The Invisible College Trilogy: Volume III Complete

After more than ten years, The Invisible College Trilogy is complete and almost ready for publication. Volume III has been the most difficult to write, with the multiple challenges of plot resolution, consistency across all three volumes and decisions of which issues to leave open or unresolved.

Over the next few weeks, with the assistance of my daughter, I will be performing further editing checks, not only of spelling, punctuation and grammar, but of consistency of plot and character development, together with rigorous critical feedback. Careful thought has to be applied to mundane issues such as chapter and section headings, to interest the reader without giving too much away. Once these tasks are complete, I will despatch the book to my publisher, before the agreed date of end of May, for her to perform final checks and recommend any changes.

I have left certain themes open-ended, to allow the prospect of a sequel (or prequel) if there is the demand. I sincerely believe the trilogy would lend itself to filming, which will present exciting new opportunities.

There is much more to publishing a book than writing. The trilogy refers to and quotes from several historical works of folklore and legend, translated from ancient and medieval languages. Copyright has to be checked and sought. Clearly, as an author, I would not wish to infringe the copyright of others. I have been particularly fortunate to obtain the consent of a well-known and respected academic to quote her translation of a particular work (more of this in a future post). In other cases, I have had to seek permission, which can prove expensive.

For example, Volume III opens with a lengthy extract from Perceval, le Conte du Graal, by Chrétien de Troyes, as part of a dream sequence that is very relevant to the plot. I had originally intended to use a translation I found in a published work, but the publisher quoted £525 for the rights to the translation. I therefore sourced the original French and an Anglo-Norman dictionary, translated it myself and transposed it from third person to first person narrative. This has been a blessing in disguise as my version reads more fluently.

Somewhat similarly, there is a quote from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in Volume II, which I was unsure whether was in the public domain. I therefore reverted to the Middle English original, found a dictionary online and translated it myself.

Another quote that appears in Volumes I and II is from an 1868 translation of The Refutation of All Heresies, on Google Books, which the web site confirms is out of copyright. Other brief quotes where I have been unsure of copyright or have been unable to contact publishers, I have reworked from multiple sources.

Copyright of images is also a potential issue. The image that I hope to use on the cover of Volume I was sourced from Wikimedia. Under the Creative Commons Licence it may be reproduced, including for commercial purposes, subject to conforming to the specified attribution requirement.

The next task will be marketing. Again I am fortunate that my daughter has a marketing background, as the owner of award-winning http://www.bristolbites.co.uk and co-owner of http://nomnomcomms.co.uk

We are developing a marketing plan which includes:

  • web site presence
  • other social media
  • marketing collateral (brochure and business cards)
  • list of literary bloggers
  • list of literary editors of magazines, newspapers
  • list of book prizes and awards
  • Young Adult books listings and websites.

Both before and following publication there will be intense activity to generate and sustain interest in the trilogy. And so, on we go…

Please return to the site from time to time for the latest updates.