samwitt.com

The thoughts and work of Sam Witt

Half-Made Girls

by Sam | 9 Comments

HALF_MADE_GIRLS_COVER So, I’ve been working on some new projects – Breaking Grace is winding down as I finish the edits on that book and prepare for publication, but Half-Made Girls is just getting fired up. This project is going on at jukepopserials.com, which allows my work to rub shoulders with other serials and generate some extra exposure. It’s been fun as hell so far, and I look forward to continuing with it until the work is complete. If you’d like to read a creepy story about the Night Marshal and his occult family doing battle with dark forces in the hills of the Midwest, this is the book for you.

Click on the cover to the left and throw me some votes if you like what you see. You can vote for each and every chapter, so get to clickin’.

About Sam

I am the author of the popular Pitchfork County series of horror novels. I also write a newsletter with great reading suggestions and free fiction.

  • I will read HMG and vote. Best of luck with it.
    I’ve never seen a place where authors could write serials and keep the rights, etc.
    Have you written for JP before? Would you recommend it?

  • Sam

    Thanks for reading HMG, Gary, much appreciated. This is my first serial for Jukepop, and it’s been an unusual and interesting experiment. While I think it’s great for authors who are building their platform, such as myself, I’m not sure that I’d recommend it for everyone. Rising through the ranks on Jukepop requires a great deal of self-promotion and dogged persistence. It’s taken off for me, but I see quite a few decent serials that aren’t getting much attention. As always, individual mileage will vary, but I think anyone willing to pimp themselves mercilessly can do well on Jukepop.

  • Joanne

    When will the book be finished -love to read the ending

  • Sam

    It’ll be a bit before the whole book is done. I’m almost done writing it, but at the current pace I’d guess it will be a few more months before Half-Made Girls wraps up on Jukepop. For now, your best bet to read it is there, with two new chapters each week.

    On the other hand, if there were enough votes and public outcry for more chapters, faster, it might be wrapped up even sooner. 🙂

  • Kat

    Hey Sam,

    Just finished reading the first chapter of Half-Made Girls. It’s not often the first few paragraphs of a novel (in this case, serial) grab me, but this did. I’m a fussy sort. I’d abandoned a half dozen others rather quickly before finding yours.

    No need to publish this comment as it is simply a friendly nudge regarding an editing oversight.

    As Joe is leaving the crime scene you write, “…Joe clamped his Stetson down tight on top of his head.”

    At the start of the third paragraph after that, “Joe walked back to the church without responding. He fetched his hat off the door….”

    With that out of the way, when an author has me asking “What the hell?” this early in the game, they’ve pretty much got me on the hook. Now, just reel me in.

    Looking forward to more.

    Kat

  • Karen A. Leppert

    Sam, I am a new author (Bequeathed) to JukePop and chose Half-Made Girls as my first book to read. How did you go about designing your cover? It’s a real eye-catcher. Also, did you insert the “Message from the author” at the bottom of each chapter or is there a place to do so in Jukepop’s formats (I can’t find it and thought it was a nice touch). I am enjoying the book so far. You might recognize my name because I have made some comments.

    I hope you don’t mind my picking your brain.

    Thanks,

    Karen Leppert

  • Sam

    Karen – no problem at all, pick away! The message is there because I enabled donations on Half-Made Girls, which allows you to leave a message for your readers and turns on the Donations button.

    My cover, amateur hour that it is, is just a piece of stock art (the girl and the wall), a half-page 40% transparent gradient on the right side, and a typewriter font for the title and my name. I’m working on getting a pro cover, but what I’ve got seems to be working well enough for now.

    How are things going for you at Jukepop?

  • Karen A. Leppert

    My book just opened today. I do have another book that was published last February through Muse It Up Publishing (reGUARDing GRACE) with its sequel due for publication this summer. I wrote Bequeathed at NaNoWriMo. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it but it is a nationwide writing event online where participants commit to writing 50,000 during the month of November. I met that goal but have not yet finished the book (I am close but struggling). Jukepop is having a contest in association with NaNoWriMo and that is how I came to the site and your book. I wouldn’t change your cover; it certainly caught my attention. If you don’t mind me asking, how are the donations going?

    Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.

    Karen

  • Sam

    Oh, cool – I have won NaNoWriMo a couple of years, but I had to give it up in order to maintain my sanity. I didn’t realize JP had a contest going with NNWM, but that’s very cool.

    I’m glad you like the cover – unfortunately, it doesn’t really convey the tone I was looking for and I’ve had a few readers point out that it’s not the most accurate look for the book. We’ll see, though – it’s been working so far.

    I’ve gotten some donations, but nothing to write home about. HMG goes behind a paywall in March, I think, so we’ll see what happens with that. Given a choice between free and gimme some money, most folks will just take free, so I’m going to have to remove that choice. Of course, all the money from donations and paywall at JP is going into paying for polish and clean-up on HMG, so everybody wins in the end.