Self Publishing Full Speed Ahead!

Everyone has been waiting so patiently for my book to be available. I'm not one of them! I'm notoriously impatient when it comes to projects. I want everything DONE and AVAILABLE- YESTERDAY! But publishing a book is probably the biggest project I've ever undertaken, so the best I can do at this time, is "Mid July '11!". What I can say is that I will be giving a firm release date as soon as I have stock of my paperback version in hand- and when I make that announcement, the wait will only be a week. And this is why I've chosen to self publish. Part impatience, part the ability to have complete publishing control, and part other factors I'll be revealing below… I started out this year planning to do my best to get traditionally published. I knew it would be hard work, the market is so competitive and it was only my first novel. I was going to give myself the entire 2011 year to work on it. I had some good responses from agents, but within the couple of months I tried the traditional process the book wasn't picked up for representation. Things in my own life changed at that point, and I thought to myself "Self, I could be stalking researching agents, sending out query letters and dying of suspense for years at this rate. Even if my book got picked up by an agent TODAY, they still have to get it sold to a publisher. And then it would be at least another year or more until it's available. I've got a deadline now- November- at which my life changes forever. Let's just get the book out there and shared with the world ASAP! Time to self publish!" So I refined my manuscript the best I could, had it professionally edited, did a final revision myself, and then another final revision (I'm going for Six Sigma quality baby!). I've decided to use a number of different print and distribution companies to release my book with, because who doesn't love to have the best of all worlds? And with self publishing, I can do it. Here are the different versions that will be available- Ebooks! Yes, I too was one of those people who thought I'd never go to ebooks over the joy of holding a real book in my hands. But I did, and I love it. Any book you want, yours in under a minute, for the price of a fancy cup of something-cinno? What's not to love? Memory's Wake will be available direct from Kindle, and through Smashwords for just about all other ebook formats (Nook, PDF etc). The ebook version however will NOT be illustrated. Illustrations are kept special just for the print versions. 6×9″ Illustrated Paperback - I received a proof of my paperback yesterday, reviewed, revised, and sent in new print files with some errors fixed. This has slowed the release date a little, but it's got to be perfect. I...