The big news is that I am one step closer to publication of The Appearance of Power.
Yesterday, I finished the edits that followed my beta reads and developmental editing. It took me way too long. The main reason I had waited on getting it done was because I had been planning a rapid release scenario with book two being released not that long after book one in my series.
I have recently faced the fact that book two is taking me longer to write than I had intended, and I need to get book one out into the world.
The book was in pretty good shape before beta reads and developmental editing, but I still had a considerable number of revisions to make based on that valuable input. I strengthened the father figure character based on discussions with a beta reader. I clarified some confusing world building based on feedback from another beta reader. I strengthened the opening because of comments from a third beta reader. And the editor had a lot of great ideas and suggestions, including noticing that there a LOT of words I repeated too often. I got into a rut describing body language and it took me a while to fix it. (How many times can someone clench their fists in a book? I was clearly going for the record.)
That is all done now. I am sending the book off for line editing, where I hope to catch missed words, typos, and grammar issues that I didn’t see.
Upcoming steps include maybe getting a map drawn, fleshing out the card game rules for the game mentioned in the book, having a series bible created, final line edits, formatting, getting a wraparound cover for paper copies, finding ARC readers (if you’re interested, let me know), getting author blurbs from YA authors, writing the cover blurb and the sales description, writing the front matter and the acknowledgments, and marketing for launch. Whew!
I am researching indie book publication to identify any steps I might be missing above, and the best ways to do all of it successfully.
The book should be ready to release in the summer if all of the next steps go smoothly.
Thanks for reading!
