First of all, though the multi-author event this past weekend has completed, Shafter will be on sale for 99 cents through the full of January as part of the buildup toward the release of book three, Apprentice. I hope you’ll take this opportunity to check out the Seeds Among the Stars series and/or to share the sale with your fellow readers if you’ve already enjoyed it.

Secondly, as part of my year-end review, I took a look at where I’ve been and where I want to be. I wrote for many years before I started indie publishing. I’ve sent some of these works to traditional publishing agents with responses ranging from no response at all to “I love the story, but I just don’t think I could sell it.” While the last was gratifying in some ways, those stories were still hanging out on my computer with nowhere to go. Shafter was one of the last set, but most I shoved aside to molder. Thing is my stories, short or long, aren’t so good at quietly fading away. Instead, they pop into my head at stray moments, demand attention, and will not go gently into the night. Shafter was one of those as well, starting life as a novelette I called a short story, but that wasn’t enough for Trina. She felt her story had been given less than it deserved. She thought it epic.

Well, considering I’m in the process of preparing the third book for publication as we speak, and both Shafter and Trainee have won over readers (and Trainee wouldn’t even exist without demands from you to tell the next stage of her story), I’ll have to concede the point.

Shafter, though, is only one of the stories left to molder before I chose to go indie. When I started on the indie path, I’d written somewhere between 25 and 30 full novels. Written, but only some had received even the lightest of edits, while others had not been read since I put the last word to the page. Beneath the Mask was one of those, but when I read it on a whim, suddenly I knew what would come out as my first indie title.

Anyway, to make a long story not any longer, I have been listening and observing other authors regardless of path, and the idea of serializing a novel for readers before it’s published keeps coming up. This month, the idea took hold, and I’m seriously considering it. I’m talking about providing chapters of a clean, but not final draft, about every week or so for your reading and commenting pleasure. You’d get to see a story I’m currently holding hostage, and potentially influence how I bring it together if your comments connect with my vision. Because I’d be editing on a chapter-by-chapter basis, when I feel a change would strengthen the book, I can implement it going forward. If nothing else, one more story would get closer to publication ready.

However, if there’s no interest, there’s no gain in adding this to my schedule, which is why I’m seeking opinions now. There are no wrong answers, only useful information. The first poll is to gauge interest and explore methodology. In later weeks, assuming there is reason to pursue this, we will get down to the nitty gritty. I can tell you I had fun writing novel blurbs for all those hidden titles and hope you look forward to learning about then. Depending on the later answers, some options will not be possible, but I can’t take those opinions into account if I don’t know them.

Note: You’re allowed to mark 2.

[poll id=”3″]