Ready for Publishing

Book 1 of this trilogy, Dimension Norraena is going to the publisher, Dog Ear Publishing, tomorrow. The book was professionally edited, then edited by other professionals twice more. It’s been read by a total of five people other than myself. The last few days I read it all the way through again for about umpty dozen times total. As I mentioned before, it’s really hard to let it go. I keep thinking- did I miss something? Should I read it again?

I am going to go through it again today to check it against the last outline that I made. Even yesterday I moved one part of the story to a different chapter- it seemed out of order and if I thought so, I’m guessing the reader might, too.

Once I send the manuscript, then it’s go to work on the cover, back cover and spine. After that I need to write up the opening pages, disclaimer, dedication, introduction ( maybe) and glossary. I need the glossary because I have some words and phrases used in the other dimension utilizing another language that I thiink most readers would appreciate understanding accurately.

I have in my mind how I would like the cover to look. I am somewhat settled on it, however not 100% The idea for the cover for my first book is nothing like the cover that emerged. The artist I will work with at the publishing company might have better ideas. The illustration above is one I used for early promotion, however I knew it was too dark to effectively depict what the book was about.The cover is so important.

I learned from Mission Marketing Mentors that a buyer looks at the cover of a book for about seven seconds. That’s right: 7 seconds. Then they turn it over to look at the back. If what you write there does not interest them, they put the book back on the shelf or move to something else on their tablets. If they like it, they might acually open the book, look for chapters or an intro or even read the first couple of pages. So your opening lines are crucial, too.

The whole process is exciting. I feel really fortunate to enjoy doing this as much as I do.