Month: October 2015

Excitement Galore!

/ Eli Kale / 1 Comment

Friends,

I hope this post finds you well and striving to achieve the goals you’ve set down for yourself! Let’s get down to this week’s content…

The Short Story Collection

It’s been over a week since I released my second volume of short stories. It was an exciting release because it sort of happened off the cuff. I’d planned to release it sometime before my birthday in February, but I ended up pulling some strings to make it happen sooner. If you haven’t yet checked it out, you can find it on Amazon here.

Looking ahead in this collection, I can tell you that I already have ideas in development for Volume 3! Granted, these ideas are at their most basic state of being, and have been sitting on the back burner for months. Nevertheless, it’s exciting to know that I already have a footing for the next installment of this collection, and that it’s ready to be worked on in the coming months.

The Faces of the War Collection

I am on the cusp of finalizing the first half of Imminent‘s manuscript, which should end up being around 21K words. The tentative release date of December 11 still stands, and I am working very hard to see that the book is released at the time. As I said before, once I get the edited manuscript back from my editor, I’ll reveal the cover and book details.

Looking ahead in this collection, I am preparing the material for my next book. I plan on beginning work on this the day I submit Imminent to Amazon. This is because once that’s done, the story is out of my hands and I can’t change it for this release. This next story will be different from its predecessors in its own way, which is something I’ve tried to do with each new release. At this point, it may be a little trickier to write, but that’s the fun of writing – to test yourself!

Indie Writing Advice

I’ve picked up on something of a habit of mine while editing Imminent: I tend to resort to certain words to express the thoughts in my head while initially writing the story. And it definitely shows. So for some advice, I’ll direct my wording to you:

When you go back through your manuscript (whether before or after having another person look at it), look up all the instances where you use certain words a lot. For example, I tend to use “then” when describing a sequence of events or telling what a character does next. It might be hard to envision it right now, but trust me – something like that shows. Another one is the word “just” being used a lot to modify short distances between objects or the relative time before or after something happens. Leaving words like these out can make a world of difference in your writing!

That’ll be it for this week’s post. I hope you are accomplishing your own work and are getting along well with developing your craft. If you’re not a writer, I encourage you to keep reading! Thank you for reading my post, and if you haven’t yet joined my mailing list or follow this blog, I encourage you to do that as well.

Until next time,

-Eli

New Short Stories Released!

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

I know I’ve said this before, but the autumn season is wonderful! So many beautiful scenes to be seen and smells to be smelled, all before the backdrop of everyday life! Time flies by, whether we realize it or not, and soon it will be a new year. But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s get into this week’s post…

The Short Story Collection

After much time of fiddling with different ideas and developing nascent stories, I’ve finally arrived to the point of releasing a new volume of short stories! I originally wanted to publish this ebook shortly after Unguarded came out earlier this year, but I opted to focus my writing efforts on Imminent. At that point I thought, “I’ll get the new volume out by summer.” That didn’t happen. “Early fall, perhaps.” That didn’t happen either. My goal, then, was to release it by my birthday in February.

However, my writing muse intervened and urged me to finish the work and finalize the stories, one of which was already completed. I sent the other two off to a friend for some feedback, which I quickly got back and implemented. After a final read-through, I submitted the ebook to be released through Amazon, and it was done very quickly. I submitted it Thursday night and it went live within a few hours, having the official release date of October 15. You can check it out and purchase it on this sales page!

Cover of Volume 2 in “The Short Story Collection”

Like my first volume, the stories in Volume 2 vary from my larger projects with regard to different aspects, such as scope and story premise. That’s been the whole goal all along: to produce new content that is different and that allows me to experiment with my writing. So I encourage you to pick up a copy on your Kindle (or through your Kindle reading app) and let me know what you think about my new work. I hope you enjoy it!

The Faces of the War Collection

Progress is being made with the edits for Imminent, with everything still on track for an early December release. This story is really coming together as I’m going back through and addressing changes or additions from my editor. The idea is that she’ll complete her work by November (thus allowing her to do NaNoWriMo), which then will give me a month to go through and do my final read-throughs. My goal is to submit the final manuscript to Amazon by November 30 so that it can be available for purchase by December 11. Details regarding pre-order for Kindle and the costs for both formats (print and Kindle) will be given when the cover is released – sometime in the next few weeks. Barring any major impediments, you’ll have another WWII historical fiction book by Christmas!

Indie Writing Advice

Due to Volume 2 being released, I had to take care of the book’s details in Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). There’s a YouTube video that covers this on my channel, so feel free to check it out. I’ll say that it would be good to explore the ins and outs of Amazon KDP before you are ready to upload your book. This way, you are familiar enough with how it works and what all needs done in order to complete the uploading process for publication. That is, if you’re wanting to sell your work on the Kindle platform. Personally, I only sell through Amazon. Everyone has their own reasons for choosing what platform(s) they sell their work through, and each certainly has its own draw. So if you’re in a position where you have a manuscript nearly ready for publication – and you want to sell it on the Kindle – I suggest you log into KDP and get acquainted!

That’s it for this week, but there’ll be more in the coming weeks! Thank you so much for reading this post, and for your support and encouragement of my work. If you haven’t yet done so, I encourage you to join my mailing list (you can email me with a brief “Hey, how are ya? I wanna join the mailing list!” at elikale.author@gmail.com) to get the most detailed and behind-the-scenes information regarding my projects, especially Imminent!

Until next time,

-Eli

Fall Is My Favorite

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

Autumn is in full swing here in Ohio, with the trees turning colors and the temperatures getting cooler. It’s probably my favorite time of year! Let’s get into this week’s content…

The Faces of the War Collection

The editing process continues for Imminent, with everything still on track for a December release. I’ve decided that once I receive the edited manuscript from my editor, then I will reveal the cover and book details. It’s easier and way less stressful letting out that kind of information when you have the story back in your own hands versus still waiting to receive it – mostly because you can’t control it if you don’t have it. I’d hate to reveal the cover and details and then find out there’s a snag in the editing or I need to do a major rewrite, thus prolonging the book’s release. That wouldn’t be fair to you, my readers!

Teaching Life

My new teaching job is going well, with my second full week beginning today. I teach through an online program, educating about 200 students across the state of Ohio. I’m currently teaching one class – Modern World History – three days a week. And yes, I’m working the other days of the week as well. When I’m not teaching, I’m planning lessons, creating presentations, and answering emails, among other things. It’s an exciting new endeavor in my life, not to mention the profession for which I went to college!

YouTube

I capture aspects of my everyday life through the lens of my digital camera, and upload that footage to my YouTube channel every Friday. I talk about indie publishing and the progress of my writing projects, as well as teaching in this new position. I also touch on travel here and there in my videos. If you’re interested in any or all of those topics, come on over to my channel and check out what I’m doing from week to week!

Indie Writing Advice

As a writer, you should also be reading. It’s good practice to always have a book ongoing, whether it’s in physical form or on a reading device. I actually have a few books that I’m reading right now, each of them different from the others. “Let’s Get Digital” by David Gaughran touches on his experience in the self-publishing world; “The Craft of Intelligence” by Allen W. Dulles covers the author’s experience as an intelligence officer in the Cold War; and “On Hitler’s Mountain” by Irmgard Hunt.

The first book is one I’m reading for knowledge, because learning about how the indie publishing world works is vital to being an indie writer. I’m reading the second book for research purposes, because some of what I’m learning about here will apply to what I’ll write later. And the third book is my “just for fun” book, because reading shouldn’t always be business. So if you don’t have a book cracked at any given time, then get on it! Reading books helps make one a better writer of them.

That’s it for this week. Thank you so much for your interest in my work, and for reading my post this week. I encourage you to follow this blog, subscribe to my mailing list, follow me on social media, or even subscribe to my YouTube channel – any and all of those things will help keep you informed on what I’m doing, and will help us connect with each other.

Until next time,

-Eli

Teaching and Writing

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

Another week, another chance to chase your dreams. Cliche? Perhaps…but quite an endeavor all the same! Let’s get down to business…

The Faces of the War Collection

As you are probably aware, I have recently taken a full-time teaching job where I can work from home, educating high school students through an online program. This is something that has been long awaited, and it’s also a blessing. Due to the fact that I basically jumped right into the school year, I have been left with little time to devote to editing. Not that I have much to work with just yet – my editor is making her way through Part I. My hope is that I can plan ahead in the semester and hopefully get my lessons and presentations completed for the months of November and December, thus affording me more time in the evenings and on the weekends to tackle my story. That is where things stand as of now, and they can only improve from here. Look for more details regarding the book’s publication as October turns to November, and tell a friend about it!

I plan on doing some sort of promotion for my other books in the run-up to the release of Imminent, but I’ll have more details on that as time goes on. You can check out my books Resistant and Unguarded – in print and on the Kindle – on Amazon!

Indie Writing Advice

There was a post I read recently by Justin McLachlan that talked about common writing mistakes that make you look like an amateur, and I thought it was a good read! One mistake that stuck out to me was this: using fancy dialogue tags. Justin insists (and I agree) that “said” is really the main tag you really need. Sure, you can throw in a little bit of “yelled” or “exclaimed” or “interjected,” but always trying to use fancy tags can often take away from what’s actually being said because the reader is caught up on the tag, not the dialogue content.

That’s it for this week. Thank you for reading my post and for lending me your eyes for this little while. If you’re interested in finding out more about my work (books, YouTube vlogging, blogging), just click the “Follow” button on this site. You can even join my mailing list to get my e-newsletter, which includes more in-depth details than what you’ll find here or on my social media. It’s kind of like a VIP club, so I hope to see you there!

Until next time,

-Eli