I got the book back from my mom a week or so ago. And despite her insistence that I would hate her for all the comments she made in the margins, her editing was no different than any other editor. She caught a lot of details I didn’t catch on my first couple of read-throughs, allowing me to fix these mistakes before sending it off to my editor. I am so grateful for her help, even if I was cursing her name before she handed the book back to me (true story).
I finished all of these revisions two days ago. But before I could send the book to my editor (early, since she isn’t expecting it until February 4th), I decided I need to read it one more time – but not in editing mode. I needed to read it like a reader so I could make sure there were no visible seams or breaks in the story, or details that didn’t make sense.
I saved the whole document as a PDF file and uploaded it to my Nook. And I spent the last two days reading it. I kept an index card by my side at all times to catch anything that was glaring at me from the text. But mostly, I just sat back and enjoyed the book as if it were written by someone else. Suddenly, I was cast into a story of love and loss, of finding one’s self, of the path not taken while being forced into the unknown, and of one woman’s struggle with the unpredictable changes that can happen in an instant.
A friend of mine caught up with me at work the other day, and expressed her own excitement over the upcoming release of my very first novel. She has been following along here as I’ve been writing about my trials and triumphs, and promised to not only buy a book, but to encourage her friends to buy it too. As an upcoming indie writer, this is my hope. It would mean so much to me if all my friends stood by me and read my book as soon as it releases. And, if you all love it, I hope you will all share it with those you know. That’s what will help me get this book off the ground – to not just be a file in the back of the Amazon bookshelves, but to be front and center so that many more can read it.
I write because I love writing. But I’m publishing so that I can share this with the world.
As I get ready to send all 80,000 words of this novel to my editor, I thank each and every one of you who have stood by me and applauded as I get ready to finish this race. I am so excited to finally accomplish a dream I have had for a lifetime. And I couldn’t be more proud that it is this book, A Symphony of Cicadas, that is the one I get to accomplish this dream with.
Thank you, and I love you all!