IWSG February: Almost there... Stay on Target!

The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Writers post their thoughts on their blogs, talking about their doubts and the fears they have conquered. It's a chance for writers to commiserate and offer a word of encouragement to each other. Check out the group here.

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Is it okay to be a little excited yet?

As you're reading this, my manuscript is on its way to my latest - and last - line of beta readers. Technically I guess they're gamma readers, but whatever. Since my last pass through readers it has undergone several more rounds of edits, revisions and tightening and I wanted to get feedback from a few more voices as I had to change a few things(most noticeably the ending). While I'm waiting for their feedback, I will get the finishing touches put on the cover and work on some other related elements.

If all goes according to plan, I might get this book out by the end of March, or sometime in April at the latest.

I started this book back in February of last year. I finished the first draft on July 17, and I've been editing and re-writing ever since. It's coming up on 12 months since I began, and it's been a busy year. I published my first book in May. In the Fall I launched a failed crowd-funding campaign to have my new book released through Inkshares.com. Not to mention I have a full-time job, and my wife and I had our second child.

I suppose as far book-writing goes, a year is really not that long, but for me the last 12 months have seemed like forever. Numerous deadlines and publication dates I've secretly set for myself have come and gone. It feels like I'm been talking about this for years so everyone must be tired of hearing about it. Part of me really wants to get this finished and out to celebrate a job well done.  Another part of me wants to get it off my plate because I have so many more projects lined up that I want to work on!

And though I should have learned my lesson, I'm considering entering another Nerdist/Inkshares contest...

With my first book, I took a manuscript I had written a few years before, gave it a real quick polish and then put it online. I actually did way more revising and editing after its original publication, which I admit is monumentally stupid. This time, I'm being far more cautious and putting much more effort into it before I hit the publish button. They say your second first impression is the important one, right?

Of course, the insecurity remains - will it all be worth it? Will this book be noticeably better? I hardly made a ton of sales with Ten Thousand Days - will the added effort at least help me match the numbers on the first book? Or will people who gave me a chance with Days and ended up burned not give it another go around?

I mean, people read Fifty Shades of Grey and came back for three sequels, so quality of an author's writing is by no means a measure to judge future sales success.

I'm kidding. I have no problem admitting I wish I had written this f*cking book.

I'm being harsh, Ten Thousand Days wasn't that bad. There are people who genuinely seem to like it, but there are definitely things about it I would like to change. That I may still go back and change. The new book though, in my opinion, is much, much better. It's funnier. It's darker. And I hope more people will get to read it. I hope that my added effort and the improvements that I've made will show a comparable increase in my readership.

So I'm optimistic, but also apprehensive. Excited but extremely cautious.

In short, I'm a bucket full of conflicting emotions. I think that was a Pixar movie.