Intended to do something else for this post, only to have a whole bunch of things come together all at once. Since this is my first ever push to publish something the process is completely new to me. I’m constantly alternating between this feeling that things are moving too slowly for me to make the deadline I set, and that things are moving so fast I begin to feel concerned that perhaps I am trying to rush this out the door.
I’m sure a lot of my uncertainty will go away for future books, though experience tells me this “hurry up and wait” sensation is an indicator that a project is nearly finished. Once the book is actually published I’ll probably take some “lesson learned” notes. If it sounds like I’m complaining that isn’t the case at all. Really I’m surprised with how well everything is going, but all of that isn’t nearly enough to overcome the feelings of being lost as I grope my way through this.
Editing 95% Done
On the editing front there is very little that remains. For my peace of mind I’m going to do a check of common errors and misspellings, plus some errors I often make. This may sound like a lot of work to do for a whole book, but it just requires a simple search and replace. The process will actually be rather boring since I don’t want to make the changes automatic, and want to verify them each myself.
Other than changes to the story itself, there is only a little that needs to be done. Need to make sure the formatting looks good (though I’ve already done a lot of work on that front). Need to make sure I have all the necessary parts for the book’s front/back matter (again, this is mostly done). Finally, I’ll probably do one more quick read and give a few copies to friends to have them read, just to make sure nobody spots any obvious errors.
Cover Art Done
Quite literally the day after I got the last edits from my editor, I also got an email from my cover artist. The art is done, all that remains is for me to work out how the artist would like to be credited (I definitely believe she deserves it). Once I know that there will be a bunch of updating for me to do on this site. Right now my Books page is just a place holder.
Review Copies
This is probably the last big thing I need to do, and one which I’m not at all sure how to approach. I have a few ideas (especially considering that I am not anticipating making bank with this book), but I want to make sure I’m ready to run them before I get myself into trouble.
