June 22, 2015

How I’m Doing on ‘To Hunt a Sub’

tridentAfter a four-year hiatus from the first book in my Delamagente-Rowe series, I finally think I’ll get it done. I had a few interruptions–agent interest in the series’ second book, deadline for two non-fic series I write–but I think I’m going to make it this time. The short blurb for this thriller–still a work-in-progress is:

…a brilliant PhD candidate, a cynical ex-SEAL, and a quirky bot team up to stop terrorists from stealing America’s most powerful nuclear weapon, the Trident submarine.

Here’s what I did this week:

  • finished the final draft. I still have the Prologue to tighten up, but that’s it. Ah, I can almost smell the scent of freshly-printed books awaiting their new owners.
  • creating a short list (not my usual 101 people) of agents who might be interested. I’d love for this to work because then I don’t have to design the cover, copy edit, arrange printing–but I’m fine self-publishing. Part of what slowed this book down (and the other three I have languishing in the bottom drawer of my desk) was waiting for responses. More importantly: Hoping for acceptances that never arrived. I’m not going down that rabbit hole again.
  • thought about reviewing my acknowledgements. A lot of people helped me with their knowledge of military procedures, but it’s been awhile and I need to make sure the information is still current.
  • thought about the cover. I have found a few people who might be able to help with that.
  • thought about a copy editor. Like the cover, I have a few names, maybe narrowed down to one. I’m crossing my fingers
  • not yet thinking about marketing. Maybe that’ll show up on the next update.
  • not yet thinking about a book trailer. I’ve seen some I like done with a free tool like Animoto. That’s probably the direction I’ll go if I even do this.

By this time next month, I hope to be waiting for responses from agents, starting on my next project.

More on To Hunt a Sub’s progress:

How I’m Doing on ‘To Hunt a Sub’

How I’m Doing on ‘To Hunt a Sub’

How I’m Doing on ‘To Hunt a Sub’


Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, adjunct professor of technology in education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer,  a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today’s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning.