Website Officially Online!

My official website is officially online! How exciting is that? Very, if you ask me. A question that you may be asking yourself is why even have a website when I already have this blog. Well, I have a fairly simple answer to that particular question. A number of successful authors operate without websites and use their blogs instead. It’s just that most of the websites for authors I actually read do not have blogs on their sites. For me, I just want to be as professional as possible and it is my opinion that blogs are not the way to fully accomplish that.

I’m still in the process of indexing the site in the major search engines but that shouldn’t take too much time.

My site is fairly simple but definitely reminds me of the other author sites that I’ve visited. And please note that there will be buttons to the various retail outlets that will be selling my book and those buttons are currently not displayed.

I kindly ask that you take all of one minute of your time to take a look at my website. Do it! I’ll even say please!

Final Final Final Draft

I posted yesterday that I officially had my proof in my hands for my review. I also mentioned that I had completed my third and final read through of my book. Well…today I uploaded what will ultimately be my final final final draft! Technically I’m still going to get another proof once my changes are made, but I figure that if I keep reading it then there will always be something that I want to change for whatever reason. I can’t imagine any author ever being absolutely satisfied with his or her work. So I won’t read it through once I receive my last proof. I’ll simply be checking to make sure the mistakes I found were corrected.

I was told that my changes would be made within 7-10 business days, which isn’t bad, but I was also told that I’d receive my first proof within 12 days of them beginning work on it. I actually got it in five. So I’m certain that I’ll be approving my final proof sometime next week and my book will become available for purchase by you lovely people! Well, I think the Amazon product page will take a few days to go online, but it’ll be soon!

This is it!

Also, I’ll be launching my website probably in the next day or two so keep an eye out!

I Have my Proof!

I wrote in an earlier post that I was due to receive my proof by next Monday. Well…maybe the length of my book affected the timetable or the formatter is a fast worker, BUT I received it a week early! I must say, I was rather excited to see my lovely manuscript as an actual book. Technically I’ve seen it as a PDF, but it very much resembles a book.

My thoughts are pretty simple. I LOVE IT! I’ve read articles and blog posts about authors just checking the formatting and stuff glancing at the pages, but I decided to read all the way through my book for the third and final time. And I’m glad I did. I remember after reading through the first draft that I had a gazillion mistakes that needed correcting. Mostly typos or very basic grammar errors. The second time through probably cut that number in half. The third time through probably cut it by seventy to eighty percent. I counted out exactly 31 things that need changing upon my final reading. So that you have an idea as to what kind of mistakes I’m talking about an example of one was the mistyping of the word “few” and putting “dew”. I didn’t find any glaring errors that horrified me upon reading.

Also, an probably the best part of my third reading of the book, is that I experienced all of the emotions that I hope my readers will upon reading the book. Even when I knew exactly what would happen and when. My book may not sell a ton of copies and it may not be the best written piece of fiction ever, but if my readers can feel something upon their reading of the book then I will be completely happy with everything else.

After all, I’m just trying to tell a story, right?

Take a look at my updated About Me page. It’s a little more revealing than my previous bio.

Cover Art Revealed: Divided Within

Is there anything greater than picking a book off of your bookshelf and seeing your own name on its spine!? Well, I’m not quite there yet, but I’m definitely now closer than ever! And no, the answer is no.

I mentioned in my last post that I had an appointment today to discuss the interior formatting of my book and questions that I may have had about anything pertaining to the final steps before publication. I made my list and all of my questions were answered easily. So, you’re probably wondering where that gets me now. Well…in no  more than twelve days I’ll have the proof of my book in my hands for my review! How fantastic is that?

Once I approve the proof the book will be available shortly thereafter. And I’ll probably enjoy a little victory dance when I have a moment to myself so as not to embarrass myself too much. Oh what the heck. I’d dance and sing in the middle of the street if there was no danger associated with doing so.

Before you take a look at my cover art, please note that it will not be spineless as shown. Okay! Close your eyes! Now…open!

Big Day Wednesday

Finally. I have an appointment tomorrow to speak with my design team about my book. Supposedly work will begin after the consultation. The meeting is meant for me to ask any questions I may have about any element of the book and for them to get an idea as to my vision for the book.

I initially paid for them to make me a custom cover that I would then be able to approve of or request changes to, but in the time since I paid for that I’ve played around with the book cover generator that is offered free of charge on their website. It doesn’t have the exact layout of the cover that I wanted, but I’ve managed to find a great image and template combination. So I’ll be creating my own cover. I assume that I’ll still be receiving a cover proof, so I’ll be sure to reveal it when I get it to all of you.

With that out of the way the only major detail to discuss regarding my book will be the interior formatting. I could have done this myself or had someone do it for me, but I’ve decided after looking into many options that the best option is probably to use them because of the fact that they know their requirements and specifications.

Lastly, in the very near future I’ll be dividing my posts into two parts to report on things going on with my first book and the writing process of my second. I’m currently sitting on two book ideas for the second in my Andrew Banks series and I probably won’t decide which I’ll be writing until I begin writing. Sometime this week. Maybe tomorrow! Stay tuned!