First Book
This is an exciting time for me as a writer. My second novel is ready to format and upload for publishing as soon as I get my final cover design. Thinking about my second novel reminds me of when we had our second child. Our first child came into this world fourteen months after our wedding. I felt excited but also fearful that something would go wrong, and it was a difficult delivery. When I first saw my son, he hadn’t been completely cleaned up and his head was misshapen from the forceps. When my wife asked me if I had seen him and how beautiful and perfect he was, I hesitated.
My first novel came into the world with high expectations, but it didn’t sell despite the rave reviews from the initial readers. (Long Journey’s End – Moving from Writer to Author) Eight months later, I still receive compliments on my cover whenever I post it on social media. Miblart, MIBLART | Book cover design services, the company that designed the cover for my first book, is designing the second cover as well. The initial design looked great but needed some minor changes. I should receive the updated design in the next week or two. With the cover, I can upload everything to Amazon and Ingram Sparks, for their review. If there are no errors, the book will be ready to publish, and I can set a release date for later this year.
Second Book
When we decided to have a second child seven years after the first, there was the same excitement but less fear. We knew what to expect and had more confidence in ourselves as parents. One difference though between releasing the books and having children is not knowing the exact date of the birth, especially since my wife didn’t require a c-section. With the book, I set the date. If I establish a late November or December publishing date, I will have four or five months to do the prepublication tasks that I left only six weeks to accomplish for my first book.
After acceptance by Amazon and Ingram Sparks, advanced reader copies (ARCs) need to go out to reviewers to read and prepare Amazon reviews for posting on the release date. I didn’t do a good job of getting ARCs out on the first book. As a result, I only have 6 reviews on Amazon. Amazon’s algorithm and readers like to have a minimum of twenty reviews. My goal is to reach or exceed that benchmark. The plan is to provide the ARC readers two to three months before the release date so they can comfortably finish the book.
If you would be interested in participating as an ARC reader, use the contact form on my website, Contact – C Buck Jones, or if you read this on Facebook, let me know through a comment. I will provide you with either an ePub or a pdf file to read.
Proof
Also, before the release date, I will have proof copies of the paperback sent to me from Amazon’s and Ingram Sparks’ print-on-demand services. These will undergo a final proofreading. Whether it is your first child or sixth, the joy of seeing the newborn baby brings hope and happiness into your life. When the proof copies arrive, I get similar feelings of hope and happiness. Hope that the beautiful new baby will sell and be enjoyed by others. Happiness in holding the physical evidence of a book that I wrote.
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