Happy Friday!

So I signed my contract and with that golden ticket in hand, I jumped aboard the train to trade publishing. I’ve done plenty of work in the school & library market, so I know what to expect there. Trade is a whole new adventure for me though. On top of that, my publisher, Merit Press, is a fairly young imprint at F & W, so they are working on a smallish number of titles and moving them through the process fairly quickly. Many authors I know were given months to work on revisions after receiving their editorial notes. I was given a few weeks. When I received the arcs, I cringed. I had seen pdfs of the ever-changing cover, but this was the first time I saw the finished version. There is no cover-love here. I’m going with the feeling the people who design covers and publish books know more about this than I do and just trusting their vision is the correct one.

Then I opened the cover and double cringed. I had added so much to the first page during revisions that it didn’t sound like my book anymore. A few days later, I received the copy-edited version and another opportunity to make changes. I trimmed and revised a bit to make the page my own again. I addressed some issues the copy-editor had with the manuscript too and I returned it a week later, feeling much better about the manuscript.

This week I received the layed out version to read. This is just a check for minor issues, like typos. Fortunately, there is also a proofreader reviewing this. I had no idea there were so many chances to review and revise. I’m so glad there were. I am much happier now than when I saw the arc. The book definitely reflects the ideas my editor, Jackie Mitchard, suggested, but it is still my voice and my story. That’s not to say I wouldn’t make more changes given the chance, but thankfully I won’t have the chance. That’s a problem with writers – we are always looking for ways to improve. We often need someone else to say – it’s done! The next time I see the story it will be a hard covered, page flipping book! I can’t wait!

Have a fun weekend!