Update on My Book

Life is funny sometimes. Funny in the sense of strange, odd, annoying, and possibly frustrating.

I found a web design guy who I was sure could produce a site that reflected me. I spent time writing the content for him to use. What I’ve seen so far is terrific.

And my illustrator is doing great things too, although she has had some major family issues that have slowed her down. She won’t be done for several more weeks, and the web guy said he needs two weeks after she’s done to finish my site. This is putting us very close to Christmas Day.

Add in my health issue, which slowed me down before and after getting over the diagnosis and treatment hump. This kept me from doing the online “advertising” that would make the book known to enough people so that it will sell more than eleven copies.

It’s an epic time crunch and I had to do the smart thing and decide to delay publishing. I may not have mentioned that it’s a Christmas book, so the timing is important. Practically speaking, it’s better to wait and get the word out when the Christmas decorations go on sale. You know, right after Labor Day.

But that doesn’t mean I get to sit around staring out the window. I have another book ready for the illustrator.  It’s a chapter book—for kids who are starting to read on their own. And it’s not connected to any holiday, so it can come out as soon as it’s ready.

I used to tell people that one of the reasons I was self-publishing was because even if I were to sign a contract with a standard publisher today, the book wouldn’t come out for two to three years. It will be exactly two and a half years from my decision to self-publish until that first book is available.

Ahh—life! As one great philosopher said, “If it’s not one thing, it’s two.”