Hello loyal followers of the Words Worth Books blog. I’m really looking forward to my visit on Wednesday, October 28th. It was suggested that I contribute a blog post in anticipation of the Book Club meeting and I’m happy to do that. Mandy was kind enough to suppl
y a few questions. I’ll try to provide some answers.
(Mandy) How did The Best Laid Plans come to be written?
I considered it a personal challenge. I really didn’t know whether I could actually string 100,000 words together in a way the somehow approaches coherence. I’d written a handful, okay a small handful, of short stories, just for my own enjoyment, but a full novel is quite different. So I blew out an idea from one of my short stories and turned it into a novel. I wrote what I know. There was not much research required as I had no time to do anything but write directly from my head to the keyboard. It took me about two months to outline the story, including character sketches and chapter notes, and about ten months of evenings and weekends to write it. When I was done, I honestly had no idea if I’d written anything worthy of any reader’s time. My sense of perspective had abandoned me. I was too close to it.
How did you generate the attention initially for your book? How did you use podcasting as a way to gain attention for your story?
Long before The Best Laid Plans was an actual book, it was a podcast. While I was working my way through the self-publishing process, I decided to podcast the entire novel, chapter by chapter, to build some buzz and an audience. Much to my surprise and gratification, people seemed to find it and enjoy it. I received comments from listeners all over the world. It slowly started to climb the iTunes Arts and Literature charts and eventually broke into the top 25 (In the days after the Leacock shock, it actually went to #1, albeit briefly). I also blogged about my writing journey http://www.terryfallis.com/, and still do.
How did your story make the leap from internet publication to a book format?
The positive reaction to the podcast gave me the courage to complete the self-publishing process. I signed on with iUniverse and had a very positive experience working with them on the book. I was heavily involved in all aspects of the book from cover design to cover copy. I finally had the book in my hand in September 2007. And it actually looked and felt like a real book. We organized a book launch and I managed to get the novel into a few independent bookstores. A few small publications where I knew people, reviewed it. So, I was living the glamorous high-life of the self-published author! The Leacock Award changed everything and directly led to a publishing deal with McClelland & Stewart.
Was anything lost or gained in the transition?
If you read the book rather than listen to the podcast, you don’t have to endure my lame attempts at Angus’s Scottish accent. Other than that, there’s virtually no difference between the podcast and the printed version of the story.
What do you hope people who read your book will say about it?
I will be thrilled if readers enjoy the story and smile (or even chuckle) a few times. I think I’d be even more fulfilled if the story caused readers to give passing thought to the problems of Canadian politics that I’ve tried to illuminate, in a fun(ny) way. In the end, I hope readers find the novel worth the money to buy it, worth the time to read it, and worth the breath to recommend it.
See you all on the 28th!
y a few questions. I’ll try to provide some answers.(Mandy) How did The Best Laid Plans come to be written?
I considered it a personal challenge. I really didn’t know whether I could actually string 100,000 words together in a way the somehow approaches coherence. I’d written a handful, okay a small handful, of short stories, just for my own enjoyment, but a full novel is quite different. So I blew out an idea from one of my short stories and turned it into a novel. I wrote what I know. There was not much research required as I had no time to do anything but write directly from my head to the keyboard. It took me about two months to outline the story, including character sketches and chapter notes, and about ten months of evenings and weekends to write it. When I was done, I honestly had no idea if I’d written anything worthy of any reader’s time. My sense of perspective had abandoned me. I was too close to it.
How did you generate the attention initially for your book? How did you use podcasting as a way to gain attention for your story?
Long before The Best Laid Plans was an actual book, it was a podcast. While I was working my way through the self-publishing process, I decided to podcast the entire novel, chapter by chapter, to build some buzz and an audience. Much to my surprise and gratification, people seemed to find it and enjoy it. I received comments from listeners all over the world. It slowly started to climb the iTunes Arts and Literature charts and eventually broke into the top 25 (In the days after the Leacock shock, it actually went to #1, albeit briefly). I also blogged about my writing journey http://www.terryfallis.com/, and still do.
How did your story make the leap from internet publication to a book format?
The positive reaction to the podcast gave me the courage to complete the self-publishing process. I signed on with iUniverse and had a very positive experience working with them on the book. I was heavily involved in all aspects of the book from cover design to cover copy. I finally had the book in my hand in September 2007. And it actually looked and felt like a real book. We organized a book launch and I managed to get the novel into a few independent bookstores. A few small publications where I knew people, reviewed it. So, I was living the glamorous high-life of the self-published author! The Leacock Award changed everything and directly led to a publishing deal with McClelland & Stewart.
Was anything lost or gained in the transition?
If you read the book rather than listen to the podcast, you don’t have to endure my lame attempts at Angus’s Scottish accent. Other than that, there’s virtually no difference between the podcast and the printed version of the story.
What do you hope people who read your book will say about it?
I will be thrilled if readers enjoy the story and smile (or even chuckle) a few times. I think I’d be even more fulfilled if the story caused readers to give passing thought to the problems of Canadian politics that I’ve tried to illuminate, in a fun(ny) way. In the end, I hope readers find the novel worth the money to buy it, worth the time to read it, and worth the breath to recommend it.
See you all on the 28th!
Terry
