{"id":1443,"date":"2015-03-03T05:56:12","date_gmt":"2015-03-03T13:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sacollins.com\/blog\/?p=1443"},"modified":"2015-03-03T23:05:44","modified_gmt":"2015-03-04T07:05:44","slug":"angels-of-mercy-the-print-edition-cover-reveal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sacollins.com\/blog-wp\/?p=1443","title":{"rendered":"Angels of Mercy – The Print Edition Cover Reveal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Angels of Mercy – The Print Edition Cover Reveal<\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

I’ve waffled enough on this. To release it or not. Look for a lit agent or not. Traditional pub or not. I went back and forth so many times I started to see myself coming. I’ve tugged on my beta readers like you can’t imagine \u2013 trying to think through every permutation I could come up with to getting it out there. The print edition is a whopping 540 pages<\/strong>! I just came to the conclusion that no traditional publisher was going to touch the work because I am so new, so untested in the market place.<\/p>\n

And ultimately, I knew I wouldn’t compromise too much on the work as it is. I’ve edited the hell out of it, shaving close to 60K words from the original version and it is still<\/em> a large book. But others have previewed it and said they can’t think of a single thing to cut\/edit. Everything in it is relevant to Elliot’s voice and the story he has to tell.<\/p>\n

And it is Elliot’s voice in this book that I must honor! <— (You’ve no idea how much I need to defend that last line.)<\/p>\n

Elliot and Marco’s story is a deeply personal one. It was one of the fastest works I’ve written (just over several months). Yet the torture I put myself through on whether or not to release it was mind-numbingly overwhelming at times. I knew it was edited and is a very clean manuscript.<\/p>\n

But it has so many things that several people who’ve been self-pubbing told me were no-no’s: it ends on a cliff-hanger. It isn’t a M\/M romance genre read. It doesn’t fit the mold even though it is one of the strongest stories about two men loving one another with all the trials, tribulations and utter euphoria of first (and in their case) lasting love that I believe is out there.<\/p>\n

Will it ever find a readership (the one I know it deserves)? Who knows? I know that my debating it has got to stop because that is what will ultimately kill it before it has a chance to fly. Elliot must see the light for himself now. My boys must fly.<\/p>\n

On the wings of Angels …<\/p>\n

So without any more waffling \u2013 I give you the print cover release as it stands right now with CreateSpace (Amazon). I hope to release it late this month or early in April. Fingers crossed. The work might cost a small fortune in printed form. So yeah, there’s that to consider. I just don’t want to compromise what my boys have to say. It is what it is.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Cover<\/a>

The cover artwork for Angels of Mercy – Volume One: Elliot<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Angels of Mercy – The Print Edition Cover Reveal   I’ve waffled enough on this. To release it or not. Look for a lit agent or not. Traditional pub or not. I went back and forth so many times I started to see myself coming. I’ve tugged on my beta readers like you can’t imagine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[377,552,551,598,580,261,48,525,216,234,43,5,199,7,3,32,169,396,145,18,325],"tags":[636,68,336,364,523,635,67,66,266,634,255,253,163],"class_list":["post-1443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-authors-voices","category-book-promotion","category-book-release","category-cover-artwork","category-gays-in-sports","category-geeking-out","category-giving-back","category-graphic-design","category-journey","category-language","category-life-inserts-itself","category-mm-lovefest","category-male-feelings","category-my-what-the-fuck-on-the-media","category-novel-writing","category-pathos","category-social-issues","category-the-craft","category-words-have-power","category-writing","category-young-adult-realities","tag-akwekon-media","tag-angels-of-mercy","tag-book-cover","tag-book-release","tag-cover-art","tag-cover-reveal","tag-elliot-donahey","tag-marco-sforza","tag-pietro-sforza","tag-promotion","tag-publishing","tag-self-publishing","tag-storytelling"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p75tPU-nh","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1820,"url":"http:\/\/www.sacollins.com\/blog-wp\/?p=1820","url_meta":{"origin":1443,"position":0},"title":"Five Star Review – and GIVEAWAY for Angels of Mercy Vol 2!","author":"S A Collins","date":"December 13, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"FIVE STAR review of ANGELS OF MERCY - VOLUME 2: MARCO. \u00a0 \u00a0 Thanks to Paul Gay Berry from GayMediaReviews for the lovely words and the opportunity to share it with the readership out there! #Humbled #DoingTheHappyDance !! BIG GIVEAWAY WITH THIS ONE - There's an opportunity to win the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Authors Voices"","block_context":{"text":"Authors Voices","link":"http:\/\/www.sacollins.com\/blog-wp\/?cat=377"},"img":{"alt_text":"Print cover reveal","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biz141.inmotionhosting.com\/~akweko6\/sacollins.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/AoM_V2_Marco_CVR_Print2x3blog.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1652,"url":"http:\/\/www.sacollins.com\/blog-wp\/?p=1652","url_meta":{"origin":1443,"position":1},"title":"Angels of Mercy – Volume One: Elliot RELEASED!","author":"S A Collins","date":"March 31, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"It's official \u00a0 Angels of Mercy \u2013 Volume One: Elliot (His Summer of Love) \u00a0 is NOW available! \u00a0 (Already labelled a BEST-SELLER in pre-sales!) \u00a0 My first serious work that began over a year ago and I can't believe it's release is finally here! \u00a0 You can find it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Authors Voices"","block_context":{"text":"Authors Voices","link":"http:\/\/www.sacollins.com\/blog-wp\/?cat=377"},"img":{"alt_text":"Cover artwork for Angels of Mercy - Volume One: Elliot","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biz141.inmotionhosting.com\/~akweko6\/sacollins.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/AoMPrintCoverMaster-300x206.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1813,"url":"http:\/\/www.sacollins.com\/blog-wp\/?p=1813","url_meta":{"origin":1443,"position":2},"title":"BOOK RELEASE – Angels of Mercy – Volume Two: Marco (The Fall of the Sforzas)","author":"S A Collins","date":"November 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"BOOK RELEASE - Angels of Mercy - Volume Two: Marco (The Fall of the Sforzas) Hey all! I know it's been a helluva long time since I've posted. It hasn't been for not wanting to. I've had LOTS to say on stuff. Some of which I did on other blogs\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Authors Voices"","block_context":{"text":"Authors Voices","link":"http:\/\/www.sacollins.com\/blog-wp\/?cat=377"},"img":{"alt_text":"Angels of Mercy - Volume Two: Marco AVAILABLE NOW!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biz141.inmotionhosting.com\/~akweko6\/sacollins.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AoMv2Cvr_Marco_Comp_blogsize500.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1163,"url":"http:\/\/www.sacollins.com\/blog-wp\/?p=1163","url_meta":{"origin":1443,"position":3},"title":"Designing My Angels of Mercy","author":"S A Collins","date":"December 2, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Designing My Angels of Mercy \u00a0 \u00a0 Sidebar: S.O. to author pal, Kris Ripper who liked the first one I did of these, that I'd thought I shoot her another. Hope you all enjoy it too! \u00a0 So let's talk book covers, shall we? \u00a0I mean, I did it before.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Authors Voices"","block_context":{"text":"Authors Voices","link":"http:\/\/www.sacollins.com\/blog-wp\/?cat=377"},"img":{"alt_text":"The FINAL - FINAL version of the book cover for \"Angels of Mercy - Volume One: Elliot\"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biz141.inmotionhosting.com\/~akweko6\/sacollins.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/AoM1_sacollins-100dpi_RGBMaster2x3-200x300.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1844,"url":"http:\/\/www.sacollins.com\/blog-wp\/?p=1844","url_meta":{"origin":1443,"position":4},"title":"Poking and the Art of Evolution","author":"S A Collins","date":"January 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Poking and the Art of Evolution\u00a0 I'm a poker. Have been most of my life \u2013 probably since childhood. It starts because something catches my interest. I'm like a crow in that way. I bumble along completely thinking of something else or another and then \u2013 WHAM! \u2013 something catches\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Authors Voices"","block_context":{"text":"Authors Voices","link":"http:\/\/www.sacollins.com\/blog-wp\/?cat=377"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sacollins.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/AoM_Phoenix_FINAL_2016_500px.jpg?fit=500%2C750&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1984,"url":"http:\/\/www.sacollins.com\/blog-wp\/?p=1984","url_meta":{"origin":1443,"position":5},"title":"Angels of Mercy – Phoenix In The Fire (Book Cover Creation)","author":"S A Collins","date":"June 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Angels of Mercy - Phoenix In The Fire (Book Cover Creation) \u00a0 PLEASE NOTE: This post assumes you have a general knowledge (or wish to gain said knowledge) of how Adobe Photoshop functions and makes no attempt to walk you through that process. There are numerous online tutorials (both written\/blog\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book Promotion"","block_context":{"text":"Book Promotion","link":"http:\/\/www.sacollins.com\/blog-wp\/?cat=552"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sacollins.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/daboyz_master_example.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sacollins.com\/blog-wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sacollins.com\/blog-wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sacollins.com\/blog-wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sacollins.com\/blog-wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sacollins.com\/blog-wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1443"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.sacollins.com\/blog-wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1448,"href":"http:\/\/www.sacollins.com\/blog-wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1443\/revisions\/1448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sacollins.com\/blog-wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sacollins.com\/blog-wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sacollins.com\/blog-wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}