I've uploaded the first 11,000 words or so of my work-in-progress fantasy novel to Authonomy, a HarperCollins initiative designed to get the public to peer review and act as a kind of slush filter. Apparently the top 5 books each month get the once over from bonified HarperCollins editors. It's a neat idea... except that the system appears to be geared towards rewarding those who spend the most time on shameless self-promotion. At a glance, there seems to be a lot of mutual backslapping -- "Great job, I backed you, could you do the same for my book?" posted by the same folk on three or four 80k word novels each day. They must read a heck of a lot faster than I do.
Anyway, you can check out the progress of my sorry offering here, under a cunning pseudonym. Feel free to comment and say things like, "I was absolutely bowled over" or "The world truly is witnessing the birth of a creative titan." Or even, "Bah, banal crap." Just be warned: there's copious amounts of cursing, of the harsher kind. Grimdark fantasy is serious business.
4 comments:
I enjoyed it Luke, get writing I don't want to wait too long for the next chapter.
So are you a gardener or an architect?
For this novel, a gardener. I have a rough story in mind, but planning everything out in detail would take away the fun of writing it. To sound like a pretentious douchebag, I suppose the reward is in the journey and not the destination.
With the iPhone app I'm working on, and game development in general, pretty much everything needs to be laid out in advance. Diving into my novel and doing what the hell I like makes for a nice contrast.
Well done, Luke. You're on the first mile of a marathon, though, and I don't envy you. Hope you have the stamina.
You're right. I figure I'm about 5.5% through the first draft. Guess I'd better pick up the pace, since I was 2.5% about a year ago.
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