For those of you who were referred here from the ‘Products’ section on my website, and are interested in learning more about what I can offer you, please go ahead and skip the next few bodies of text to where it says, ‘My Services’ underlined in bold; I understand that you’re probably searching for guidance and want to know as soon as possible if I am a worthy asset to employ, by no means do I want to waste your time so I’ve taken this into account early – Thank you for reading and I hope you consider hiring me in the future. If not, I wish you and your project the very best.
Hey folks, so this plan has been formulating for quite some time, about three years give or take now that I really think about it, but it didn’t take off for a number of reasons, reasons I will get around to discussing shortly, but recently I decided to bite the bullet and make a move. This decision came while I was applying for a new job, yes, it’s that time of year again; I swear, this is a common trend for me, I settle into a job, chug along as best I can and when the time comes, when my brain starts to stall and eventually yell at me, I bug out and find something else to do, which has resulted in a rather broad (dare I say impressive?) CV, one that I have kept strictly to but a single page – I could quite easily extend it and stretch it into two perhaps even three pages, what with the number of jobs I’ve undertaken ever since I joined the workforce, back when I was thirteen, this is achievable, but that isn’t advised when it comes to selling yourself as a worker. Anyway, I took a break from job hunting and got to work on this side-project, which is putting myself out there as an editor and a creative consultant. You see, during the 2020 lockdowns I didn’t just sit around, play games and watch the TV for a year, well, I did for a little bit, I am only human, but I remember waking up on that first day of not having to march into work, I remember thinking ‘This is gifted time, I need to make use of this, you gotta do something Gill!’ so that’s exactly what I did, I kept writing Ep2-Rise which was still in its early stages at that point, but I also pulled Ep1-Dream off of the shelves and did lengthy re-edit, line by line, page by page, which was a mighty task considering the instalment is well over 500,000 words, and I accomplished this in about 2 months, a weight that had been dragging me down for ages and certainly was lifted when I re-published admits giving advice to people with similar interests; People who were struggling constructing a plot, struggling with establishing characters, people who were unsure which publishing route was best for them regarding the traditional to independent, and while I was building a studio – A sound studio to start work on an audiobook which unfortunately did not land. I have talked about this in articles prior, but to summarise as quickly as possible, it boiled down to bad timing, unfamiliarity with the software I wanted to use and being overly ambitious; I didn’t just want to record audio and make a regular audiobook, I wanted to present this like an event and include musical ambiance and poignant sound effects when necessary, to really push forward an immersive experience you would not forget. I failed to achieve this milestone, it is something I am ashamed of, I will pick it up in the future, but only when I acquire the funding, and this leads me into this new 2024 plan, I need to do something, and this is what I will do. Not only will I hammer home a higher paying job, but I’ll also be lending my hand in what I am actually gifted at in the time I have off, and that’s engaging my writing skills and creative nature.
Ep2-Rise of the Black Doves – Volume Five, is 25 Chapters long. Currently, 14 Chapters of this Volume have been successfully edited by myself and Joyce, leaving 11 left to go. We are working diligently, hoping for an early 2024 launch, Volume Four as matter of fact was made available on February 13th 2023, if the new content can be at least almost ready by then, I’ll be a very happy squirrel (ugh I mean human), but alas, we have to work steadily and not rush things, because if you rush the more likely it is that mistakes will be made and in the long run this does nothing but hurt your product and damages everyone involved, me most of all because I am after all the team leader and has to/will take all of the responsibility. So, Joyce and I are being consistently consistent with how we approach this, and I am confident that together we will deliver something we both can be proud of. Speaking of, I had a chat with her a few days ago discussing the latest chapter, called, Forward into the Breach and honestly, she was pretty stunned with what events took place, she had not been expecting what was coming nor ever thought an author could do such a thing to that many characters in such a short space of time, taking into account how long it took to build them into likeable people, and this is a good sign as the author of this series – If my editor is left wide-eyed and lost for words, wonderful readers such as yourself will hopefully garner a similar reaction. Volume Five is without doubt intense, where Volume Four of Rise was a re-introduction to Equis and this series as a whole, Volume Five kicks things into a higher gear, like with Episode One-The Utopian Dream – Volume One was an introduction, an introduction to the characters, the world, it’s history and what this story is setting up to be; It wasn’t until Volume Two when you met the villains, when the intensity sparked, when you came to realise the stakes and witnessed the irreversible things that started to happen. Ep2-Rise adopts a somewhat similar approach despite my intentions, it is of course different, and you’ll see why when/if you read it, but upon taking a step back, it has panned out to be something similar. It has its differences, absolutely, but I would be a fool not to acknowledge the reflections, you must be honest and critical not only with other people but with yourself otherwise you’ll be feeding a lie.
While working with Joyce however, I did ask her about how she got into editing, what steps she made to get to where she was and how she marketed/presented herself to the public; She sent me several, long voice notes which essentially acted as a sort of guide and fortunately to my surprise, I had done a lot of the work to get to where I wanted to be today. I had the appropriate means to advertise myself for example, I was familiar with how to use social media, in my case X because there is no way I am getting on Tik Tok or Instagram, for some reason they just feel sticky to me, not sure why, Tik Tok more than Instagram. More importantly, I’ve done the work necessary that establishes someone worthy of service, the path so to speak that you must grind through to prove, not only to yourself, but to others as a professional is key to hooking potential clients. Simply put, I’ve not just decided one day that this is something I wanted to do for a quick payout, it all happened naturally over a long period of time, I had to overcome my own insecurity and self-doubt to make that leap and that took many long conversations backed up with the evidence spanning over almost two decades of work. This IS something I’ve a passion for, something I’ve worked at, failed at, struggled with, succeeded at, persevered with and have been practising long enough (well over 10,000 hours) to confidently say, I can do this – And I have done it. I am advertising as an editor right now directly from my site, someone who specialises in fiction, more specifically with fantasy (obviously), epic fantasy and am willing to look at sci-fi and horror. Not only will I make an edit of your work, but I’ve also a feature being built that creatives might find helpful, which brings me to what I am offering.
My Services
Every project is different, and no plan is the same, so I apologise if I cannot be more specific about those important details such as timescale, and price, I’ll need to discuss this with you personally via email and later (if you’re comfortable) by phone or on WhatsApp; WhatsApp is preferred, its easy, it’s efficient and I can reply to everyone I need to reply to in one five minute sitting, it’s such a handy tool to have, it also has the voice recording feature which is basically like a phone conversation and gives a more professional touch than mere text, but nevertheless, it has to start by you accessing the taotequevault website, clicking the Products tab and dropping me an email titled appropriately to what you would like.
Editorial Service (Currently Available) – My specialty is traditional fantasy and epic fantasy but will certainly consider editing science fiction and horror. I will edit your manuscript from cover to cover, I will edit blogs, articles, essays, personal statements, letters, business e-mails and will assist you with your synopsis. As stated earlier, all projects are different, so you will need to send me an email which describes your situation, please keep it as brief as possible and I will be in touch to discuss things further. From there we can establish a timeframe, we can talk price, decide how you’d like to be contacted and iron out any other implications. This I can do.
Creative Consultation (Not Currently Available) – If you would like a one-to-one talk for 30 minutes about what it is you want to achieve, if you would like to talk to me about character development, plot, structure, the hero’s journey, the path of the villain, whether you’d like to discuss a traditional publishing route or an independent one, I believe I can be of service. If you have any questions about the writing industry, marketing or if you just need some encouragement, I can certainly help. All you need do is click on the Consultation Box found at the bottom of the Products page, enter your name, book a date, select a time, write me a brief note about the topic so I can research your query and I will do my utmost to assist you in any way I can. All links are below for your convenience.
Thank you so much for reading guys and gals, as always, I greatly appreciate your time. I know I said that the last article would be my last post for 2023, but I’ve been speaking to my web-designer who is right now building the layout for the consultation service, he’s such a cool guy, and I figured that there is no time like the present to get things moving, I can after all get to work on projects as and when they come my way. It is exciting to get started, it is a little daunting, but I do feel like I am capable of offering a pretty good service with the experience I’ve accumulated over the years. Having worked alongside so many others in years prior, more so it is fair to say than the average author/editor, I do feel confident I can meet many peoples needs in this industry and make a little more money doing it. Side note before I sign off, thank you to everyone who has been visiting my YouTube/Bitchute channels – The last video I put out has nearly hit 300 views more so if you add it with Bitchute, that’s incredible, thank you whoever you are ever so much, it means a lot and I hope you like the next few videos which are being discussed. The website is being updated, I am hoping in a few days everything will be up and running, I will also be continuing the editorial of Ep2-Rise with Joyce, it’s very exciting as we draw closer to the end of this Volume, there is so much coming I cannot wait till you get the chance to read it, and I’ll be sure to keep Ashley updated with videos and poster projects. Right, I think that’s about it, I’m going to get back to job hunting, it’s time for an occupational change just in time for the New Year. It’s a bit early but Merry Christmas to you all, do have yourselves a good one, travel safe if you’re taking a long drive and I hope you re-visit this page and my site in the future, take care. PEACE!
E-mail – taotome@outlook.com
X (Twitter) – @MegasTeque
Official Website – www.taotequevault.com
Donation Page – http://www.taotequevault.com/support
YouTube – www.youtube.com/channel/UC-nc_VEmC27AIz6pP51UVkQ
Bitchute – www.bitchute.com/channel/x9K5vwi2SsNu/
Author Page UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B01JMZ2BE6
Author Page US - https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B01JMZ2BE6
Joyce Literary Editor – https://joyeditingservices.my.canva.site/joyediting
A Path Sewn By Fate – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3MgNYB8gss
D.W.Gill
Taoteque: The Blog 