Effulgent Corruption crosses over to 100k, probably is almost 1/2 way done.

Yes, Effulgent Corruption just hit 100k words, which is the length of a regular book. It also is only somewhere between 1/3 or 1/2 of the way done.
Yikes.
But that isn't the point of this blog post. I will say that I am attempting to cut Part 2 short, but having set up things that must be resolved puts a damper on my trimming. Things like this might be edited out in a future draft, but for now they are going in before I finish it.
In other news, I have ideas for future books. Prepare to be divulged upon.
- A book where a boy shifts between alternate universes. I've talked about this before but too bad for you, because I'm mentioning it again. I guess it would be paranormal urban fantasy YA. Or something. I don't know, genre's are hard.
- Canyon Story, where the entire world lives in basically a huge fissure in the earth because everything else is burned desert and the only water is deep down. I have no plot for this minus it being a canyon and that would be cool.
- An idea I stole from Brandon's class when we were throwing them out, where children are essentially sold (or auctioned, in my interpretation) as slaves where they have to work to pay off the debt. Sort of a forced apprenticeship/indentured servitude. Might be interesting, not sure, it would have to be YA.
- An adult fantasy with a VC being a violinist assassin who also so happens to be the daughter of Death. As in Death "himself." Grim Reaper, whatever you wish to call it. I actually think this could be the most interesting.

All of that as well as Steelgods 2, a Harbinger rewrite, and I'm considering restructuring Lacrymosa to make it YA, if only to practice brainstorming and outlining. Oh, and all the previous mentioned ideas aren't spoilers, because they are so early in the birthing process they aren't even the metaphorical zygotes yet, so you are safe.

I also have a WGMD sequel semi-brainstormed, as well as potential sequel for Effulgent Corruption.


AND NOW TO CHANGE GEARS: EBOOKS

Here is my take on the current ebook indie boom:
- Right now is the time to do it, because it's only going to taper off and normalize. I say this with a high amount of confidence because I've seen several other markets that became exposed to easy "indie" distribution boom and then taper off: iPhone apps, for one. Xbox Indie Games for others, and even the WiiWare channel (though to not as much an extent). Basically these markets boom because suddenly billions of people want to make it rich. During this time people buy a lot because 1. It's a new market and you have a device and want to make it worth it 2. You can buy a book for $1, holy crap so amazing!
The downside is that after a while the market becomes saturated. When this happens I feel several things will take place. 1. People will begin a gradual shift back to paper copies (or ebooks published and actually edited by mainstream publishing houses, so they know they don't get crap). 2. These sales will normalize with indie books (though I'd expect by this point that the bigwigs of indie publishing will get snatched up by publishers wanting a piece of that pie, and insodoing get pushed forward on their careers). 3. People will still buy indie books (hey, people still buy indie games on Xbox and iPhone) but it'll be MUCH harder to sell them and get the word out. The boom will have died, so you'll have to have extensive internet presence, word of mouth, or advertising to get it across.
Basically by that point it'll be self-publishing again, with no down-pay (yay!) and probably similar sales numbers (boo!) except a select few. I think it'll find rise to a few big hits, but again...I also expect large publishers with actual editors to grab them up.
(note that all this is speculation based on a discussion in Brandon's class last Thursday as well as my speaking with a variety of indie authors that both found decent success or none at all. It's also from being semi-deeply engrained in the indie gaming community and seeing that rise and fall in a similar way)

- I'm considering throwing something out on eBooks while it still won't be against me should I later be considered for a real publishing gig (whereas self-publishing can still be considered a black mark), and while the market is still full of people buying. Truthfully, I might have already missed it, but it would be worth a shot.

- If I did throw it, it would probably be Steelgods. Those are the closest to "pulp" novels (as mentioned in Brandon's class those are what sell best and it makes sense), are short and fast, and also (after revising) would hopefully be compelling enough to convince someone to buy five more after the first one. I can also churn a rough out on a monthly basis, so that's something too.

- It would be a no-risk idea, both for my future career and financially. Basically, I'm sitting on a pile of finished books here (5 not counting the children's books I wrote in high school), all of which require maybe a decent amount of editing before they could go up. I've read some indie books from the Kindle store, and I dare say (with all humility of course) that they are at least around the same level of my current writing ability. Basically I'd throw stuff out there and see what happened. If nothing, oh well. If something, that might buy me a hamburger or a dinner at a nice restaurant.


ON TO SOMETHING ELSE ELSE

I started work today. For those who missed the memo, I got a job working part time at Nu Skin in the same building my wife works at. It's tech support, primarily from 11-5ish (the schedule can change weekly but will always be within that time frame) and pays well. At the moment it'll consume my life with training, but aside from that I am hoping it will "prime the pump" of productivity and get me writing more.

Speaking of writing, I have yet to do that today and it is late. Best wishes to all, and to all a goodnight.