A Bloody Business: The Novel I Created with My Friends

Part 1:

Way back around this time last year, I wrote the “Foreword” for what would become A Bloody Business. So preemptive was this move that I didn’t even have a name picked out for the book I had just opened. I didn’t even have three of the chapters written.

So strange was it to be writing a foreword at that point that I opened the email to my editor with: “Certainly not what I thought I would write tonight, but why fight inspiration?”

And that, in summary, is a pretty good synopsis for how this book happened. I didn’t set out to write a book. As I’ve talked about before, I didn’t even set out to write the first Martin Williams story with him still alive at the end. And had I only stuck to my original plans, imagine how much time we all could have saved.

Yes, not just my time, but everyone who reads this book. And the folks that helped take it from Word doc to printed book.

Plus e-book and audiobook. All about giving you options.

Step 0: Get Book

Naturally, I needed a book in raw form before refining it. This particular book is a bit unique because I drafted it over the course of a year and a half as a series of short stories connected by protagonist Martin Williams. Most of them for Vocal challenges, no less!

If you want a breakdown of which chapters are currently on Vocal, I have that all captured in this pillar post:

But what you see on this site isn’t the full story of Martin: I wrote a couple more chapters and an epilogue, all exclusive to the book to reward those who buy the “official” version. Plus, Foreword and Acknowledgements sections if that’s the way you roll.

And, not for nothing, having prior versions already “live” didn’t stop me from making updates to those chapters in the book. So, really, you need to buy A Bloody Business to be up to date on Martin and his escapades throughout the 20th century 😉

Step 1: Edit Book

Honestly, I’m not sure every independent author out there even reaches this step, and we all suffer for the reputation for “cheap,” “rushed,” or otherwise “low quality” that some readers have come to expect thanks to those who treat KDP like a content mill in their quantity over quality scheme.

And I certainly get the desire to produce these books for as little money as possible when you’re footing the entire bill. I actually produced this book for what I consider a bargain price while still achieving a professional end result.

But I try to maintain a growth mindset to this whole experience: I’m willing to invest money into this book at a short-term loss if it leads to a greater following and higher returns in the long run. Best way to do that is to make a good first impression, from the words on the page to the formatting to the cover.

We start at the granular with the words on the page and work our way out to the macro:

Editor: Briana Craig

• How we met: Back in Fall 2014, we just so happened to live in the same dorm our Freshman Year at James Madison University (JMU).
• Other projects? I edited and proofread her debut horror novella The Wailings, which managed to impress even a card-carrying member of the Horror Writers Association like myself.

I figured it might be fun to pose a question related to this process and let them share their own thoughts (with my editorial oversight, of course).

Stephen: What’s one thing you think more writers should pay attention to when drafting and self-editing?

Bri:

This will depend a lot on the writer, but I think the advice I don't hear enough is to not lose sight of the "fun stuff" when you edit. There is a certain honesty and enjoyment of the craft that really shines in a first draft, and I think you have to be careful not to "edit away your authenticity."

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With a now-solid manuscript thanks to Bri’s edits, it was time to move onto the most painful process of them all.

Step 2: Proof Book

No matter how many times you’ve looked at your manuscript before, there’s no substitute to printing it out at Staples and going over it with a red pen. If you think I’m kidding:

This is doubly important because I know of no one else in my many circles who does this sort of work, so it came down to me. Having only known this book as a Word file, printing it was the best way I could think of to avoid the well-known trend of my brain filling in missing words and glossing over typos.

For example, despite all the eyes who saw this particular chapter and how many times I’d reviewed it myself, I almost went to print with “create” instead of “crate.” Horrifying.

And since I’ve already established the format:

Proofreader: Stephen A. Roddewig

• How we met: We’re inseparable.
• Other projects? I proofed They Whisper by Claire Fraise as well as The Wailings already mentioned before (also two more books that I'll get to in the next section).

Stephen: What’s one lesson you learned from proofing A Bloody Business that will come in handy for proofing your next book, The Opening Salvo?

Also Stephen: Oh, God, don’t make me relive those days.

Stephen: You have to, dude. Everyone’s waiting.

Also Stephen: Use a pen that’s a different color from the font. Black on black doesn’t stand out when you’re flipping through pages looking for proofs to transfer back to the Word doc.

Pragmatic! I like it.

Step 3: Format Book

Not as flashy as the cover, not as sonorous as the audio recording, formatting is the oft-overlooked yet key process. Much like the bridge that gets you to the bar. You take it for granted, but without it, your whole day could look a lot different.

That simile inspired in no way by recent events.

Yes, formatting the book is just as critical as every other component here. Otherwise, you have words flowing off the page, chapters not lining up with page numbers, and other technical errors. Plus, you lose all the fine details like chapter graphics, the ubiquitous “big letter,” page headers, and so much more:

So it may seem boring—up until the time you wish you had it.

Formatter: Marissa Lete

• How we met: We were introduced by Bri.
• Other projects? I proofed Books 2 and 3 of Marissa’s Echoes series (Anomalies and Heroes).

Stephen: What’s one thing you wish more independent authors would do before coming to you for formatting?

Marissa:

ONE thing? Only one? Man, I didn't think it would be so hard to narrow it down.

The one thing that sums up most of what I wish people would do before coming to me for formatting is this: do a little research.

If you don't have your own stack of books sitting at home, head to your local library or a book store and poke around for a bit. Hold a few books and notice the trim size differences. Open them up and take a moment to admire the running headers, page numbers, chapter breaks, scene breaks, paragraph indents, and spacing. Take a look at a few different books from a few different genres, and make some decisions about what you like and what you don't like. Think about your own book and what elements you want to include or exclude to get the look/feel you want to achieve. Nothing has to be set in stone, and I'm always happy to explore different looks for clients, but when you come to me (or any other designer) for the formatting with a good idea of what you like and what to expect, the process is going to go much quicker and much smoother!

And also a bonus answer because I can't leave without mentioning this: EDIT YOUR BOOK! Formatting should be one of the last stages you go through before publishing. Typically, at this point, we don't want to be making any big changes to the manuscript. You may find a few typos here and there during your final proof once the book has been printed, which are not a problem for formatters to fix really quick, but you shouldn't be finding issues on every single page. You shouldn't be making major edits to the plot.

I can't tell you how many times I've finished up the formatting for a client only for them to come back to me needing to change massive chunks of text on almost every page, which usually ends up with me having to start over from scratch - and that gets costly pretty quick. So be like Stephen and get your editing done first!!

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Should you wish to bring Marissa's expertise to your own independently published book, you can hire her through her Fiverr profile.

And now, with a fully edited, proofed, and formatted manuscript, we are ready to look to the outside of the book.

Step 4: Cover Book

Whoever said don’t judge a book by its cover probably wasn’t considering today’s media climate. And I get it; it’s a nice sentiment.

But I don’t think it’s very realistic for this particular scenario.

I’m a smalltime author, so I’m already trying to overcome the “why should I buy a book from an author I’ve never heard of” bias. Not to mention, while I don’t broadcast it, a savvy consumer could deduce that this is a self-published book and my first full-length book. And that’s two other major biases to try and overcome.

So, in the struggle to convince a complete stranger to spend their hard-earned dollars on my paperback, the last thing I want is to reinforce any of these biases with a less-than-professional cover.

Not that I think cover alone can sell a book, but it’s key to grabbing attention long enough for the description to then deliver the pitch.

And given the number of compliments I’ve received for this one so far, I am very glad to have found the cover artist that I did.

Designer: Brigitte Criqui Wild

• How we met: Through Swing Dance Club at JMU, a club that I only joined at the urging of …Bri…
• Other projects? I’ve commissioned many a pet portrait for family Christmases through Brigitte!

Stephen: I have to know, just how much time did it take to model an actual Webley revolver for the cover? I threw that out there as a “nice to have” assuming you’d turn it down as too ambitious, and then a week later, you were sending me the finished version.

Brigitte:

I thought the idea of adding Martin's Webley as the focus was genius, as it allows the book to be better represented as a thriller, while at the same time functionally drawing the viewer's eye to the back cover. For context, earlier iterations of the cover design displayed only Martin's pinky-less hand holding a lit cigarette. I sincerely wanted to produce the best possible cover to match Stephen's vision, as he's put his heart into this book. Therefore, as the deadline was fast approaching, I cleared my schedule that Saturday, covered my hand (and my poor bathroom) in dark red paint for photo references (it looked like a crime scene), hopped on my tablet and listened to back-to-back historical Netflix documentaries on figures like Cleopatra and Anne Bolelyn as I digitally painted. The Webley/hand render was completed by late that Saturday night through pure motivation and simply the joy of working in my favorite medium. Yes, I am still finding traces of red paint in my bathroom today, and yes I think of Cleopatra when I look at certain details of the revolver. This was such an incredible project to be a part of, and I greatly enjoyed doing so amongst my insanely talented friends.

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Should you wish to bring Brigitte's expertise to your own independently published book (or like, the fifty other graphic design things she does), you can check out her online portfolio.

And I can rest easy knowing that, even if this book doesn’t sell, it’s certainly not on account of the cover 😁

Step 5: Record Book

Some authors view this step as optional. Then again, some view print as optional.

And, when it comes down to cost, audiobooks can definitely be the most expensive part depending on the length of your book and if you’re paying for each finished hour.

Fortunately, I was able to sign on my podcast narrator and pitch him on the royalty splitting model, so no upfront investment required. Plus he now gets to celebrate with me each time we sell an audiobook, because he benefits just as much as I do.

I, myself, consume most of my books as audiobooks, so I never saw this step as optional. To that end, Jon and I worked hard to ensure that the recorded version would go live at the same time as the print and e-book options so I wouldn’t lose the other Stephens out there. So much so that we actually ended up beating the other two to market by a week. Wild.

Narrator: Jonathan Kilgore

• How we met: Freshman Year at JMU after he started dating …Bri...
• Other projects? Jon is also the narrator for my podcast Jon and Stephen Recorded Readings!

Stephen: What’s one thing about audiobook narration that the outsider might not realize or appreciate?

Jon:

When I’m narrating, I usually have to read through the entire piece I’m recording twice; once without recording to get everything in my head and once to actually record. Even with that, a single 30-minute chapter of recorded audio can take over 90 minutes when the read through and editing are all done. It’s time intensive, but ultimately fun and rewarding work.

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Should you wish to hire Jon for your own audiobook narration needs, you can reach out through his ACX profile.

Though, I will say he's going to be a bit booked up with my projects for the next 1.5 years. So, kindly, step off.

And with that final piece of the puzzle in place, a book was born.

In Summary: Thanks, Bri!

Writing this article has made me realize just how much I owe to Bri for unintentionally assembling a whole creative team for me. So, while everyone played their parts to perfection, I suppose an additional debt of gratitude is owed to her.

So go check out her Vocal profile on here while you’re at it!

And if you’re curious to see the culmination of all these individuals’ efforts, you can follow the link below:

A Bloody Business