Today, the Worldbuilder’s auction that includes Cast in Flame went live on ebay.
I am going to quote what I sent with the manuscript itself.
When Worldbuilders came around this year (2013), and Pat sent email inviting donations and contributions for his annual drive, I had my usual reaction: I looked at what everyone else was contributing, and felt inadequate. (Because: writer. Everyone else’s ideas always look exciting or interesting or original because they haven’t been living in my head for years.)
But this year I had an idea. I mean, I had several, but this particular idea did not immediately strike me as feeble or uninteresting. (See: writer, above).
I was, when I received the email, almost finished Cast in Flame, the 10th in an ongoing series of fantasy novels featuring private Kaylin Neya, of her city’s police force. Cast in Flame has a tentative publication date of July 29, 2014 (according to Amazon).
I finished the novel and submitted the finished version to my editor. This would be the version that she then reads, and comments on; that is revised and sent to copy-editors, and that eventually, from there, makes its way into the wider world. With a cover.
I asked my editor if she had any objections to my sending the submitted manuscript to Worldbuilders at the same time as I sent it to her, and she gave her enthusiastic blessing.
So: what you have here is Cast in Flame, the submission manuscript. It is substantially the same novel as the rest of the world will see when the book is finally published — but, with typos and other minor errors that we hopefully catch in all of the rest of the iterations. (We never, ever, catch them all, which is heartbreaking, but reality). There may also be some cutting in the final.
But! You’ll be able to read it in February 2014, rather than July of 2014.As an added bonus: I will dedicate the book to whoever is generous enough to win the auction (with a mention of Worldbuilders). I will dedicate the book to the person of your choice if you win and you don’t want your name in the dedication — but I reserve the right to refuse to dedicate the book to, say, myself or someone equally “funny” (I.e., no Hitler, no obvious political swipes). I would need this information by the end of January, 2014, in order to fulfill this part of the auction, because the front matter information (of which the dedication is part) is due in to production by the 31st of January.
To be perfectly clear: This is Cast in Flame as my editor will see it. The book will be substantially the same when it is finally released as a Real Book — but there will be small differences (and possibly cuts – I’m hoping that, as this book wasn’t quite as long as either Peril or Sorrow, the cuts will be minimal).
All of the money that comes in from the auctions goes straight to Worldbuilders; none of it comes to me. And, umm. I will cry like a weeping, bereaved person if I hear that someone has mortgaged their house (or their soul) just to read the book six months before anyone else does.
P.S. I know I have posted 3 days in a row — and I have one more post yet to write, but I promise I will once again be quieter while at work after that :)
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If I understand correctly, you’re helping to raise money for Heifer International, a charity that provides poor families in underdeveloped countries with livestock. Worldbuilders (http://www.worldbuilders.org/) is organized by fantasy author Patrick Rothfuss (http://blog.patrickrothfuss.com/), and it auctions books and manuscripts on ebay (http://www.ebay.com/usr/worldbuilders).
Sounds like a good thing! What would you have done with this ms. otherwise?
Happy 2014, BTW.
P.S. I was in Toronto last weekend, and I was amazed by how much high-rise construction is going on. No recession there — at least for the people who can afford to live/rent offices in a high rise.