There is never going to be anything quite like publication day when you're an author. If you only knew the amount of work that goes into getting a book, in whatever format you prefer, to you. Well, I am so very proud to say that my novel, DEVOURED, is finally out in Print & Kindle editions (you can click on your preferred formate there), and finally ready for you to read.
This is both the exciting and hard part. See, first, there is the idea. It took me more than 10 years to figure out how to write this book. There were several times I thought I was close, but then the story just sort of fell apart on me like trying to build a sandcastle using dry sand. Then, somehow, some way, through whatever magic that is storytelling, the idea clicked and I knew how to tell it.
Then comes the writing. For me, this usually takes 3-4 months. Every day, if I can help it, I try to crank out 1,000 words (lately, it has dropped to about 500 words) a day. I spend my spare time writing and if I am not writing, my brain is thinking about what to do next. Creating stuff is exhausting because it takes a lot of energy from the brain to listen to those invisible storytellers telling you what to write next.
For me, once that's done, the raw first draft goes off to one of my trusted and invaluable Beta Readers. Usually by this time, I need a break from the story anyway, so I tell them to take as much time as they need. They read it, they make a lot of notes about story and grammar and other things, and then it comes back to me.
Now I have to go through those notes and do edits and rewrites. Once it is in that state, I usually shop around for a publisher. For DEVOURED, I found one in Wicked House Publishing. Then comes more hard work.
There is a lot of discussion about the cover, for example. Then an editor will review it and I have to take editor's notes and rewrite and update and fix the story. Then, a proofreader goes through it and makes more notes and now I have go through it one more time and make those updates. All of this is done to polish and polish the manuscript until we get it as good as humans can.
Then comes the pre-order marketing. I have been doing that relentlessly for weeks now and then, FINALLY, here it is! Now comes the post-published marketing.
All this while I am actually writing a new novel. It's a lot of work.
I am lucky to have found Wicked House Publishing. Seriously, click that link and check them out because they have so MANY great authors. I feel like they are colleagues not competitors and all of us try really hard to support each other's work. For example, I am reading Andrew Najberg's The Mobius Door and I am really enjoying it.
I hope you choose to read my novel. It is my homage to Jaws with a slight nod to the B-movie Q: The Winged Serpent. There will eventually be an audiobook, so stay tuned for that announcement.