Today is kind of a quiet day. I find myself in between projects, which means I am unsure of what to do with myself. My coming book, The Road to Hope, is now in the hands of my editor for the next two weeks. This is both exciting (since it’s one of the final steps before getting the book into your hands) and also nerve-wracking (it’s one of the FINAL STEPS before getting the book into your hands!).
As an indie publisher, let me tell you that writing the book is the easy part. To me, the final process of putting the book together are the hardest – probably because they are the very parts that will capture your attention and get you to open the book. Specifically, it’s designing the cover, writing the blurb on the back, and creating a worthy description of the book for Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. There’s a lot of pressure involved, because these few items can make or break the success of the book.
There are several reasons why this matters so much for this book in particular. First, of course, is because I wrote it. That’s a given, and goes with every other book I’ve written as well. But for this book, it’s so much deeper than all that.
The Road to Hope is the first book I have ever written – or at least, the first book I ever wrote that I knew would be read by the public. I wrote it way back before I knew what I was doing, which allowed it to hold on to a unique rawness in the storyline. It was written before A Symphony of Cicadas and Forever Thirteen. But as much as I loved the story, I knew I wasn’t ready to mold it into a published novel. So I let it sit for a few years, untouched but not forgotten.
Now that I’m getting ready to publish it, I can’t convey enough how glad I am that I waited. I feel like I needed to get a few “practice” books on my plate before I could release The Road to Hope. Don’t get me wrong, I love all the books I have published so far. A Symphony of Cicadas and Forever Thirteen are two stories that came from my soul. But they also allowed me to get out all the kinks and learn a few lessons in storytelling and publishing before I could craft The Road to Hope into what it’s supposed to be.
In about a month, I’ll be releasing The Road to Hope, the story of two women on different journeys of grief, whose momentary connection changes both of their lives forever. I can’t wait to share this book with you, and it is my greatest hope that you will receive it with open arms.
If you’d like a preview, please check out my post here.