Channeling my internal velociraptor

[image error]So last week I put in the final copyedits on THE WARLOCK’S CURSE and reluctantly, grudgingly, declared it good to go. I have to say, letting go of the book was the hardest part of this indie publishing adventure I’ve yet encountered. You just want to keep fiddling with it! I was terrified that I’d missed something. I fretted over every copyedit I stetted (as it turns out, my copyeditor and I differ significantly in our approach to hyphenated compounds. Which is to say she prefers to do them correctly, and I prefer to do them the way they look right to me. It was a battle royale. Unsurprisingly, I ended up winning most of the time.)  Finally, I had to channel my internal velociraptor and say “no more futzing!” It was very liberating, but also very scary.  I finally got past the fear with a little mental trick: I promised myself that I could do a second edition of the book (correcting any errors, etc) when I publish the next book in the series (THE UNSTEADY EARTH) in 2013. This little bit of psychological hacking made whole process seem a bit less final, which allowed me to get past my anxiety.

Thus, the final ebook versions went out to backers this week and I also put in the order for the trade paperback copies. I’m taking preorders through my Website, if you’re interested in having me send you a copy when I send out the Kickstarter packages. You can also enter my Goodreads giveaway, which runs through Oct. 31

And just a reminder, I’ll be doing my first public reading from the book on Monday, Oct. 15 as part of the SFWA reading series. Details here. If all goes according to plan, I will be reading from the first printed copy of the final book, then signing the copy and giving it away to one lucky audience member. If you want to be that lucky audience member, brush up on your 19th century trivia is all I’m sayin’.

Happy Friday, everyone!