In my previous books I've produced the eBook version first, then added the bits needed for a paperback. This time around I've chosen to do the paperback first in part because converting for eBook format is largely subtractive from a paperback formatted document - I remove page numbers and blank pages that are there to format the book for print. The other reason is that CreateSpace reckon that they will arrange for the book to be formatted as an eBook on Kindle automatically, transferring my book cover at the same time. I've never tried this approach before and decided it was time I did if only to report back to the writers who follow this blog on how effective it is.
However I have to wait at least 24 hours for the print review, and as I submitted on a Saturday I'm expecting the reply to arrive early next week. Assuming that my efforts are deemed acceptable then the paperback should be on Amazon and Createspace's own website by the end of the week. It should, all being as advertised, be on the Kindle store in eBook format pretty soon after that..
I did try to upload a photo depicting London's cityscape for the book cover - the majority of the book takes place in London - but the cover designer didn't seem to like it. It kept telling me that my upload was fine, that there were no errors in my submission, but it wouldn't let me complete with that picture. So I took a lazy approach and used the same image as I used for the original Journeymen paperback but changed the text background to brick red. As this is the second Journeymen book I guess I now have a series, albeit a short one at present, so having a common cover with different colour schemes seems reasonable.
So for those who haven't read the original book - it's very accessible and a darned good read if you're interested - here's a potted explanation about who and what the Journeymen are. I'll try not to spoil the first book and you can read the second book without reading the first or this potted description, but you may find yourself scratching your head over some of the terminology if you do.
The Journeymen are the descendants of aliens from a planet 9 light years away that have been walking the Earth for the last 6000 years or so. They arrived with a group that has chosen to break away from them, now known as the Sons of Arlgon, or the Sons. Same species, different attitudes, mortal enemies. The Journeymen are here because their ancestors formed a settlement here tens of thousands of years before they pitched up. Their journey, taking three generations aboard a spacecraft housed on a comet that circles both Earth and the home planet every two thousand years, was undertaken to secure the DNA of their ancestors to help redress the ravages of a terrible war sometime between the original Journeymen and the second batch. Those original Journeymen are known as Colonists, and by the time the Journeymen arrived here 6000 years ago they had become the controlling entities on Earth. Many think they still are. The Journeymen undertook to help preserve the purity of the Colonist bloodlines while driving the technology on Earth to reach a state where it could be used to transport the Colonist DNA back to the home planet. To do this they inserted themselves into the fabric of society, manipulating the human race so that it developed the technology needed while keeping a close eye on the Colonists. To complete the naming convention, those humans who are not Journeymen, Sons or Colonists are named Interbreds, or IBs. That's almost certainly you or me, by the way.
In Journeymen II: Day of Reckoning we find ourselves in the situation where robust DNA cultivating technology has been developed, as has deep space travel. The Journeymen decide they don't need the Colonists anymore, but realise that the Sons won't want the Journeymen wielding any more power than they do right now. Their solution is to take the Sons out in a mass cull, starting in the United Kingdom where one of the last truly influential Colonist lines still exists. If you can't work out who I'm talking about, then send me a stamped addressed envelope. But look at the stamp before you post it and you many work out who the Colonists are.
I still have to do the leg work for formatting for Smashwords so that I can get the book out to Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, WH Smith etc and of course CreateSpace may not be 100% happy with my submission. Either way, I'll keep you informed.
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