Acquainted with Squalor is finished, except for all the stuff to do
On Friday I bought a shiny little necklace and got a mani/pedi downtown to celebrate the book being finished. I wandered around for four hours, shaking with adrenaline. It was a purely physical reaction to eight years of work. Yesterday, the Tuesday after having completed the thing, I was buffeted by the collection's emotional jet-wash. And now? We move into production.
I don't know, guys. Books are a lot of work. I couldn't possibly recommend writing to anyone who wants to do anything else with their time and attention. Especially not in this era of new publishing. It would be nice to have the physical and emotional release synced up with the actual release of the actual book. At this point, I really do not want to transition into several months of manufacturing.
But I will. It's not a big deal. It will be very nice if the publishing industry does not make any more major shifts in the next year or so. That would help me greatly.
Anyway. You want the list? Here is what needs to be done:
1) I'm reading the book out loud in my apartment, making sure each word is there, is right, is good, is the one I want. I'm smoothing out all the wrinkles. Hopefully I won't introduce any new grammatical errors.
2) Gin (a friend who is good with technical work and stays home with her son) will convert the manuscript to a Smashwords document before she has her second baby.
3) She'll also make a PDF to match the other PDFs for the series. We don't think we'll need a PDF anymore, but we're still making one.
4) I'm submitting the individual stories to literary journals because I was raised on the premise that such things matter.
5) I need to submit the collection to Kirkus Reviews. I had no idea such things matter but they absolutely do. So. Write the check and move on.
6) Chris Foresman will finish the covers for the print edition. We're doing all five books at once.
7) David McNamara will deal with the interior layout of all five books.
8) We're hoping IngramSpark is not impossible to deal with.
9) We're going to release THE WAR IS LANGUAGE, 2000 DECIDUOUS TREES, and LOVE & DARTS in print on IngramSpark. We just want a product that brick and mortar bookstores can shelve, if they so choose.
10) Pull the plug on the CreateSpace editions of those titles on Amazon.
11) Update the author site with the new covers and the one new title.
12) Give review copies of Acquainted with Squalor to people and say, "Can you please put a review of this online when the book gets released?"
13) Okay. Audio. It would be nice to get the audio versions produced so that the Acquainted with Squalor audio book can be available at the time of the release. Mike and Ryan are working on Love & Darts. I'll get them the manuscript for Acquainted with Squalor when Love & Darts is finished.
14) See if any of the literary journals want any of the short stories.
15) THEN, pick a release date for Acquainted with Squalor
16) Set it up for release on IngramSpark
17) Set it up for release on Kindle
18) Set it up for release on Smashwords.
19) Decide whether it may be best to just use Smashwords and skip the direct-to-KDP option. The Smashwords sales summaries really are nicer.
20) Feiyr? Bother with it? Maybe.
21) Send the collection out to other pre-release reviewers. Book bloggers and all that.
22) Do a pre-release giveaway on Goodreads.
23) Do a pre-release giveaway on LibraryThing
24) Take a few long-shots.
25) Allow three months to pass without wigging out.
26) Release~!!!
27--- This blog post sucks. I'm over it.
I don't know, guys. Books are a lot of work. I couldn't possibly recommend writing to anyone who wants to do anything else with their time and attention. Especially not in this era of new publishing. It would be nice to have the physical and emotional release synced up with the actual release of the actual book. At this point, I really do not want to transition into several months of manufacturing.
But I will. It's not a big deal. It will be very nice if the publishing industry does not make any more major shifts in the next year or so. That would help me greatly.
Anyway. You want the list? Here is what needs to be done:
1) I'm reading the book out loud in my apartment, making sure each word is there, is right, is good, is the one I want. I'm smoothing out all the wrinkles. Hopefully I won't introduce any new grammatical errors.
2) Gin (a friend who is good with technical work and stays home with her son) will convert the manuscript to a Smashwords document before she has her second baby.
3) She'll also make a PDF to match the other PDFs for the series. We don't think we'll need a PDF anymore, but we're still making one.
4) I'm submitting the individual stories to literary journals because I was raised on the premise that such things matter.
5) I need to submit the collection to Kirkus Reviews. I had no idea such things matter but they absolutely do. So. Write the check and move on.
6) Chris Foresman will finish the covers for the print edition. We're doing all five books at once.
7) David McNamara will deal with the interior layout of all five books.
8) We're hoping IngramSpark is not impossible to deal with.
9) We're going to release THE WAR IS LANGUAGE, 2000 DECIDUOUS TREES, and LOVE & DARTS in print on IngramSpark. We just want a product that brick and mortar bookstores can shelve, if they so choose.
10) Pull the plug on the CreateSpace editions of those titles on Amazon.
11) Update the author site with the new covers and the one new title.
12) Give review copies of Acquainted with Squalor to people and say, "Can you please put a review of this online when the book gets released?"
13) Okay. Audio. It would be nice to get the audio versions produced so that the Acquainted with Squalor audio book can be available at the time of the release. Mike and Ryan are working on Love & Darts. I'll get them the manuscript for Acquainted with Squalor when Love & Darts is finished.
14) See if any of the literary journals want any of the short stories.
15) THEN, pick a release date for Acquainted with Squalor
16) Set it up for release on IngramSpark
17) Set it up for release on Kindle
18) Set it up for release on Smashwords.
19) Decide whether it may be best to just use Smashwords and skip the direct-to-KDP option. The Smashwords sales summaries really are nicer.
20) Feiyr? Bother with it? Maybe.
21) Send the collection out to other pre-release reviewers. Book bloggers and all that.
22) Do a pre-release giveaway on Goodreads.
23) Do a pre-release giveaway on LibraryThing
24) Take a few long-shots.
25) Allow three months to pass without wigging out.
26) Release~!!!
27--- This blog post sucks. I'm over it.
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