Lost in the Aeons

(Reminds me of Lost in Space)

527

(6 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Bienvenue. Vous êtes parisienne! Moi chu canadien

I liked that title. Reminded me of 20000 leagues under the sea

529

(68 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

https://www.patreon.com/posts/dune-23198419

530

(11 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

re Question 1:
Ya... 10 episodes at $0.50 then joined up into an $7.99 tome means reader would saved $2.99 to read it as it rolled out. I don't see any other non-spurious price point. One guy decided the complete story was worth the sum of the episodes times 1.5 and felt no issue with charging $14 for the season, but that's a lot of money for an electronic format which has cost the author -nothing- to rerelease.

Re Question 2:
How do we define an episode? I'm thinking as a self-contained story... with a resolution as complete as possible (given the word count). The overarching story arc is treated in each episode but left unresolved. Rather, each acts as a self contained story, introducing its own central plot that is resolved at the end. The series would consist of short stories that happen to share the same characters.

No reliance on dramatic tactics to coerce readers into buying the next -- just a "here's a glimpse into the greater story". Ideally should work if a reader breaks in mid-stream. Like a TV show, one must assume no knowledge of past events. Only core world rules can be assumed (eg airlocks vs transporters). I would cite Stargate as a model to follow. Mind you, I don't like Stargate, but their model is hard to fault. On par with B5, though Straczynski commits the misstep of losing the middle-road consumer

531

(11 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Eeep! That's high. According to my readings, $0.50 through $1.50 is about the maximum you can charge per episode. Any higher and you'll drive people to wait (10 episodes at $4 each? better buy the season for $8)

In the lower range, you'd charge $0.99 (Amazon's lowest) then lower it to $0.50 on Google and hope Amazon price-matches.

The people doing well with it say that each episode provokes sales on other episodes and that's how they can turn a profit (plus provoking sales on related full-price books, of which I have plenty out there). Viewed from this perspective, releasing the overarching book this way seems almost beneficial

Cover has some nice colours

Tia is closer to Mortal Engines than true sci-fi

also welcome aboard

534

(11 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

eBook, kindle specifically

535

(11 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I've been doing a lot of research into serializing a novel (which is significantly different from simply cutting it into bits and releasing them in order). I've been considering releasing one of my stories in this format since it kind of over-arches the other novels, but I can't make enough compelling arguments to do it.

They say it's great because it keeps you always "live" in the charts with fresh material but...
a) Once people catch on to the format, they tend to wait for the final (combined) collection then gorge themselves (Hey, look at the success of Netflix dropping entire seasons at a time)
b) The only people who will buy it religiously are those who would buy your work anyway -- this format punishes them. Ergo, it only marginally grows your market at the expense of frustration. Apparently, even Stephen King felt the pain from this

Ignoring these two rather impressive disadvantages, I'm wondering if anyone is also looking at going this route. If anyone is following any interesting serials right now? Opinions of their story execution. How long each read is (conventional advice is 40minutes per episode about 10-16k words)

536

(4 replies, posted in Close friends)

Declan tho?? We need to talk

537

(17 replies, posted in Close friends)

eww Alicia and Declan?? Noo!

re the 2nd round of comments... There's no need (post Elizabethan period) to hide pain & suffering behind the curtain.

If your goal is to draw our attention to it, write it. Some actior will find you later and shake your hand for giving him the spotlight.

I did this hiding act in some of the early writes of VQ. I had [4 0 3] (my female ninja ballerina villain) at the end assigned to kill someone who she was told she was related to (but didn't believe it (and what villain politely requests DNA samples?)). I had the area around the mark coated in wet paint, then I showed footsteps in that paint at first showing haste (spread apart) then slowing, then turn away.

Implication: "someone" had rushed forward to make the kill, stopped, thought it over and changed her mind. Then a chapter later, I reveal the villain had paint on her shoes.

A few years later I was reading that complicated act and had a BFO. I was hiding the important part... that moment someone comes to deep, potentially life-changing terms. Why was I hiding it? To create a mystery. Okay, no problem. But it wasn't central to the plot. Many readers would have missed the connection.

This is what I see in the scene as you describe it. You've declared it's important your character sees the body and suffers a breakdown / moment of reverence. I see give the future director a scene with meat on its bones

PS: I'm still going to try to use the paint in VQ. Only as a way for a few smart characters to realize what happened. But I'll show the scene when I get there.

Edited to close that pesky double bracket

539

(29 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Edit / disclaimer: I didn't originally read "just" as modifying the nouns after it. I read it initially as "merely"

[Merely] Father (has),  paramedics (have), I (have)

Reading the just the way Marylin has, forces the nouns into the accusative. Just read this way implies "It was only X,Y,Z". There's an invisible subject pronoun affecting each noun

[Affected] father, [affected] paramedics, [affected] me

540

(29 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Interesting aspect introduced there.

Consider the "just" applies to a group of three.

Just (us)

Just (Father,paramedics,[me])

You could never get away with : Just (we)
It follows you cannot use : Just (Father,paramedics,I)

Hi Norm... I believe you're seeing something I've discovered on this sit is that the US and Canada have different rules for capitalization. For example:

"Wow, Mr. President, that’s a good one"
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/18/us/p … tweet.html

in the US is probably not capitalized because he's really just "one president of many".

In Canada, it definitely is capitalized:

See:
https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tcdns … mp;info0=4
Rule #4.03f
Rule #4.08c (last example)

Yes.

In which chapter does the comet strike and destroy the world?

Doing marketing right now. Trying to figure out the magic of background video

ok... in that case, you might be best to omit the scene so you don't post "chapter 9 scene 6" when it's really chapter 3 scene 6

Recommend you call that "Chapter 1 Scene 2" to help us keep it straight as complexity increases

My terms are way more alien than "agente" and I dont translate, so I think you'll be fine

547

(17 replies, posted in Close friends)

Hi Suin...

The answer to your other question is "Yes, an export is possible". Send me your Email and I'll explain

548

(6 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Also, please beware, if I delete this post for no apparent reason

549

(6 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Alternatively, choosing a new password should require me to enter my old password

550

(6 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Hi Sol. Had a device stolen that's logged in here, so I went ahead and changed my password.

Now here's where the fun begins:

Existing devices are not kicked off / logged off when I set my password. The holder of the device can simply change my password to anything he desires. He can also change my email address to his own, then click "lost password" and unreset mine. (I validated the former is possible using my phone).

Recommend: Attempt to change email address goes through an email confirmation cycle
Recommend: Change password expires any active tokens on the user account