Words, Words, Everywhere And Not A Book To Print

I am learning so much during these last weeks of work on my book, as we’ve wrapped up the editing and begun formatting for different versions of ebooks.  Wow.  Self-publishing is not for the faint of heart.  But we’re so close!

 Actually, we almost published last week, but as I was reading over some last minute “how to avoid self-publishing mistakes” articles, I realized I hadn’t yet sought permission to print the quotes I was using.  Ack!  After some research I decided some of it didn’t fall under "fair use,” so, instead of putting my release date off weeks or even months, I went through all 120-something pages of the book and rewrote portions to work without the quotes.  That was a close one.   (Trust me, you’ll never notice the lack.  I found better, safer quotes.)   Tricky business.  So much to learn if you wan to do things correctly.

Yesterday I handed the umpteenth version off to Denny for ebook formatting.  We’ve been busy with friends and family this weekend, but tomorrow we will select a few photos for the iBook version and the plan is to have it available sometime this week.  Excited?  I am!  I hope you are, too.  And I hope you’re not anywhere near as nervous as I am.  You really shouldn’t be.  You’re going to be fine.  Me, I’ll probably die of stress.

On the heels of the iBook version will be the Kindle version and an ePub document you can download directly from my website.  Here’s the cover:

       Whatcha think?

Most days I am excited about doing this.  It is my pleasure to write and I am assured by some very awesome people that I have something significant to offer the written world.  Some days it’s hard for me to see that.  As I read through my manuscript I wonder who would want to read this stuff?  What is it I am really offering?  I’m not offering a great story or a how-to, nor do I offer any decent answers or super epiphanies.  I have a very messy, very personal and meandering journey that seems like it would be impossible for most people to follow, let alone care about.  Occasionally during the editing process I would begin removing portions I imagined were irrelevant or uninteresting.  After awhile I would stop myself.  I realized I was removing the majority of my text and would soon be down to a blank page, because I was feeling insecure, feeling like I was irrelevant and uninteresting.   I would then find the “revert” option and get my story back.  You see, all I have to offer is my story.  No one has to read it, but surely a few bucks can’t be too much to ask someone to give me a try?  If I weren’t the author and I came across this book, I would devour it.  I love stories.  Deep, personal, human stories.  I love getting to know someone, their highs and lows, joys and sorrows.  I love stories.  Everyone's journey is unique.  And if the writing style is engaging the reading is a pleasure.  If someone’s journey challenges me to consider things I have never considered before it was totally worth it.