Although I’m about to delve into self-publishing for the first time in my writing career, I am still—ironically—in a bit of a holding pattern.
When an author’s work is accepted by a traditional publisher, it is a mind-blowing experience. But after that, it becomes a torturous waiting game that can last for a year or more before the first author copies arrive in the mail.
You would think that when authors self-publish, they can pull the trigger whenever they want. And in some ways that’s true.
But not in all ways.
For instance, I am currently waiting for my cover designer/illustrator to send me his first sketch. I could receive it today—or maybe not for a week or more. And even after I receive it, the designer and I will have to go through many revisions before the cover is ready to roll.
I’m also working with a web wiz to modernize by author’s website. There are many revisions to go on that. Finally, I continue to work on enhancing my author platform, which I discussed in a previous post. This includes my website, this newsletter, and my Facebook and Twitter presences. And in some ways, the aforementioned just scratches the surface of what else I have on my plate before the final countdown can begin.
I don’t know about you, but I’m not the type who handles waiting very well. To me, delay is a four-letter word. I’m not the patient type, to say the least. My wife will be the first to confirm that I want everything—NOW!
To prevent myself from going wacky while I wait, I have been spending several hours a day revising Dark Circles: Do You Believe in Magic? It has already been professionally edited, but I continue to make changes. I’m about to start revision No. 10 tonight. I hope this will be the final one.
When I was writing my six-book epic fantasy series titled The Death Wizard Chronicles, I ended up revising every book 15 times. There are tricks an author plays: read it out loud, print it out and edit with a pencil the old-fashioned way, blow it up to 250 percent and revise the entire book at this huge size, shrink it to as small as your eyes can stand and revise the entire book when it’s tiny.
An author’s goal is to reach a revision where he or she can read 10 or more pages in a row without feeling the compulsion to make a single change. That is probably about as close to perfection as an author can get.
I’ll find out tonight—when I begin the next revision—just how close (or far) I am from being … well … done.
(Should I say finished instead of done? Should I get ride of the ellipses? Wait a minute, it’s rid not ride.)
Sigh. You get the picture.