First things first, since you’re wondering, I put a progress bar for the Renegade X sequel up at the top of the site. My word count is so far embarrassingly small, but what I have is awesome, and I want to be more accountable for it. And I want you guys to get to see the progress I’m making. I have a tendency to take on too many things at once, and right now I’ve got too many jobs and am wearing too many hats, and not really getting anywhere. (Did you see that episode of Parks and Rec where Leslie was trying to juggle both her full time job and a full time campaign? Yeah, that was kind of a wake up call.) So anyway, it’s time to put some of those hats away and get focused on what’s really important.
And what you can’t see from the progress bar is that I’ve got a full synopsis, a bunch of notes, and detailed scene plans written up, so even though my word count is so far embarrassingly small, it’s only the tip of the iceberg. And, of course, there will be more words. Lots more words. I will attempt to update the bar at least once a day so you guys can follow along. And because I like getting to add to progress bars. ^__^
We now return to your regularly scheduled blog post…
So, I got to hold my new book for the first time yesterday. Check out the previous post for the video. It’s not the first time I’ve ever held my work in book form, but it’s the first time I’ve done it as an indie, and holding that proof copy of Harper Madigan was just as amazing as holding the ARC of Renegade X. For different reasons. With Renegade X, it was validation. It was “somebody deemed this story worthy and waved their magic wand and turned it into a real book!” With Harper Madigan, it was more “OMFG, I MADE this! And it’s here–it’s real!”
Traditional publishing can be slow. It’s a lot of rollercoaster. When you’re up, you’re way WAY up. Getting the call was probably the most exciting moment of my life. And getting to see my cover for the first time, and getting to hold my ARC… those moments were SO amazing. But there were months and months of nothing in between. Not that nothing was going on behind the scenes, but for the author… there’s a lot of waiting. And even though it’s an exciting process, it’s hard to maintain that level of energy for, say, the year or two or three that it takes for a book to actually come out. When Renegade X finally “debuted,” it felt more like the end of a journey, rather than the beginning of one. At least for me, as the author–for readers, of course, it’s different.
The indie process is different. With self-pubbing there’s been less of a crazy rollercoaster–at least so far–and no months long lulls of nothing. In fact, since I already had this book finished and pretty much ready to go, the whole process from deciding I wanted to publish it myself and holding it in my hands was only two or three months. And those were busy months of editing and finding the right stock image for the cover and laying out the interior for the print copy and coding the ebook. So when I held the book for the first time, the excitement was still fresh. This still feels like the beginning of this book’s journey for me, and I’ve been so involved with each part of the process that it feels very hands-on and made getting to hold the finished product that much cooler.
Is it more exciting than having Renegade X come out? Deciding to self-publish was not more exciting than getting The Call, but releasing the book as an indie has been much more exciting than the final, official “release day” for my traditionally pubbed book. Up until I decided to self-publish the Renegade X sequel a few months ago, I never saw myself self-publishing. And I certainly didn’t expect it to be so fulfilling or to be so exciting or to come with such a sense of accomplishment. I thought, “When I hold my book, it will be ho hum, because it’s not ‘real.'” But then it was here, and it’s VERY real, and it turned out holding it was just as amazing as getting my first ARC. And I never expected that.
