It takes a village to raise a child -- and apparently, to write a book!
And this week, my village has been stepping up to help so I can put the finishing touches on my manuscript, which is due next Friday the 17th. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out...
Why do I have a deadline for self-publishing? Because I'm actually working with a boutique company called Typewriter Creative who's helping with some of the production aspects that I know would be problematic for me (to the point of procrastinating forever).
As their contracted client, I was given a deadline based on the openings in their calendar/roster. They work with self-publishing authors like me year-round, but they only focus on one author/project at a time.
This morning, I met over Zoom with the designer who is creating the front and back cover of my book, as well as some custom interior illustrations. I am jumping out of my skin with excitement about this part of the process and every time she sends me a sketch or a Pinterest board of fonts and color palettes and style concepts, I cry and I pinch myself and I squeal with absolute delight because she's nailing it already and I can't wait to see and show you what she comes up with.
So here's what I need at this stage of the game:
People to read the manuscript in its entirety in a short time frame
People to read a chapter or a few chapters and share feedback
People to look for grammatical errors + copyedits
People to send me a text, Instagram message, voicemail, or email that says "Keep going, you're almost there!" or something to that effect
If you're interested in any of those tasks, comment below and say "I'm in for x,y,z" or send me a text/email.
I've also created a wish list if you're interested in seeing what kind of supplies are involved in the creation of a manuscript and self-publishing/marketing of a book.
Pretty soon I'll be posting the publishing timeline -- as in, where and how to pre-order and buy the book and how to tell your friends and family to do the same!! -- and I can't really believe it but I've also never been more ready.
Tusen takk (Norwegian for 1000 thanks) for all the ways you're cheering me on as I get this story onto the world's shelves. I'm grateful and humbled.