for a new Golden Age of the Solar Clipper novel next year! And the sooner the better, its one of my favorite series!

  6. The Greatest news of my year so far! I’ve got a few questions regarding the new print:

    1. Is that the cover art going into print? I ask because I have the first 4 in paper with the ships on the cover.

    2. Is the new paper print going to be edited differently than before significantly enough to warrant me re-purchasing the first 4 in addition to Captains share and Owners share? I’d rather start fresh if there is going to be a difference that changes some outcome or some character rewrite.

    3. I can’t remember where I heard it, but are you going to continue the series?

    1. 1. All the books will have matching covers. The paperbacks have a slightly *different* cover because they use some sky charts as texture in the images. The extra texture doesn’t show up in the ebooks. It’s too subtle.

      2. Not significantly different. Don’t buy them again. I fixed some stuff I didn’t like and cleaned up some typos, etc, but it’s not worth it unless you’re a fanatical completionist.

      3. No. Traders’s Tales are done. I am writing more Solar Clipper stories – three with Ishmael and three not-Ishmael. Working titles are “Seeker’s Tales” and “Smuggler’s Tales,” respectively. 🙂

      1. I am hoping that you’ll continue your new books with audio versions. I really enjoyed the stories over the last couple years and your stories are great companions on long drives. Thanks for all the hard work.

  7. Thank you so much for all your works.. I can’t wait for more stories of Horatio Wang’s further experiences. I have gotten my father involved and he lives in Washington state, getting his library to order him copies from as far away as Illinois libraries – it’s amazing – he is 90!
    Your narration always sucks me into any podiobooks you read. Thanks again for this terrestrial in Sanb Diego.

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