Date with Destiny!

As most of you now know I spoke to my publisher earlier this week and now have a publishing date for my book!   It was literally a year ago that I announced that I was intent upon publishing a book within a year.  It took me another six months to secure a publisher after a rather interesting journey. 

I didn’t know it when I boldly stated that I was going to publish a book within a year what a tricky proposition it was going to actually become.  It took me sometime to realize that unless you are already a published author your chances of finding a publisher who would actually read your manuscript are very, very slim.  I was also fortunate to get some inside advice that unless I had a literary agent to present my manuscript to a publisher then the number dropped to less than zero.  Good to know!

Feeling like I’d painted myself into a corner, especially since I’d essentially announced to the world via my blog that I was going to publish a book, I was left with little choice but to seek out self-publishing channels. 

FriessenPress Bookstore

One thing I've learned over the years is that people can talk all they want, but when “push comes to shove” they don't always follow through...  This was not going to happen to me.  A tactic I often use on myself is; if I state it publicly then I have no choice but to follow through.  Amazing how your self-respect and ego help you find a way no matter what obstacles are in your path. J

One big lesson I learned along the way was that like all things the world doesn't stand still, and this has been especially true of the publishing industry.  With the onslaught of electronic channels, the emergence of the large bookstore chains and the erosion of the smaller, independent booksellers the world has changed rapidly over the past couple of decades thus challenging the publishing industry to its core.  Couple this with the explosion of blogs and access to simpler, faster and less expensive methods of publishing has recast the landscape of the publishing industry completely.

Self-publishing has now become mainstream with quite a number of companies popping up offering these types of services. 

After some extensive research I decided on approaching three self-publishing companies.  Which in turn led to some interesting conversations about the various self-publishing packages from each of them, understanding the timeline to manage my personal expectations and finally the associated costs.  Each had to be evaluated and ranked on the facts and merits of their offerings.  Clearly my consulting background came in handy for this activity!  J

Once I determined my self-publisher of choice it was then relatively straightforward in terms of negotiating payment terms, and finalizing the non-exclusive publishing contract, which I did on June 29^th this year. 

All along my goal was to publish this year preferably prior to Christmas so that I might surprise those wanting to give my book as a gift.  Little did I know how much really goes into publishing a book?

My summer vacation was spent in Italy primarily re-writing the chapters of my book.  Even though initially I thought I was in pretty good shape in terms of the manuscript, I soon discovered that it was far from polished enough to submit.  Now some might say that I was being too anal about getting it to a state of readiness, but first impressions are important and so I wanted to make a good impression on the publisher right out to the gate.

The first step after my initial submission was to have an Editorial review to see if it would pass the “sniff test” (i.e. is it good enough to actually publish).  Fortunately for me with my weekly blog I had spent the last two years refining my skills and stories so I felt pretty comfortable with where I was. 

Here is what the Editor said about my manuscript:

“Overall the story is very well put together and is extremely engaging. The author’s voice is honest and natural which results in a sincere and simple style. In addition, the author does an excellent job of describing the different settings for someone completely unfamiliar with the areas mentioned in the manuscript.  With a standard copy edit I'm certain this book will find success”.

From there it went through two complete rounds of copy-editing which fortunately came back with very few recommended changes other than some grammatical ones...I’ll put that down to my Australian way of framing sentences shall I?  J

Sneak peak - cover of the softcover book

 The final stages consisted of getting the artwork and cover design, writing the synopsis for the cover and author bio.  Then this past week saw me signing off on the final eBook version and agreeing on pricing for each of the channels.  

With this now complete the publisher was able to provide a publish date for the eBook which fortunately for me is December 24^th.  Now I’m hoping that it’s going to be available online in the morning vs. later in the day, with the print-on-demand option becoming available in late January. 

Once I get the link from my publisher to say it’s available online I will post it for you to check out.  Initially it will be available in eBook format via the following channels:  my publishers bookstore (Friessenpress.com), Kobo, Kindle, Apple store, Barnes & Noble (US) and Indigo Books (Canada).  

I started my journey of writing not to publish a book, but to document and tell the stories of my life for Zach and Sami to read.  I've been fortunate to do just that and after this incredible journey the book is just gravy don't you think?   

I'm so glad you’ve been along for the ride and have supported me so enthusiastically, I definitely couldn't have done it without your ardent support.  

I am so very grateful – thank you!