I have just spent the opening months of 2013 reading back through the Sunset of Furmankind manuscript, making edits, adding material and generally expanding some sections of the story. Some of the changes were based upon reader comments I've received since the story was first made available to the public and others came to me as I read back through the story as a whole. Along with nearly twenty extra pages of material scattered throughout the story, I commissioned Elizabeth Jackson to create a new front cover to go along with the revised and expanded book. Liz is the one who has created the wonderful covers for my two works-in-progress, Second Chance and A Wilder West. The new artwork depicts Brian Barrett VS Jonathan Sunset to represent the internal struggle between the opposing sides of his personality throughout the changes he must face. The new edition of the book is now for sale online through Lulu Press as a giant trade paperback, and all of the chapters on the website now reflect the new material. I am still working on the ebook versions for Kindle, Nook and Sony readers, but these will take some time as ebook formatting is a whole 'nuther animal. I hope to have both versions available soon, so be sure to watch for news and updates. Sunset of Furmankind is undergoing a recent final revision for changes based upon reader comments as well as other edits the author felt necessary to shine and polish the story a little more. In addition to internal updates to the story, the front cover of the book will also be updated with new art by Liz Jackson to reflect the internal struggle of the main character's dual nature. Not to worry, Ashley Leuthardt's fine portrait of Jon will still grace the cover of the book on the back with the story and author information. Once the revisions have been completed, the new story chapters will replace those on the website and a new version of the printed book and ebook files will also be made available. Stay tuned. When I was getting Sunset of Furmankind ready as a print-copy edition of the story, the page limit for a printed book was 700 pages. Due to this restriction, I was unable to make it fit within a standard trade paperback format and it had to be released as a full-sized book (that we've called the coffee-table edition). Not long ago, this page-limit was increased to 740 pages, so I decided to try an experiment to see if I could reduce the font by one point size to fit within the new page size and still stay within the limit. Once I had reformatted everything (including page numbers on the table of contents and both cover images), I uploaded a new 722-page file that fit the parameters to Lulu and then ordered a proof copy. I wasn't entirely sure about the readability of the new text size, even though it had only been reduced by one point, but the new edition arrived today and to my tired old eyes, it looks good. However, squeezing that big story into a 6"x9" paperback made the thing extremely thick and it's just about as heavy as the larger print edition. Also due to the page count and mechanics of the redesign, it also costs more than its big brother. It looks nice and is easier to handle, but I'm not really sure it's an improvement for commercially economical purposes. For the money, the Nook and Kindle e-books are the most affordable, but I know there are some (like myself) who prefer to hold a physical book in hand. Fred Patten, known far and wide in furry/anthropomorphic circles has written a review on Sunset of Furmankind on the Flayrah website that can be found HERE. Thanks, Fred! I'm happy that you enjoyed the tale. The revised chapters of Sunset of Furmankind have been uploaded to the website and the manuscript is available through Lulu Press as a softcover book. At long last, the Furmankind project has reached its conclusion. Thanks for reading, Friends! The Lulu Press edition of Sunset of Furmankind has been uploaded and is ready for purchase for those who might be interested in owning a printed version of the story. However, the new edits to the story have not yet been uploaded to this website, but sometime over the next few evenings, I will start posting the new chapters online. The final chapter of Sunset of Furmankind has been posted to the library. I began this story in early October 2008, so with its completion tonight, it has taken me almost three full years to write this tale. I want you to know that I greatly appreciate all the kind words and encouragement expressed to me during this time. There were moments when I felt like shelving the entire project, only for someone's uplifting words to come along and ease me back into production. If not for those times, this tale may never have been written. I understand that it was probably overlong in places, but everything came together to tell the story I wanted to tell. I want to express a special Thank You to author James R. Lane, my gracious Beta Reader who helped me over rough areas and made suggestions and recommendations when something just didn't flow right. Thanks, Jim! "What's next?" you may ask. I plan to take a break to read a book I just picked up from the local library, and once I'm finished with that, I will be re-reading Sunset of Furmankind from the beginning, likely making corrections, edits and additions along the way. When the manuscript has been cleaned up a bit, I will format it for a Lulu Press publication. Whether or not anyone else wishes a physical book of this tale to hold in his or her hands, I want one for my own library, so they will be made available through my bookstore. Thanks for coming along for the ride, my friends. Good night. |
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