This long overdue post comes after weeks of frantic preps for the launch of Ellipsis.

I’d done my homework, I’d queried the right agents, was rewarded with some full requests, one of them seemed very excited about my project. <insert bad timing> At about the same time I had what felt like a real bite this other little thing was happening in the backdrop. It’s April 2020, and you know what was suddenly first and foremost on the minds of many. As the Covid crisis became illuminated, my queries were going through the rigors of agency reviews. My book, which happened to center around a really traumatic, violent event that happens to children. As it turns out, the bleakest time in decades isn’t actually a great time to try to sell a book that includes child death (which let’s face it, can always be a hard sell).

So after some really encouraging feedback followed by a “but not at this time” addendum, I decided to go the indie route instead because frankly- I’d been working on this book for over a year and was ready to just move on. I began to do my homework, read every blog and article I could find about the mechanics and culture of self publishing. The fact that most readers in 2021 now purchase their books online has made this previously questionable path, much more potentially successful.

In the effort to have a professional product that would meet traditional publishing standards, I utilized my people-resources. First there were beta readers- I didn’t have a lot, but the small handful I used were experienced and gave valuable feedback. Next I vetted editors and cover designers. I was very pleased with the results from both of those professionals. At this point, excitement kicked in. I had a well polished book with a gorgeous cover, and now the easy part would happen. I’d just upload that sucker, buy a few promo spots, and call it done!

<Not so fast> Some of you are chuckling at this point, some of you have already been through the rigors of Amazon KDP and the Ingram Sparks platform. You already know about formatting woes and cover size issues and trying to figure out what distribution rates to set. The lesson I learned was nothing worth doing comes easy. There’s no simple, “publish now” button you just push to make it happen. I’d intended to set up pre-sales and have a nice coordinated launch day between print and eBook on multiple platform. March 1 sounded like a good one! I immediately told everyone. Again, some of you are chuckling. Oh sweet, summer child….. you should have actually LISTENED to those blogs that warned not to do that.

In the end, it’s all seemingly come together and the March 1 date is toast. Instead- Ellipsis on kindle will launch tomorrow. The paperback version? Maybe it’ll launch tomorrow, but it’s possible it could lag a few days depending on just how long Amazon’s approval service takes. All of this has actually been pretty helpful though in a surprising way. Those pre-launch jitters? That feeling of terror about someone reading my words? The imposter-syndrome? All of that has pretty much evaporated in the midst of all this technical stress! I’m so glad to have this OFF my desk, I think even the thought of looming reviews isn’t the headspace hijacker it was just a month ago.

So dear readers…. see you TOMORROW