What a journey this has been! More than 15 years gestation and birth is just around the corner.
It has been an exciting two weeks as my editor, my designers, and I send a flurry of emails back and forth. But we have accomplished our goal. Immigrant Soldier was uploaded to the publication arm of Amazon (CreateSpace) on Friday, January 9. After that, a short wait while they review the files, then days of anticipation as I await the arrival of the proof copies of my book.
Even so, there is more work to do. As beautiful as the books will seem to me when they arrive on my front porch, there may still be errors in typography or format to root out and eradicate. Our final goal is to have a book as perfect as possible. My editor and I, as well as a friend (a reader who finds typos wherever they lurk), will go over the proof copies with a fine-toothed comb. I am told to allow two weeks for this process, but I don’t know how I will endure it.
I feel like an expectant mother whose due date is past and who waits impatiently for labor to begin . . . and believe me, this is a feeling I know well as my firstborn child was two long weeks late. This was almost 40 years ago, and I remember the impatience, the frustration, and the longing like it was yesterday. My daughter turned out to be pretty near perfect, and I hope Immigrant Soldier will be pretty near perfect, too.
Of course, you (my readers and followers) will be getting the birth announcement. When? Probably in the early part of February. Listen carefully and you may hear my exclamations of joy when I hold the book—my novel—in my hands. Then begins a new adventure—publicity and marketing the new arrival—kind of like putting the new baby into a cuddly carrier and taking her for a walk around the neighborhood for everyone to admire. “What a pretty baby!” Or in this case, “What a great book! I enjoyed every page.”
A mum can dream. . .
P.S. – Proof copies arrived on Tuesday, Jan. 13th. I cannot describe how excited I was to see them. My heart was beating so fast, I thought I might have a heart attack. The final editing team is reading them through ever so carefully, but they look great. A truly beautiful baby.
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