1st Draft Completed, 400 Pages, First Whack at Cover Art

I'm pausing subscriptions while I pull the trigger on this. Also, strategy explained to paid subscribers

So, I finished the first draft of the novel I am writing. It comes in at around 84,000 words. Its intended audience is the rising generation of the European diaspora—particularly the segment trapped on the sinking American ship, but I think anyone can find it a worthwhile read.

Fiction for young adults is usually around 60,000 words in length, while fiction for a more mature audience usually falls in the 80,000 to 90,000 word range. Ollie’s Apology is the adult-length story of a few days in the life of a 17-year-old American kid. And, while the protagonist is a teenager, the novel is safe for adults; I make no attempt to use modern teenager lingo, sparing both myself and my readers that embarrassment. Ollie and his friends communicate in English.

I’m about halfway through my first edit. In the middle of one scene, the character says, “Hey, dumbass, we already left the Dairy Queen, like, three pages ago.” And, when I checked, she was right. So, I’m fixing those kinds of errors and removing any scenes that ended up aimlessly paddling around out in the Gulf of Mexico.

I’ve also taken my first whack at the cover art.

I’m gifting all former paid subscribers and top referrers also with a 90-day free paid subscription so that they can be a part of this publishing effort. By “part of” I mean in terms of feedback, not financially. Because the paid subscriptions are paused, it’s not possible now to become a paid subscriber, but if you would like to take part in this effort, send me an email.

My plan for distribution is behind the paywall in this post.