Patrick Swenson

Some copies of the dust jackets for the book arrived via UPS today from Tor. They look great! Couldn’t pass up throwing a few pictures here, of course.

And for that 3rd pic….I couldn’t resist! I found a book the size mine will be and wrapped my dust jacket around it to see what it would like on the shelf (situated on the bookshelf of Fairwood Press stock). And it looks damn good.

I’m such a nerd.

Advance Reading Copy. Aka “ARC.” Also known as Advance Uncorrected Proof. Not to be confused with ABMs, Advance Bound Manuscripts….

Well, whatever you call them, at whatever point that they are created, they have one sole purpose, and that is to generate possible buzz from reviewers who might give the book a literary “thumbs up,” as well as give some booksellers or book buyers an early look. Sometimes, too, other authors receive them for the purpose of giving advance publicity quotes.

They are printed with a paper cover. Sometimes they have the cover image, sometimes in color. Sometimes a publisher prints tons of them, but the reality is that they are expensive, and not that many are printed for most authors.

I awaited my copies with the excitement of a kid at Christmas. It would be the first time to see the book in some sort of bound form, closely resembling (at least on the interior) the final book. I received word that author Nancy Kress had received a copy so she could read it and possibly blurb it (she did, and gave a fabulous blurb at that!), but I had still not seen mine. Every day after work, I’d crane my neck to glance at my porch, hoping to see a box sitting there. The annual local convention, Norwescon, came and went. I still checked my porch.

The Monday after the convention, I let my editor know I was still patiently awaiting my copies of the ARC. I received an email right away telling me that UPS tracking showed that the box had been delivered to my house the previous Thursday! This was the first day of Norwescon, and I remember coming home Thursday night and seeing nothing on the porch.

So it was either stolen from my porch, or UPS delivered it to the wrong place. I never did find out where it ended up. They’re building new townhouses in my development, including a two-unit building right next to me. If workers decided to grab it hoping for something valuable, they were most likely disappointed by a box with six ARCs inside. But who knows? Maybe they decided to read the book and liked it and will tell all the fellow thieves in their crime ring and it’ll become a massive bestseller. Maybe not!

I told my editor about all this, and luckily, he shipped me the last of what he had, four copies, fastest possible method, and I had them a few days later. It was still a thrill to open the package and find them inside. No spendy color ARCs for this debut author; instead, they used the title page image, along with information on how to contact my publicist, and, on the back, marketing stuff. It was still the most beautiful thing I’d seen in a long, long while. Maybe ever. I figure when the final books arrive, I’m likely to break down and sob.

Since receiving them, I may have read the book in this form a couple of times, and none of it in any order whatsoever. I’ll open the book up to a certain page and start reading, thinking: “Does this hold up?” Or “What was I thinking when I wrote THIS passage?” Or “Oh, man, that’s still kick-ass.” Or “Oh-oh, did I mark this typo on the final page proofs?” And so on. Chapter 29, then Chapter 2, then Chapter 11…

I still pick the ARC up and glance through it. This is my book, for god’s sake, I think.  On a couple of occasions I have indeed found a few typos that were missed, and I forward those to Tor. If I find anything now, it may be too late, but it won’t hurt to try sending.

For now, I revel in the experience of having a physical, bound representation of my novel, with just three months to go before the real thing hits the shelves. I thumb through it, and the other three copies sit there neatly and unused on my desk.

I don’t expect to give those four copies to anyone.

A few days ago, I received the page proofs for The Ultra Thin Man from my publisher. These include the interior pages and how they’ll look in the finished product. This was the first time I saw the interior design concept and the extra accents, as well as headers and page numbers and copyright information.  (Below is the title page from the file.)

Proofs often come to writers electronically now, and in this case, a PDF file. Not all writers receive electronic proofs, but it’s becoming more and more common. I’ll admit that I thought I was going to get printed proofs. (My FAQ section about proofs said as much.) Instead, I get to make my corrections on the PDF, using the Acrobat Reader tools to insert, overwrite, and delete text to make corrections to the interior text. These corrections have to happen pretty quickly, usually in two weeks or less.

I must do my best to only take care of typos and make small corrections when necessary. I’m to avoid any major alterations, or put in anything new that might cause the text to reflow into other pages. That will be a challenge in itself. I’ve already seen things—even at this late date—I want to add or change that I just won’t be able to. The book is what it is now! I found a typo in the 2nd paragraph of the first chapter, and yes, something like this is a must-fix. This is why the proof process is in place.

Meanwhile, Tor is taking this page proof document and creating the advance reading copies (or uncorrected proofs) to send out for reviews and blurbs.

I’ve been asked how many times I’ve read this book now, and I’m not sure I know how to answer that question. It’s true that by the time the book comes out in August, I’ll have read it for sure at least a half dozen times. But that doesn’t count the times I’ve read chapters over and over, here, there, back and forth, while writing, while editing…

I’m more than halfway through writing book two, and that’s the story that’s in my brain right now. For you, the reader, you’ll experience this book for the first time, fresh and new, and hopefully all the kinks will be worked out, and you’ll enjoy the experience.

Write in the Rainforest, to be exact. And even more exact: Write at the Rainforest Writers Village at Lake Quinault, Washington on the Olympic Peninsula. This is year eight of this annual retreat. I’m the administrator of the whole shebang, and it’s sponsored by my small book company, Fairwood Press.

Later today I head down, and I’ll do administrative duties during the five days of the retreat, but I’ll also have some solid time to write. And I need to, as I’m behind on where I should be on book two. The retreat ends Sunday afternoon. About 38 writers attend. Every year it sells out faster. I’ve added a second session. I’ve toyed with a third session, but that might be a bit too much.

Thinking it might sound like something you’d be interested in? Look for registration to open for 2015 at the end of March, or early April. You’ve gotta keep your eye on the site though, because once it opens, those in the know are sitting at their computers hitting refresh, refresh, refresh …   Last year both sessions sold out in TWO hours.

Cell service is spotty, and the WiFi sometimes has difficulty, but I’m sure there will be some news somewhere in my other social media venues. Here’s the link: www.rainforestwriters.com

All is write in the rainforest!