November 27, 2009
Quaking in my boots
Filed under: Coming Home ebook — Tags: Coming Home, ebook, Sophie Anderson — PD Martin @ 11:10 am
You guys are deciding Sophie’s fate. That’s right, you get to vote for what’s going to happen in each chapter of my next book. Ahhhh!!!
You’ve probably never thought about the decisions an author makes when writing a book. From the get-go, we’re making decisions – some big, some small. In terms of crime fiction, it’s things like:
- Who is our main character and what are they like?
- What’s the crime?
- Will someone die?
- Whodunnit?
These are massive decisions, plus along the way an author is constantly deciding what will happen next, how the crime will be solved, what clues will be left and how the main character will develop.
This week I launched Coming Home – I describe it as an interactive ebook, in which participants get to have their say in the plot and characters. And it’s extremely scary for me that these decisions are largely out of my hands. Sure, I nominate the options, but ultimately you decide.
It was less than 48 hours ago that I “launched” and I’ve found myself constantly clicking on the “show results” section for each of the initial two questions. I have my favourite/s, of course, but majority will rule.
You vote, I write it. I’m a slave to your whims! And I’ve already had one suggestion for a future question: “Vote for lesbian love scene” Yes or No? As you may have guessed, this was suggested by a man!
Anyway, this is a scary process for me and I’ll probably blog about my progress each week. Who knows how the book will unfold. I can tell you this: I haven’t planned any follow-on chapters/options/questions. I have NO idea where this is going.
No wonder I’m quaking in my boots.
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