Stilettos, Stoli & Scribbles ~ Served With A Twist

The more we know the more we know what we don’t know….oh yeah there’s some quality writing right there. And there’s more where that came from.  I can hear the “confirm purchase” mouse clicks already.

We get asked all the time when’s the book going to be finished?  If I had a dollar for every time I heard that I wouldn’t need to worry about selling books…

Found this little graphic this week and this is JUST the writing part.

I’m not too discouraged it took three years to get Eden’s Fall finished…well mostly finished. See there is a whole other cart load of business to take care of after the writing.

We’ve discussed Beta Readers before and have narrowed that list, the goals we will have for them and deadline for feedback. I hope they read this so the email asking them to take on the task isn’t such a shocker.

Eden’s Fall is currently in the hands of “alpha-beta readers” – I think we coined that term too. We decided to add this layer of quality control. Normally we would use each other as we’ve done with our Random Acts of Fiction, however our eyes and brains are too close to the trees with Eden’s Fall and we needed new eyes on the forest.

Then there’s editing – professional editing – no offense to the multitude of volunteers. I promise we have jobs for you too. We’ve learned fancy new words like ARC Readers and Street Team as we navigate the rat’s maze of self and indie publishing.

Cover art and artists are being sifted through and not just one cover. We have to select three unique yet connected designs that all three of us like.  It’s a bit like selecting bridesmaids dresses for three friends with different tastes, coloring and body types.  I think the gowns might be easier.

For me the marketing and branding is the most daunting. We are in a remarkable time of accessibility to publishing. Literally anyone with a word processing program and internet access can publish a book.  This is wonderful news for those who may not have had the connections or timing to get the attention of a traditional publisher. It also creates a vast echo of white noise.  We are learning all we can have our unique voice heard over the crowd – so is everyone else!

So when we are asked “when is the book going to be finished?”, the new response just might be, “It’s done. You can buy it in June and look for the next one in the Fall. Can we count on you for a review?”

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