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[Valdfellgar]

Upwork is saying there's no demand. (Or, rather, there's too many people with the same skillset. So, supply problem, not demand.) And apparently, yes! There is an approval process now. And I failed it.

Hmm that's pretty gross. Sounds like a real shame then that Elance merged into Upwork. Don't feel too bad, it sounds like it all turned into a majorly bullshit system.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

I'm starting over on a project about 25k words into it after realizing I've completely strayed away from the main character's motivations. I've known something was wrong for a month or so, but I've just been struggling through it until today when I sat down and it hit me why I've been dreading writing.

Remember, kids: character first, plot second. Character motivation is damn important.

Having some of that problem right now. Thankfully I just have to rewrite a chapter, though I imagine future drafts will see more extensive rewrites than that.

First time jumping between multiple characters (4) and finding it more difficult than I thought it would be.

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

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[UCBooties]

My first published story is going to come out on October 31 in an anthology. Is there any appropriate way to post the details of this, either in this thread or a thread about the anthology without falling afoul of forum rules?

Mod input very much appreciated.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

My first published story is going to come out on October 31 in an anthology. Is there any appropriate way to post the details of this, either in this thread or a thread about the anthology without falling afoul of forum rules?

Mod input very much appreciated.

Congrats!

I'll let a mod respond for sure, but PM me the details and I'll add it to the OP. Also, Maklershed is pretty good about posting this kind of thing in the OP of the Reading-GAF thread, and typically if you provide a post with a mention and a pointer (several of us do so when our indie books are on sale) you are ok. Just don't over-promote.

 

[Reedirect]

First time jumping between multiple characters (4) and finding it more difficult than I thought it would be.

Stay strong with that. Had five for my first novel and it was hell at times, but it can pay off in incredibly satisfying ways.

 

[FlowersisBritish]

My first published story is going to come out on October 31 in an anthology. Is there any appropriate way to post the details of this, either in this thread or a thread about the anthology without falling afoul of forum rules?

Mod input very much appreciated.

Congrats! First publications are always a fun time.

 

[Crimson_Justice]

First time jumping between multiple characters (4) and finding it more difficult than I thought it would be.

How are you approaching that? (switching between paragraphs, between chapters, so on) Also, what are you finding difficult about it? I want to write epic fantasy, but my first novels have mostly been single POV as warmups before I try and handle a huge cast, so it would be interesting to hear how it's going for you.

Also, congrats UCBooties!

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

How are you approaching that? (switching between paragraphs, between chapters, so on) Also, what are you finding difficult about it? I want to write epic fantasy, but my first novels have mostly been single POV as warmups before I try and handle a huge cast, so it would be interesting to hear how it's going for you.

Also, congrats UCBooties!

Switching between chapters ala Game of Thrones.

I'm writing in a very thick third-person subjective, so losing a characters voice even a little bit really messes with my prose. I'm also just finding them difficult to manage. I got one pair off doing some goofy shit, another's about to get some big revelations that I guess I have to work towards the other characters, and my last guy is about to start the countdown to the end of the book way before I really want it to happen.

I don't outline or really plan ahead, and I can make that work with one character or one contained cast of characters. They're all together. When everyone is spread out though, it becoems a problem.

 

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

How the hell do you write comedy?

I've been trying to write a short horror comedy story, and it keeps coming out plodding and pretentious and odd.

 

[Timu]

How the hell do you write comedy?

Years of practice!

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Switching between chapters ala Game of Thrones.

I'm writing in a very thick third-person subjective, so losing a characters voice even a little bit really messes with my prose. I'm also just finding them difficult to manage. I got one pair off doing some goofy shit, another's about to get some big revelations that I guess I have to work towards the other characters, and my last guy is about to start the countdown to the end of the book way before I really want it to happen.

I don't outline or really plan ahead, and I can make that work with one character or one contained cast of characters. They're all together. When everyone is spread out though, it becoems a problem.

What I find somewhat hilarious (and sometimes annoying as fuck) is when I have an outline all worked out for how the story is going to go, and the characters decide "nah fuck that." Sometimes by the time you actually flesh these characters into PEOPLE you find out more about them and they show YOU what they want.

It's really quite magical at times. And infuriating at others.

 

[FlowersisBritish]

What I find somewhat hilarious (and sometimes annoying as fuck) is when I have an outline all worked out for how the story is going to go, and the characters decide "nah fuck that." Sometimes by the time you actually flesh these characters into PEOPLE you find out more about them and they show YOU what they want.

It's really quite magical at times. And infuriating at others.

Kay kay kay, so this happened in the novel I completed. I had a whole ending planned out, it was going to be melodramatic and weird and all the things I thought were cool when I was eighteen. But my palette has changed a bit since then, and now I am not so melodramatic(at least not in any edgy way), so at a pivotal moment near the midpoint of the third act, she decides to not join up with this group and even makes a joke about the original ending and how fucking ridiculous it would be in this silly toned story. It's a good moment, but FUUUUUUUUCK I had no idea where to go from there. I had been working off an outline at that point and now I had to just start making up new stuff.

That said, whenver something like that happens, the new ending is probably better.

 

[UCBooties]

Apparently the anthology went up on Amazon early! I am published!

The anthology is called Trumpocalypse and it is a darkly humorous collection of "worst case scenarios" of a Trump presidency.

My story is called Irreconcilable Divergence. It is a sci-fi thriller about quantum mechanics and is actually a very apolitical story, which is strange considering the collection it appears in. I'm very proud of the work and excited for the book to be on sale.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Apparently the anthology went up on Amazon early! I am published!

The anthology is called Trumpocalypse and it is a darkly humorous collection of "worst case scenarios" of a Trump presidency.

My story is called Irreconcilable Divergence. It is a sci-fi thriller about quantum mechanics and is actually a very apolitical story, which is strange considering the collection it appears in. I'm very proud of the work and excited for the book to be on sale.

Congrats again! It's been added to the OP.

 

[JaseMath]

Question for accomplished authors here: What does your personal revision process look like? I'm not asking how many drafts you do, but rather, how you do them. Specifically, how do you read the first draft (for the the first time) without losing the overall tempo of your novel?

It's been around 3 months since I completed my first draft and I wanted to let it stew before picking it up for the second draft. One of the things I want to nail is the pacing, but I'm struggling to find the true nature of my pace because of my frequent stopping to note the parts that need to be revised. The obvious answer is Don't Stop, but my perfectionist nature won't let me enjoy the novel, instead my mind nags me backward to jot a note here and there (lest I forget).

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Question for accomplished authors here: What does your personal revision process look like? I'm not asking how many drafts you do, but rather, how you do them. Specifically, how do you read the first draft (for the the first time) without losing the overall tempo of your novel?

It's been around 3 months since I completed my first draft and I wanted to let it stew before picking it up for the second draft. One of the things I want to nail is the pacing, but I'm struggling to find the true nature of my pace because of my frequent stopping to note the parts that need to be revised. The obvious answer is Don't Stop, but my perfectionist nature won't let me enjoy the novel, instead my mind nags me backward to jot a note here and there (lest I forget).

I'm not accomplished, but I wrote three drafts of my first (and so far, only) novel before I decided it was ready to send out for query letters.

Draft one was exceptionally difficult and required a lot of work ethic to finish, but it was basically just ideas -> paper.

Draft two was re-reading (sometimes skim reading) and editing out typos, fixing wording, rearranging or slightly editing scenes, fixing issues with PoV and voice, mechanical stuff. I did this right away.

I then went on to start writing the sequel. I ended the first one on a cliffhanger, and I was on a roll, so I wanted to keep my momentum going. I got about 70 pages (37874 words) in before I decided I should go back and do the final, FINAL draft of the first book, which was about two or three months later. I did a close read this time, sometimes re-reading chapters twice over, and added some new chapters or changed some scenes entirely. This was my "content edit," as compared to the "mechanical edit" the second draft was.

Again, I would take my process with a grain of salt, as I am new at this. But that's how I did it.

 

[Dolla Dolla]

I got about 70 pages (37874 words)

Standard words per page for a manuscript is 250, sometimes as high as 300 max. You are well over 100 pages.

 

[Icyflamez96]

I can't believe it, but I've somehow got to the point where I'm actually writing a fanfic. I guess that's what massive disappointment can accomplish for one, eh.

 

[DirtyLarry]

I wanted to start a new thread, but then realized that was a bit pompous. So I did a Search and found this thread.

I have not shared this anywhere but really have wanted to, I wrote it almost a year ago, but I do not have a blog or anything like that, so Neogaf is the unfortunate recipient of my musings. I have been "writing" since 4th grade. I use quotes as with the exception of one elective in college, I am not a trained writer. I have always just done it.

So with that disclaimer out of the way, I present...

I Am American

You are me and I am not you.
I’m American.
I recognize my limits. Fucking zero.
I embrace my shortcomings. Fucking none.
I am world renowned scum.
I Get er’ done Bitch.
Analyze the metrics.
Define.
Solve.
Create.
The problem.
I intend to do something about it.
I have already begun doing something about it.
No hesitation.
Let’s get it started in here.
Henceforth The Apocalypse.
Arms wide open.
Black Friday Assault Rifle Sale.
Buy 2 get your Freedom Free.
The right to bear is mine.
You are just a vessel.
You will take it.
You will love it.
Fear not your shadow cast by the light at The End.
I am the void by which will set you free.
I am your only friend.
I Am American.


Asymmetric Encryption for optimal deception.
Brute force hash collision.
I am always watching.
Embrace the monotone hum of the drones overhead.
Bend over and take the DOS guided barrage of missiles up your collective stank ass.
One Step Authentication.
I will decimate that hut you call a home.
Sand to glass.
Thank me later.
A blank canvas set for the red, white, and blue.
Mostly crimson red.
Never mind the dead.
They tell no tales.
Never forget. I know I don’t.
Now you won’t.
If you don’t know NOW you know.
Hear it.
See it.
Speak it.
I sow the seed.
Introduce civilization.
The rise. The fall.
All below MSRP.
The low cost. Your soul.
Relinquish control.
Trust Me.
Trust Us.
Trust Him.
We are legion.
We are friends.
We are Americans.

I’m American.
Now you are too. Like it or not.
Cum shot to the face. In your eye.
Welcome to the Illuminati.
Taste the hate. Salty as fuck.
I chase my dreams and hope that they are wet.
Pray that they are wet.
Soaking wet. Dripping wet.
Dry to the touch.
I fall in love. I Fuck.
I fall out of love. I Marry.
I pork with the torque of an F-150
Occasionally my wife.
Built American Tough.
I have some kids. Maybe even be their father.
Ain’t no shame in my game.
I Destroy my dreams.
No worries.
I Fuck. Then I Fuck again.
I fall back in love but she’s a whore.
Fuck that shit.
Whores take it up the ass and like it.
Even Love it.
She will cry and claim she hates it.
Tears of joy.
Filthy temptress.
She’s a filthy fucking liar.
So am I but thats none of her fucking business.
My lies are truth. Absolute proof.
Remember. You trust no one but me.
I am your one and only friend.
American.

I consume.
I Fuck like I've never Fucked before.
I force.
I divorce.
I Marry again.
I Fuck again.
I build again.
I destroy again.
I do not learn from my mistakes. They learn from me.
Fuck mistakes. They hold you back.
FUCK them. Fuck you. Fuck everything in my path.
Fuck the world don't ask me for shit.
Fuck it all then Die.
I will be in heaven.
You will be in hell.
I’m American.
The Infidel.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

Managed to finish chapter 21 today! Really starting to head towards the climax and then the end. Pretty happy with it.

Book took a strange turn for the self aware. One of the toys not only full on knows he's a toy but also that they're in a toy store. He's also got access to an old VHS player and TV so he watches movies. He's kind of crazy.

He wants to figure out why everyone is alive, and that typically means taking people apart.

I hope I'm not "jumping the shark" with this, since I imagine addressing the elephant int he room isn't something you do with talking toy stories, but the whole book is turning into this weird existential metaphor for why we exist that it seemed like an okay idea. Plus, he's a fun breed of crazy to write, which is sort of the entire purpose of this book right now.

 

[toddhunter]

I can't believe it, but I've somehow got to the point where I'm actually writing a fanfic. I guess that's what massive disappointment can accomplish for one, eh.

wait till you find yourself writing porn and being let down by the sales.

It is a glorious time to be alive.

 

[FlowersisBritish]

wait till you find yourself writing porn and being let down by the sales.

It is a glorious time to be alive.

Listen, I didn't start this long and grueling process of writing porn for the sake of money. I got into this biz looking to return some class to the oldest medium humankind has ever had.

 

[Nudull]

Holy crap, I'm finally doing NaNo.

Holy crap, it's not a total disaster so far. XD

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

Got a bite from a real life publishing house! Editor seems really excited to get the full, so now I have to spend four hours stressing over a two sentence email!

First bite I've had in like a full month. Gawd the rejections were getting old. Had fucking three of them waiting for me today. One took three months to get to me ._.

Holy crap, I'm finally doing NaNo.

Holy crap, it's not a total disaster so far. XD

Best of luck to you (and everyone else trying NaNo!)

May it be a fun disaster :3

 

[Dolla Dolla]

Got a bite from a real life publishing house! Editor seems really excited to get the full, so now I have to spend four hours stressing over a two sentence email!

First bite I've had in like a full month. Gawd the rejections were getting old. Had fucking three of them waiting for me today. One took three months to get to me ._.


Best of luck to you (and everyone else trying NaNo!)

May it be a fun disaster :3

That's awesome. What's to stress over besides the wait? If they're asking for your full, you're golden for now.

 

[FlowersisBritish]

That's awesome. What's to stress over besides the wait? If they're asking for your full, you're golden for now.

Hahaha there can be a lot of stress in that wait. Congrats, I'll have a drink for ya. Best of luck.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

That's awesome. What's to stress over besides the wait? If they're asking for your full, you're golden for now.

I dunno. Every email I've gotten asking to read more has always been super casual like, "yeah I'm down," or "sounds good. Send it as a word doc please." And I'm here going, "I must write this, 'thank you here are my items' email with absolute perfection or they might think I'm stupid and back out because clearly I am the worst."

It's...something I'm used to

 

[NintendosBooger]

Got a bite from a real life publishing house!

You've given up sending queries to agents, and gone straight to the publishing houses?

 

[Valdfellgar]

Finally completed Chapter 11 of my novel (130,000 words at this point)! 1 chapter and an Epilogue to go before I finish the first draft and can begin cutting it down a little, fixing certain events, etc.

Wife also read up through Chapter Ten. She's been nervous. She's loved my screenplays, which unfortunately have all still gone unsold, but wasn't sure how I'd do converting my very first screenplay into a full novel (to follow into a series as well). But she plowed through what I'd written and was pleasantly surprised. She helped point out a few problems, suggestions for changes, but otherwise feels it's a very good first draft. I've got high hopes that if I can get the word out this'll do okay and I can make a career out of this. I'd be really nice to actually live off my writing for once.

 

[CharminUltra]

Is it better to try to get an agent or just contact publishers directly? Or is it one of those situations where one should do "whatever works"?

 

[Dolla Dolla]

Is it better to try to get an agent or just contact publishers directly? Or is it one of those situations where one should do "whatever works"?

Pursuing agents is usually the first step. They are really the gatekeepers of the traditional publishing industry. They have strong relationships with publishers/editors and keep their eyes and ears to the ground for scripts they like and think they can sell to a publisher. They don't make money unless they make you money.

Big publishing houses usually don't accept unsolicited manuscripts, so an agent may be your only way in for some of them. Some of the medium/small publishing houses accept submissions though, so you can bypass an agent.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

You've given up sending queries to agents, and gone straight to the publishing houses?

I'm doing a bit of both. I review a lot of books and note down new publishing houses I've never heard of to send thataway. I tend to stick with agents since the pool is so much bigger, but after so many rejections, it's tempting to go "eh fuck it I'll skip the middle man."

I actually have two publishing houses looking at two different stories right now. Both were/are eager, but it's such a massive wait that who the fuck knows.

Is it better to try to get an agent or just contact publishers directly? Or is it one of those situations where one should do "whatever works"?

Depends on the house. Some of the bigger ones will accept unsolicited manuscripts. Penguin has a subsection for scifi/fantasy called DAW publishing or something. They'll take manuscripts but wont' get back to you for like six or seven months. I actually got kind of far with my first book through them, according to the rejection letter, before the final gatekeeper said no.

A lot of "mid tier" houses are open to unsolicited manuscripts. I'm hitting them up and smaller houses too while I jump between agents. But by "hitting up" it's like one or two a week if that. THey tend to ask for a bit more in their query packages than stuff I can just copy/paste.

 

[CharminUltra]

Pursuing agents is usually the first step. They are really the gatekeepers of the traditional publishing industry. They have strong relationships with publishers/editors and keep their eyes and ears to the ground for scripts they like and think they can sell to a publisher. They don't make money unless they make you money.

Big publishing houses usually don't accept unsolicited manuscripts, so an agent may be your only way in for some of them. Some of the medium/small publishing houses accept submissions though, so you can bypass an agent.

Awesome, thanks!

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Awesome, thanks!

I'd like to offer my thanks as well, this is all very helpful info.

Have gotten one rejection letter from around eight or nine agents I sent a query to. Time to play the waiting game...

 

[Icyflamez96]

wait till you find yourself writing porn and being let down by the sales.

It is a glorious time to be alive.

has this happened to you

 

[Dolla Dolla]

I dunno. Every email I've gotten asking to read more has always been super casual like, "yeah I'm down," or "sounds good. Send it as a word doc please." And I'm here going, "I must write this, 'thank you here are my items' email with absolute perfection or they might think I'm stupid and back out because clearly I am the worst."

It's...something I'm used to

Would you mind sharing your query letter that attracted an editor from the publishing house to want to read your full manuscript?

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

Would you mind sharing your query letter that attracted an editor from the publishing house to want to read your full manuscript?

Not at all. It's actually something this thread helped me workshop a few months ago. Probably twelve pages back but it's just easier to repost than to dig

Dear Editor,

It starts as a bad dream, and Norbert has been on enough antidepressants to know that nightmares come with the territory. Yet this one is different: It’s too vivid, too focused. It’s like he’s awake. Dirty oil lamps hang from the ceiling on metal chains while black bookshelves run from one shadowed horizon to the next. He’s in a library.

The dream ends with a book. Norbert finds a pattern and a word he recognizes, and the next day while bored in class, he replicates the drawing. The picture bursts into flames.
The dream was real, and so is magic.

At first Norbert is happy, because if magic can exist, then so can change—he isn’t stuck being depressed. However, happiness is soon replaced with dread when Norbert realizes the library isn’t empty, and the spells he learns aren’t safe.

Soon Norbert is afraid to fall asleep, unable to stop taking his new medication to free himself from the monster-infested library. Something there wants him back. And he’s powerless to stop it.

According to the spiders, there are some things even magic can’t change.

THE GRIMOIRE LIBRARY is a young-adult, urban-fantasy novel with strong horror elements throughout. It measures 83,000 words.

So far I've gotten three hits off it out of...like 80 or something annoying like that. So you know, it ain't exactly batting me a perfect score. I've heard agents in genre fiction usually take 1/100 letters though, so if that's the case I'm doing pretty swell with it.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

EIGHTY? I heard you shouldn't send out to more than 8-10 at a time. Should I be sending out a lot more letters?

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

EIGHTY? I heard you shouldn't send out to more than 8-10 at a time. Should I be sending out a lot more letters?

I've been shopping the book around for like...four months now. Tend to query about five or six agents a week, though sometimes more if all I'm doing is copy/pasting the same email and changing the names.

Agent turnarounds vary between two days and four months. The worst that'll happen is they say no and the best is they'll ask to see the rest of the manuscript. That's another one to four months depending on how busy they are.

I figure it's best to just send out weekly batches because I'll hear more "no" than "yes" and it's going to take forfucking every regardless of what happens. No point in sending out ten and waiting for ten responses, especially when most respond via silence.

I only recently started bothering with publishing houses. I think three have the book, including the one that said yes. One rejected and I imagine the other hasn't looked at it since it's only been like two weeks.

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

has this happened to you

we did have a challenge on that a while ago, so probably.

I've been having the weird development of saying 'no' to that then, and now thinking "man, I should write a few".

 

[FlowersisBritish]

I'm actually pretty disappointed in myself for never actually writing that Velociraptor Victorian Era romance I said I was going to write for it. I feel like there was a lot of potential to talk about the important things with that and also a lot of easy French jokes.

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

.

 

[UCBooties]

Small Vent:

I've sent the press release for the anthology to a couple places and no one has any interest. I know it's micro-press (barely above self publishing) but I thought the timeliness might get us some traction right before the election. I'm mostly irked that I'm the one sending out the release since I'm just a contributor. Apparently no one from the press ever bothered with them before. Hopefully my next story will get a bit more exposure since its tied to an actual product people will be buying.

 

[Nico_D]

Living in a small country sucks publishing-wise. Like 5 big and few smaller publishers here, no chance in hell getting anything but the usual mainstream stuff out. Unless you are already "somebody" like an actor or musician or something.

Given up on that. Writing plays now. Procuded few of them myself and took them on the road, also wrote something for some play competition without any illusion of doing well in it because there needs to be only one "somebody" participating and I'm done - no matter how good my play is.

I've actually given up on my foolish hopes of publishing anything. I write just for me and just for fun. If something comes out of it, if I'm happy with it, I may send it somewhere and forget it.

 

[Icyflamez96]

Can I get some feedback on a passage? I'm having a dilemma with tenses. I attempted to stay in third person present tense. I noticed in the second paragraph that I start to go off into past tense.

Reading the whole passage isn't necessary. Mainly just the first two paragraphs, and the last description at the very end. The end description I believe is in present tense as well.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vhxZSYiHlsCrpcDaPSN2VQPjxHyt_uBP8PHxqXOe28g/edit

I was looking into it recently and it seems most people prefer just reading in past tense. Should I stick with that? I personally enjoyed writing it in present tense, but when I noticed that my second paragraph jumps into some past tense descriptions, it got me thinking about the whole thing.

Keeping my writing in the same tense is one key thing I never got down in school. I know the conventional rule is to stay in one tense, which is an easy enough rule to follow in concept. I don't catch myself switching tenses sometimes until I really inspect what I wrote. Maybe even a bigger problem for me is that I don't see my switching of tenses as awkward? Which sucks for me because other people probably would, but it's not something that naturally sticks out to me with my own writing.

I haven't come down on a final decision on what tense to keep my story in yet, but even if my goal was to keep everything in present tense, something feels awkward to me about going into my second paragraph and changing the past tense descriptions to present tense. To me it flows nicely as it is, but again, that's an issue because it probably won't for many other people.

edit: nicee, I'm getting a lot of good feedback from reddit. As you can see with all of the comments on the documents now lol. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vhxZSYiHlsCrpcDaPSN2VQPjxHyt_uBP8PHxqXOe28g/edit

edit 2: alright, nevermind. I'm definitely gonna be going with past tense from here on out, so I'll just strike out basically my whole post up there.

I'm know I'm garbage at writing, but I have to write this to keep myself sane. I guess that's how bad fanfiction get spawned eh

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

Small Vent:

I've sent the press release for the anthology to a couple places and no one has any interest. I know it's micro-press (barely above self publishing) but I thought the timeliness might get us some traction right before the election. I'm mostly irked that I'm the one sending out the release since I'm just a contributor. Apparently no one from the press ever bothered with them before. Hopefully my next story will get a bit more exposure since its tied to an actual product people will be buying.

I know that feeling, and a bit from both sides really. Got an indie game I'm working on, and getting anyone to give a shit about it is pretty much impossible.

On the reverse, I write for a somewhat small outlet that does book/comic/game reviews, and we do get a slew of indie stuff that we turn down. Some of it has to do with time, some with interest, and others with...well, the small stuff doesn't bring in much for views. Even a shitty little website that can't afford to pay its writers thinks about the clicks first.

the last book I reviewed for it was from a small publishing house and sent to me on behalf of the author. The guy had a decent run of kid's books published too, so it's not like he was a nobody either.

It's just...hard no matter what, I guess.

Keep on pushin' forward and good luck.

 

[aidan]

All! Issue #5 of Mothership Zeta was just released, and it includes my short story, "The Penelope Qingdom"!

Synopsis of the story:

Growing up in small town British Columbia, Ivan doesn’t know much more than fighting off bullies and dreaming of a larger world. But when Penelope Qing moves in next door, she introduces him to a rich and vast magical kingdom in her basement. Soon, he assumes the mantle of Sir Ivan Wandsworth, Cleric of the Wending Wind, and his adventures alongside King Penelope become a thing of legend.

For fans of Stranger Things, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Ken Liu’s “The Paper Menagerie,” “The Penelope Qingdom” is a love letter to growing up, ’80s Saturday morning cartoons, Dungeons & Dragons, and falling in love for the first time.

If you're curious, or just want to support another GAFfer, you can purchase a copy (for just $3) at the following stores:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2fpV1ES
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/679257
Direct from publisher: https://payhip.com/b/kXcU

 

[Andrew Korenchkin]

I didn't want to make a whole thread for this question, but I have one about writing a Chicago format research paper.

I am confused about whether or not footnotes or endnotes are interchangeable, and if I'm allowed to skip out on inserting footnotes in favor of endnotes. Is there any advantage of using one or the other?