Hello!

I am sorry I have not been reporting much about my literary work, but with the Christmas thing going on I have not managed to get much done.

I have uploaded a preview of The Flaming Wrath of Árelor to my gopher site. I encourage you to have a look at it and give me your opinions about the formatting. I have tried to keep it KISS because I hate it when editors complicate simple documents.

Those of you who have preordered the book have the preview available for download in Richard Falken's Bookstore.

I hope you have a great end of the year and that 2021 is better than this one for you all.
--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
* Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (21:2/138)

Those of you who have preordered the book have the preview available for download in Richard Falken's Bookstore.

Just to ask the dumb question, where exactly would I find that?

And to continue along that vein, my order is still listed as "Pending". My
bank account seems to think I sent the EUR4.89 to Richard Falken.

But I'm not sure how it's supposed to work, especially with it being a pre-order. (And I don't exactly have a ton of experience with the European
way of paying for things, either)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)

Re: Re: A preview of my first book
By: Adept to Arelor on Tue Dec 29 2020 01:40 pm

Those of you who have preordered the book have the preview available fo download in Richard Falken's Bookstore.

Just to ask the dumb question, where exactly would I find that?

And to continue along that vein, my order is still listed as "Pending". My bank account seems to think I sent the EUR4.89 to Richard Falken.

But I'm not sure how it's supposed to work, especially with it being a pre-order. (And I don't exactly have a ton of experience with the European way of paying for things, either)

Hello there!

If you log in with your customer account and go to My Orders somewhere in your account menu, the download should be listed there.

The order is still pending because I have yet to fulfill it, but despair not, because I am ahead of schedule :-)

If you have any issues let me know, since part of the reason why I am releasing the file is to ensure everything is working correctly.
--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
* Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (21:2/138)

If you log in with your customer account and go to My Orders somewhere
in your account menu, the download should be listed there.

So I went to Account/My Orders /View your order history, and it shows the order, which I can then view. The only items that are lighting up as buttons are "reorder" and "return" (and "continue" at the bottom).

If I click on "Downloads", it says, "You have not made any previous downloadable orders!".

I was assuming it'd be in one of those two places, but no luck.

The order is still pending because I have yet to fulfill it, but despair not, because I am ahead of schedule :-)

Cool. I've been reading your updates. But, honestly, as long as you're making progress I'm happy.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)

Re: Re: A preview of my first book
By: Adept to Arelor on Tue Dec 29 2020 06:17 pm

So I went to Account/My Orders /View your order history, and it shows the order, which I can then view. The only items that are lighting up as buttons are "reorder" and "return" (and "continue" at the bottom).

If I click on "Downloads", it says, "You have not made any previous downloadable orders!".

Yucks!

I am don't have the access credentials here but I suspect what happened is
I uploaded the file but didn't mark it as downloadable content. Shame on me

You can still have a look ath the file in my gopher site while you wait for me to fix it tomorrow :-)

--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
* Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (21:2/138)

I am don't have the access credentials here but I suspect what happened
is I uploaded the file but didn't mark it as downloadable content. Shame on me

Marking the order as completed did seem to do the trick (assuming you didn't change anything else), as I successfully downloaded the EPUB file.

Thanks for taking care of it, even if it wasn't the entirely-preferred way. :)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)

Re: Re: A preview of my first book
By: Adept to Arelor on Wed Dec 30 2020 01:49 pm

I am don't have the access credentials here but I suspect what happened is I uploaded the file but didn't mark it as downloadable content. Sham on me

Marking the order as completed did seem to do the trick (assuming you didn't change anything else), as I successfully downloaded the EPUB file.

Thanks for taking care of it, even if it wasn't the entirely-preferred way.

I have yet to tryn the file on a real e-reder, so if you have the chance, please tell me how you like the formatting. I am eager to know.

--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
* Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (21:2/138)

Hello Arelor!

** On Monday 28.12.20 - 13:36, Arelor wrote to All:

I have uploaded a preview of The Flaming Wrath of Arelor to
my gopher site. I encourage you to have a look at it and give
me your opinions about the formatting. I have tried to keep
it KISS because I hate it when editors complicate simple
documents.

I only noticed one 4-page .epub file. Did I miss a larger
preview/sample?

It is hard to detect any issues with the formatting in just 3 or
4 pages. It generally looks fine. Is there anything specific
that you were concerned about?

I still haven't found my Kobo ereader, but viewing the file with
Adobe Digital Editions 2.0.x looks fine. Briefly playing with
resizing the text went well.

BTW.. please do not throw any more Nokias at the wall after I say
a few things about the prologue in your .epub

[1]
Your story first describes "tied to a post and with firewood
stacked at his feet", and then a little later you write "raised
his hands and addressed the crowd that had gathered around the
gallows that night."

To me, a gallows represents a torture device typically for
hanging, not burning at the stake.


[2]
At the start, the priest says "Arelor, Lord of Rage and Revenge".
Then, a little later, the priest also says "cannot but send him
to Arelor, Lord of Rage and Revenge". So far so good. But the
accused refers to Arelor as "Lord of Vengeance". I would assume
everyone is talking about the same Lord, but could it not also be
construed that there is another Lord in the mix? I mean.. your
writing style is such that the big reveal is often at the end of
your tale - which is a rather cool experience. Therefore, I have
to wonder if your story has an Arelor vs the "true" Arelor?

[3]
When Falaforn speaks ' "I swear I'll be the man who wields that
avenging sword, Father!" he cried, raising a fist and looking
at the stars.' ..you capitalize father. Capitalizing father like
that, especially when you stage the scene with him looking to the
stars, suggests to me that he is speaking to God, the Father. The english-speaking don't capitalize father/mother/son/daugher etc.,
even if we use those words to address that person. But the
prologue ends satisfactorily when you reveal that Falaforn is the
"son" of the man that was just burned at the stake.

[4]
The cover/title has "ARELOR" without the special char on the A.
But the text uses Arelor with the accent. Was it intentional to
not have the accented char in the title?


--- OpenXP 5.0.48
* Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)

Re: A preview of my first book
By: Ogg to Arelor on Wed Dec 30 2020 11:06 pm

Hello Arelor!

** On Monday 28.12.20 - 13:36, Arelor wrote to All:

I have uploaded a preview of The Flaming Wrath of Arelor to
my gopher site. I encourage you to have a look at it and give
me your opinions about the formatting. I have tried to keep
it KISS because I hate it when editors complicate simple
documents.

I only noticed one 4-page .epub file. Did I miss a larger
preview/sample?

It is hard to detect any issues with the formatting in just 3 or
4 pages. It generally looks fine. Is there anything specific
that you were concerned about?

I still haven't found my Kobo ereader, but viewing the file with
Adobe Digital Editions 2.0.x looks fine. Briefly playing with
resizing the text went well.

BTW.. please do not throw any more Nokias at the wall after I say
a few things about the prologue in your .epub

[1]
Your story first describes "tied to a post and with firewood
stacked at his feet", and then a little later you write "raised
his hands and addressed the crowd that had gathered around the
gallows that night."

To me, a gallows represents a torture device typically for
hanging, not burning at the stake.

[2]
At the start, the priest says "Arelor, Lord of Rage and Revenge".
Then, a little later, the priest also says "cannot but send him
to Arelor, Lord of Rage and Revenge". So far so good. But the
accused refers to Arelor as "Lord of Vengeance". I would assume
everyone is talking about the same Lord, but could it not also be
construed that there is another Lord in the mix? I mean.. your
writing style is such that the big reveal is often at the end of
your tale - which is a rather cool experience. Therefore, I have
to wonder if your story has an Arelor vs the "true" Arelor?

[3]
When Falaforn speaks ' "I swear I'll be the man who wields that
avenging sword, Father!" he cried, raising a fist and looking
at the stars.' ..you capitalize father. Capitalizing father like
that, especially when you stage the scene with him looking to the
stars, suggests to me that he is speaking to God, the Father. The english-speaking
don't capitalize father/mother/son/daugher etc.,
even if we use those words to address that person. But the
prologue ends satisfactorily when you reveal that Falaforn is the
"son" of the man that was just burned at the stake.

[4]
The cover/title has "ARELOR" without the special char on the A.
But the text uses Arelor with the accent. Was it intentional to
not have the accented char in the title?

Thanks for the comments.

1) The priest is not the guy tied to the post.

2) To be addressed later in the story.

3) That change was inserted by the original publisher so I let it be. I might reconsider.

4) Original publisher arranged the title in the cover that way for marketing reasons
and I don't feel reworking the cover is warranted. Árelor (as a name) has always had
the special character on it.

Thanks for looking at it. I was mainly concerned for issues that made the text look
ugly in devices.

Also, happy new year!
--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
* Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (21:2/138)

Hello Arelor!

** On Thursday 31.12.20 - 18:44, Arelor wrote to Ogg:

Thanks for the comments.

1) The priest is not the guy tied to the post.

Yes.. that part is clear. But I was referring to the term
"gallows" which is typically NOT a "burn at the stake" device.

4) Original publisher arranged the title in the cover that
way for marketing reasons and I don't feel reworking the
cover is warranted. Árelor (as a name) has always had the
special character on it.

Personnally, I would keep the accented A. Today, any title that
can stand out from the crowd is a plus. The accent is decorative
too.

Thanks for looking at it. I was mainly concerned for issues
that made the text look ugly in devices.

I must try harder to find my ereader then. Digital Editions
defaults to a Times New Roman which is very easy on the eyes. My
ereader uses that too. I am pretty sure that your .epub would be
fine.

Also, happy new year!

Thanks. And the same to you and your cast of characters! <g>

Some kind of happiness would be nice. This shadow cast by covid
is quite broad and has imposed lasting consequences even to those
who are healthy but coping to deal with the adhoc economic
restrictions.


--- OpenXP 5.0.48
* Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)