And Away We Go

I hope everyone had a fine holiday. I got this very sweet and useful gift from mjp, along with some padded punching mittens. They will go to good use. Ha. I usually suppress my mad, and maybe now I’ll get a few good punches in on this thing instead of burying my anger.


Other than x-mas day (and the day before), I worked mostly. But because I’ve been getting so much done, my relaxation time has been feeling so well-deserved. That sounds weird, I know, but I don’t usually give myself much of a break, but in this case, I do.

Speaking of which (kinda), it seems that my sometimes-extra-ultra-bleak moments can lead to concern in others. Though, I am never sure if it comes from a caring place, an annoyed place (note: you are free to stop reading this blog at any time), or a bit of both. I guess I’d have to really know who I was dealing with. But that’s fine. I’m all for people having their own experience. I never tell people how they should or shouldn’t feel about my art, which includes my writing, or what they should do about their own weight they carry. Not my place. Everyone has a story and I’ve never claimed that mine was worse or heavier than anyone else’s. In fact, it’s one of the main reasons I wanted to publish my book–because anyone can relate to me no matter what their story might be. And, it’s not a misery contest.

Anyway, this was not how I wanted to start this blog entry, because I’m feeling pretty good lately. Much better than my last blog post and I don’t need to explain, describe, or defend what kinds of self-care I implement into my life, but if anyone is legitimately worried, I’m being taken care of. Thank you for being concerned. 🙂

So Lately, I’ve been able to control the pieces. Somewhat. My “to-do” list is getting shorter and my add-ons to it seem to be getting less (knock on wood). What is the meaning of that saying anyway? 

Yesterday, I approved the electronic proofs on all the covers for the perfect paperback copies, the interiors for the eBooks, interiors of the print books, and the cover of the hardcover versions. Whew! What an ordeal. It took for-ever to get those specs correct.

Now have to wait a minimum of 14 business days before I will see them and actually touch them. Holding them in my hands is going to be a surreal and satisfying experience. I can’t wait, even if everything is all off, cut off the edge of the page, or something went terribly wrong and I have to re-edit my files all over again, I will still have some feeling of accomplishment, and perhaps happiness.

It will definitely feel well-earned. I can’t tell you how many times I had to fix those fucking files! And it’s $25 every time I want to put the whole shebang through a major change, each! I’m working with three versions here: hardcover, paperback, and Ebook. I’ve had to upload two new versions on two of them, twice. If I get them in hand, and they seem great, no more charges for changes…right now. Once I get any major reviews though, I’ll be printing them on the back cover.

Now I’m looking for reviews. I have a long list of people and places to hit up, ask, beg, query, submit to, and so on. January starts the search, but I’ve already started with the first steps. There are a couple places to get your new book vetted for a review, but it doesn’t mean it will turn out positive. The critics can say it stinks, so we’ll see how that goes. I have to seven weeks for that to come back. I’ll just have to wait and see.

One thing you can do, if you’re willing and able, is join NetGalley. This is where you can download any book for free and write honest reviews about them before they go to market. Some are brand new releases as well. Here is the direct link into NetGalley for my book if you’d like to read and review mine.

I’ve mostly been spending my time on keywords research for Amazon metadata, which is very different than the keywords you use for Google. I’ve also been writing, rewriting, and writing again the description of the book, and that is a whole beast in and of itself. There’s an “art” to it, and I’m not very good at it. mjp has been helping me out on it a great deal, and he’ll probably have to write my press release too.

For now, we have a “press kit” page to use as a book marker. I also put up a little Author page on Amazon before this new title comes on there for pre-sale.

As far as GoodReads, I am not so sure I know how to get that off the ground. I’ve tried here and there, but I’m not too good with that particular platform. I just keep hearing about how I better get good at it. I hope to get it to a better place before we launch the new publishing company’s website. In the meantime, I’ve been putting my “tour” dates together so I can work my way up to the book launch in April, which will most likely take form as a big signing event at Craig Krull Gallery in April.

I am starting to feel like my life will return to me soon. Like it’s just around the corner. At least it’s feeling like it more and more every day. Fingers crossed, and all that.

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