Say it out loud!
Good news, bad news, and somewhere in between
The publication of Do You Believe in Magic?, book 1 of my middle-grade epic fantasy titled Dark Circles, has been delayed. My cover illustrator has been doing a nice job, but the revision process has been much slower than I expected. Instead of debuting in early May, I’m looking more realistically at late May or even early June.
Being the type of person who, on a scale of one to ten, has the patience-level of minus-one hundred, this delay has been hard on my psyche. But it has come with some good news, bad news, and somewhere-in-between news.
Here goes:
Good news: It would be an understatement to say that I haven’t rushed the revision process. Have you ever sanded rust off a metal patio table before painting it? Well, let’s just say that my book is so free of rust, I no longer need to paint it at all.
Bad news: I didn’t realize that getting the cover done would take this long. In the future, I’ll start the process at least three months in advance of publication.
Somewhere in between: I’ve spent so much time revising, I rarely if ever watch TV.
Good news: I read my latest revision out loud during a four-day stretch when my wife was out of town. During this process, I made at least 50 improvements that I wouldn’t have made if I had skipped this step.
Bad news: I’m kind of hoarse. And my cat thinks I’m nuts.
Somewhere in between: It’s a little disturbing that those 50 changes needed to be made at all considering how many times I had already revised the book before reading it out loud.
Good news: In terms of active voice, clarity, and readability, Do You Believe in Magic? has transformed from the worst book I’ve ever written to the best.
Bad news: No matter how many times I revise it, I can’t stop making even more changes.
Somewhere in between: I’m getting sick of the whole thing.
Good news: Time flies when you’re having fun. (Right?) So the next few weeks should zoom by. In the meantime, I’ll continue to revise. I’ve already reduced the book’s length by 13,000 words. At this rate, the entire book will end up being about 13 words long — total.
Bad news: “Patience level, minus-one hundred.”
Somewhere in between: Has Congress raised the debt ceiling yet? I haven’t been paying much attention to the news.
True. I doubt there's a writer anywhere who doesn't tinker, if given the opportunity.
It is so very hard to abandon the notion of absolute perfection! But it sounds like you've come as close as humanly possible with all your revision efforts.