Official Release Date is June 5, 2012

The official release date of my novel has been set by the publisher. It will be June 5, 2012. Before then I will be working on developing my niche market. I will have an order of the books coming by late April. Hardcover copies will only be available directly from me. Also, any copy I sell will be autographed.

For anyone who wants to order a copy now and not go through me directly, here is the link:
http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=9781618627049 

So now comes the fun part, namely marketing. On that score I have much to learn. However, I'm a quick study.

Release Date

I have been informed that the official release date will be around June 15th. However, I will be able to order books and have them on hand by late April so I can do some niche marketing and promotion. Even better, I will be able to have hardcovers made that will only be available via yours truly. The books that will be sold on Amazon and in stores will strictly be trade paperback. This is certainly not a bad thing. A lot of marketing, especially for a first time author, falls to my efforts. Tate will be of great assistance, especially since they will produce and pay for 15 second television ads for the book. So, there's a lot of work ahead. The book exists now and that is what really matters.

Final Approval Submitted

Yesterday I signed off on the Final Approval on the proof for my book. So now it is on its way to marketing who will advise me of the release date. Said official release date will be three months after printing starts. I am told, and understand, that this is industry normal to get all the store channels set up and get everything squared with the online retailers. However, shortly I will be able to order books for myself and use them to promote it, as well as give some out to a couple good friends who I believe have earned one. Most of them I intend to use to send to some fellow writers and some agents in the hopes of getting some useful reviews and set the stage for the sale of the second book.

While this is certainly an exciting time and an important milestone, I had some issues to deal with as regards what I presently do for a living. I stared at the elephant and I blinked. I have been way too negative in other areas of my life and, really, I know better. You get out of life what you put into it, and I had been sowing some poison in mine. I've put my head back on straight and know the path that I will take. Much will change in my world in the months ahead and they will all be for the better.

At any rate, once I do know what the release date will be, I will share it here and on the Facebook page for the novel.

Proofreading of Final Layout Completed

Tonight I finished the proofreading of the final layout for my book. I found very few errors, and most of them were rather superficial. My book, if it is nothing else, will be very much grammatically correct and free of the jolts that I have seen in some books. I will be sending this PDF file back to them on Friday after I do a final check on the text. The physical proof has not yet arrived in the mail. The gentleman handling the layout work told me that some authors do better finding typos and such in the printed text and then making the change on the PDF. I'm sure for many that is very true. For me, since I published a newsletter for many years, and composed on the computer, I don't need the physical proof first. I only suggested a couple of cosmetic changes that they may decline and if they do that's OK. The others were typos, one was a missing word, so those I am sure they will take care of.

This weekend I will be concentrating on some course work for the hypnotherapy class I am taking. I have also been fleshing out the scenes for my third book. Overall I am pleased.

Final Layout Received

Today via e-mail I received the .PDF version of the final layout for my book from the publisher. They are giving me 30 days to get it back to them with corrections that I find. That is to say, find typos and such. After all, editing is over and I signed the content approval form. I know I will find a few items but I don't expect to find many. As for this task taking 30 days, that isn't happening. I may take 10 days but that would be it.

Yes, I will read it over several times as it does need to be right. No book ends up perfect but I know I can get it pretty close as far as wiping out typos. This one also has the back cover and a picture of me as well. Hopefully that won't scare off too many potential readers. This is a trade paperback so it costs more than a mass market paperback would, but it is printed on quality acid free paper so it is worth it.

Besides, it really is a GREAT story. At least I think so...