Cover art for The Great Succession Crisis, 1st edition paperback as published in September, 2012. Thanks to constructive criticism from reviewers, this cover art changed for the revised edition.
This week I celebrate a big milestone as an author: the first anniversary of the launch of my first book.
The week of my initial publication on SmashWords, I wrote a commemorative article for Yahoo Voices. Here is what I wrote: http://voices.yahoo.com/first-person-today-published-first-novel-11639434.html?cat=38
What I could not anticipate at the time is the way that “The Great Succession Crisis” would become my personal Montecello. After the first reviews in 2012 showed me the almost inevitable flaws that come from self-publishing one’s first book, I found myself in a process of editing, revising, and yes, re-writing. In January, 2013 I re-wrote about 25% of “The Great Succession Crisis,” creating the current “revised editions.” But it went more than that. Seeing that some readers did not pick up on the larger story, I added two more chapters, brought back data files I previously deleted after listening to other people regarding supplementary content, and finally added in non-fiction material — all of this becoming “The Great Succession Crisis Extended Edition” which, for me, is much more definitive. GSC Ex is my “director’s cut” of that book.
Given my education is in film/stage writing, psychology (pre-counseling), and medieval history, it is pretty much inevitable that I look at stories from a more or less film and stage point of view with the sensibilities of someone who loves to write in script format.
This also means I’ve made some technical errors; novels are not the same as screenplays. The direction to actors that script writers must insert into the text cannot be conveyed the same way in novels. So yes, I admit to my share of errors as my brain works to convert internally to novel conventions.
All through this, my sensibilities as a low vision person persist. I possess the almost inevitable sensitivity to the needs of different physical abilities when it comes to reading. This is one reason why I do not use a sterile white background on my website, even though the default background from Intuit.com is actually white. In the summer of 2013, I located new options for my website, allowing me to stand apart from generic book sites with the organic, soothing green leaf background that makes reading the content (all geared towards YOU, the reader) both easier and more pleasant. Cool colors soothe and invite people to stay. Our brains and our minds really love blues, greens, and purples, finding these cool colors restful.
With large print editions in hand, I hope to eventually record audio versions of Peers of Beinan books. But first, I continue to work on a brand new innovation: QR indexing for paperback and hypertext link indexing for digital copies.
These new innovations make reading The Great Succession Crisis and other Peers of Beinan series books easier and more interactive than ever. Rather than me playing God, sending out my story to you from on high as if from an ivory tower, my books are a conversation with you. Together, we listen and learn from one another as you read, beginning with your decision on which format you want to read each book in.
Readers can choose between the revised and extended editions of The Great Succession Crisis in digital, paperback, QR Interactive paperback, or large print paperback. That is EIGHT editions for the SAME NOVEL.
In March, 2013 I was able to release book two, The Ghosts of the Past. This too I offer in all four formats.
You matter to me. I’m not some literary goddess — just a storyteller who loves to research and share my research with you in the form of great adventures.
It is my hope you will join me as I explore social issues, history, science, and so much more on planet Beinan.
To the adventure!
Laurel A. Rockefeller 