Pre-release

I love this time with a book: when it's nearly finished, and I'm just making small changes to it. It's complete and shiny new. Few people have read it yet. Anything is possible. It hasn't yet been rated, categorized, or appraised.

It's true that many wonderful things can follow this time. It's true that I want people to read this book. It's true that I wouldn't want this pre-release time to last forever. (In this case, it will last for seven and a half more months, and by then I will be more than ready for it to end.)

But this is a special time, in and of itself. The waiting time, the time Before.