I’d like to start by wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving. This is my first blog since October 18th. Why? You may ask. I’ve been busy trying to complete the first draft of my new novel The Hanalei House. It’s turning out to be a sixty-thousand-word affair. Now, the tough work begins. I’m proofing it and fixing things. There is always some weird, silly issue that I can’t explain, but know that I will eventually find a solution. This time it's my footers printing on the first page of every chapter. Duh!
Once I have the book cleaned up, I have a couple of people to read it and give me comments that I hope will lead to a finished product. As it gets closer to publication, I will ask other authors if they would read it and write a blurb for the back of the book. At that point, I also have another group to review and give me their feedback.
I will work with my cover designer for the front and back covers, plus the spine. At some point in the process, a professional editor will do a final edit. There are a number of other tasks to complete on the way to publication. For instance, I have to purchase ISBNs for the print and e-book versions. I will also send a copy of the book to the library of congress for copyrighting.
There is always formatting to complete. An e-book is formatted differently from a printed version. In e-books, you have to strip out the headers and footers that appear in print books. There are no page numbers in an e-book. There are also print book conventions that you have to adhere to. Then there are the proof copies to review and to make last-minute corrections.
In my case, I’m my own publisher and have to do my own promotion. I use my email list and social media to get the word out about the new book. That’s just a thumbnail of tasks. I’m sure there a few I haven’t mentioned or can’t remember, and then there are also unexpected surprises.
So you can probably look forward to seeing The Hanalei House at the beginning of 2020.
My point of all this is that the obligation of writing a blog takes second place to your primary writing project, and that’s the way it should be. That’s what I’ve been up to this past month.
This is a Nene, one of the birds on Kauai. They were
almost extinct, but due to conservation efforts they are
thriving again.
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