A Real Plan

It’s getting real, ya’ll.

I spent the past few days ignoring my edits and instead looking at a real honest-to-goodness timeline. Research on what all goes into finalizing and printing a book. And can I just say WOW. It’s a lot. I am so grateful to some of the experts and authors on Threads who have so patiently answered so many questions.

What did I learn?

Well, my initial projection of publishing in November was a fever dream and I realize now there was no way I was going to be able to finish the edits and the marketing I have planned. I’m now aiming for early April and have milestones mapped out that make sense. To be honest, I feel a lot better about this because I’m not in a hurry, and now I have some breathing room built in. Or do I? Because the list of things I need to do before publishing seems to have tripled.

I also feel rather stupid for not having considered things like proof copies and ARC distribution, but now these things are accounted for in a very loose timeline.

What else have I been doing? A lot!

• I released a prequel novelette. It’s the first thing I ever wrote that is out in the public eye, and I am nervous to actually have it online, but it’s out there now and no turning back.

• I finalized the covers for The Lantern Beast, On Fortune Lake, and Callahan’s Folly.

• Oh yeah, I decided to write Callahan’s Folly, a novella that will explore the Lantern Beast myth from the perspective of a legendary character in the mining town of Bracken Ridge circa 1890. This one is going to be fun.

• I am looking into querying. I hadn’t intended to, but now that I have almost a year before my self-pub date, I think I might have a go at it.

Having my work hours cut so drastically is tough on the wallet but it sure does free up time in the day to get this author stuff done.

Stay wild.