So I got my first draft back from my editor (the ever talented Briana Morgan) and lo and behold, she liked it! Always good when your editor likes your work! 🙂 But in all seriousness, I’m really pleased with this book. So far all my Beta’s have liked it, my Alpha’s liked it. And now the editor likes it. So yeah, I’m pretty happy with that.  The Second draft reads really well, taking in all their suggestions.
That’s not to say it doesn’t need tightening up and tweaking. I’m really forcing myself to take my time on this second draft, making sure all the details work, things match up, timelines are tight, etc. I honestly fight myself daily not to publish it like now, I want it out there for people to read, right? But I remind myself when I get that way that I rushed CANITUS. It needed work, tightening, cleaning up, and It didn’t get that time to fully mature. And it paid the price by not really being anything to write home about.
Bridgefinders is the first book in a series though, and I want it to shine. While I’ve already started the second book, I’ve stepped away from that draft while I polish this one. Once I’ve got this one released, I’ll return to the second book, never fear. Besides all this work with polishing the draft, I’m also still working on cover idea’s and looking hard for a good cover that isn’t going to cost me an arm and a leg. I’m not a graphic artist, so making a cover myself probably isn’t in the cards. Sure I’m a computer guy, but the skill (and patience) for digital art is a bit beyond me.
I’ve also been gently reminding people on Facebook and other mediums, that if they buy or ‘check out’ the book on Amazon, to PLEASE leave a review. I don’t think people really understand how insanely important reviews are to self-pubbed authors, and how much they matter to how Amazon handles your book. Get enough reviews and Amazon basically starts marketing your book for you, which is insanely helpful. So I’m working out a strategy to get as much traffic to the book as quickly as I can right off the bat. I want to get on that ‘Hot and New’ list from them, and go from there.
Also, please if you want to know more about the books, and other things I’m involved in here, please consider joining the site as a member. That will help me build an email list, and continue to help me market the books.
Enough about that though (Marketing was never my forte.) After this second draft is gone through, it goes back to the editor for a good full copy edit and formatting. Then it’s cover time, publish time, and marketing time. I look forward to it!
