The author proof of In The Land Of The Penny Gnomes arrived at my house Wednesday afternoon. I was unable to spend much time with it that evening, as we had some traveling friends stop by overnight 1. I did spend enough time in the copy, however, to realize there was a number of things I’d need to change. So on Thursday I read through the entire book, and fixed a number of errors which had managed to creep in to the manuscript while I was working through the edits. I also altered two conversations so the internal consistency of the narrative would work better 2. I do have to say, working on a print manuscript was a lot more fun than reading off a screen!
Last night I uploaded my updated manuscript, as well as cover art, to Kindle Direct Publishing. The print copy will remain as a draft until the eBook release date on September 7 3, but after I tweaked the eBook some 4 I submitted it for approval to Amazon.
I awoke this morning to find an email which said it had been approved!
So, as of this morning, In The Land Of The Penny Gnomes is available for pre-order as an eBook on Amazon! Writing and publishing a novel has been a dream of mine since I was in high school, it’s amazing to have a book I wrote listed for people to buy.
In addition to all my normal readers on this blog I’ve got a number people to thank for getting me over this threshold.
- My wife, who put up with my crazy dream and let me spend the money to get this book done right.
- Jean Lee for reassuring me that The Realm was a world worth exploring as I posted the original blog draft on this site.
- Literary Lindsey for her great suggestions during the editing phase.
- Carol A Park for letting me pester her with question after question as I neared the finish line 5
Next Steps
I’ve got some things to take care of before the release date.
- Complete my Amazon and Good Reads author pages.
- List the book as an eBook with iBooks, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo 6
- Submit the book as a paperback with Barnes & Noble.
- Set up a “Painfully Hopeful Press” page on this site.
- Talk up the book everywhere.
Current Mental State
I am excited to have reached this point, and now I’m terrified. I’m worried there is some glaring error in the book that has been missed even after multiple eyes have been over the text. I’m worried that no one will buy it. I’m worried that people will buy it and hate it. I’m guessing a certain amount of terror may be a normal for any person who releases a creative work into the world, but it’s not easy.
- It was the first time they met Bump and the first time we met their youngest. Sometimes we live too far away from friends. ↩
- Characters ended up re-giving information in a couple of places, which is what I fixed. When I write the sequel I’ll have my full arc already set, so hopefully that will be less of an issue. I’ll also need to find time to write more than once a week. ↩
- For some reason Amazon will not let you set a release date on a print book. It’s either live or a draft. ↩
- It did not like converting footnotes from my ePub. So I had to generate a mobi file for Kindle. Now the footnotes work but the pop up style doesn’t work in Kindle, which stinks. ↩
- Her novel, Banebringer, is an excellent bit of high fantasy. You should read it. Disclaimer: I did beta read this book, and got a free paperback for my efforts. But I also bought the eBook and she’s not paying me to say anything nice. So there. ↩
- And complete the author pages for those services. ↩
Painfully Hopeful 
I know I have a lot of catching up to do, but I just wanted to say that cover looks AMAZING! And I’m feeling all you’re feeling, too. I don’t think this is a roller coaster that ever really stops…
I’m biting my nails.
As am I, believe you me! 🙂
.i have faith in you and your. Book. Still keeping you in my prayers I am told “butterflies on the gut means you must depend on God” because you are human.
So exciting to finally have it out there! Thanks for the mention. 🙂 My pleasure!
And I want Vellum SO bad. I can’t get pop up footnotes to work in Kindle or Nook. It bums me out, and I’m certain Vellum would do a better job of it.
I am excited for you Wes! You haven’t rested on this work and can cross the finish line which you have in sight ahead in detail. I know it is a great book and look forward to reading it all. With the thrill that comes with a work well done.
Thank you!