The Joys of Self-Publishing
Before I go anywhere with this Blog entry I need to give a very public and heartfelt THANKS to Lynn Main, author of Zombie Waltz, and a phenomenally supportive friend. These last few weeks have been rife with challenges, interruptions, technical hurdles, and both emotional and physical exhaustion. Lynn has been amazing at validating my concerns and frustrations while still keeping me grounded and focused on my goals. He gets it. He understands. He's right there in the trenches with me. He is an author, and he knows the territory first hand. I never realized how important the connection I made with Lynn would be when I met him at TopCon last September, but I'm incredibly thankful to have his friendship now. So, thanks, Lynn Main, for being a Champion of Chalisaria!
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So... funny bit... I stepped outside about an hour and a half ago. My upstairs neighbor came home, and we've been chatting outside this whole time about all sorts of topics. I came back in to finish the Blog and realized that everything I was going to write about today was pretty minor in the grand scheme of things. To quote somebody else, "Don't sweat the petty stuff, and don't pet the sweaty stuff."
Hmmm... or maybe, "Don't sweat the small stuff, and it's all small stuff."
Either way, it's a good point.
Rather than rant about all that's been going wrong, I'll just list things briefly so there's a context for what challenges have jumped up:
My Air Conditioning isn't working. The repair guy has been called twice. Waiting is frustrating. I can't sleep when it's hot, which creates its own issues. Sitting at the computer and breaking a sweat is aggravating. 80+ degree days and a brick apartment building that sucks in all the heat at night isn't helping matters.
Just about the time I think the book is print ready, I find new errors or formatting issues. I got the physical print proof yesterday and realized that the cover printed so dark that none of Mae's amazing art details showed up. It feels like these delays and hiccups in the publishing process are never ending. We've both done some research. We've both realized that it's not an unknown issue with CreateSpace. So we're back to fixing things and waiting for things to be fixed. Which means I'll also be ordering a new proof copy and waiting for that to come in the mail. The alternative is settling for a crappy printed book with noticeable errors and that's just not an option.
Lynn assures me that this will all be worth it when everything gets finalized and the book officially goes to print. I can't help but feel like the pregnancy analogy I made last week is more and more appropriate with each delay that happens.
Hang in there, folks. Wolfkin: A Fairy's Tail is still coming SOON!
