Book Update

I wanted to give you an update on my book, since its completion is approaching. There's a lot more to producing a book than just writing -- in fact, I find myself longing to have the time to write again, just write, instead of dealing with all of these other things that eat up my time. But this is the nature of the beast. The good news is, Lever will be the best that I can make it. I hope, my dear friends, you all read it and then write to me so I can say hi, and thank you.

Kudos to my copyeditor, Chris, who has covered pages of my manuscript in red ink, pointing out the teeny stuff that makes an unconscious but real difference in the book's readability. Especially for someone like me who's grammatically challenged, Chris's talents are invaluable.

Once I've finished making these changes, the words are graven in stone. The word file goes to the interior book designer who chooses the fonts, spacing, and general artistry of the pages to make it look beautiful. I was interested to learn that book design is so involved. It's the kind of thing that you don't notice unless it's done poorly, in which case you may still not notice it but you may have an offputting sense of the book. In preparation for this stage I need to write my dedication and acknowledgments, quotes and permissions, contact info, and anything else that might go into the book.

One very important thing is to collect the short reviews that books have on their back covers or in the first few pages. I've been bothering lots of people lately :-) as well as going broke on printing cartridges, paper, 3 ring binders, and postage. I have a few reviews back already, and am hoping for more soon. Once the ARCs (advance reader copies) are printed, the book can also be reviewed by sites, like the Midwest Review of Books, that do this professionally. The ARC is basically the book before the release date, and although it may not be in quite final form, it should be pretty darn close.

Also to be done is the finishing of the book cover design. The illustration is completed already -- isn't it gorgeous? I'm so excited about it. I have to submit my back cover copy, my author photo, a short bio, and any review comments that might entice someone to buy. I'm waiting, as mentioned above, on the short reviews coming back.

Once these items are finished, the book is assigned an ISBN number and put into a big PDF file, ready for the printer. Then the real fun of marketing begins! First, the book is made available on amazon and other venues. My website has to be spiffed up, which will hopefully be done by July. I want to find some blogs to interview me, so if you have a blog, I'd be delighted to work with you! I need to continue building my "web presence", and enlisting as many people as possibly to be "influencers" for the book.

BTW, if you, reading this blog, would like a free book, consider becoming an influencer. Write to me at amydeardon @ yahoo.com and put "book influencer" in the subject line. The influencers are the ones who talk up the book to their friends, write about it on their blogs, submit a 5 star review on amazon, stuff like that. If you have a book club, I'd be happy to call in to answer Qs--> just let me know. I promise, I'm approachable :-)

I'm hoping to have prerelease-yet-final copies by the end of July, since I'll be attending a writing conference with a consignment table. I can't wait to hold the first book!

Well, that's enough for today, short as this entry may be. Have a good Memorial Day weekend.

~smiling~ to dear friends