Great news! Revisions for Chasing Nonconformity are coming along quite nicely. I’ve got all my beta reader feedback in, save for two folks who are sending it my way soon. And I’ve incorporated all the feedback I already have into the story. I’m now in the process of re-reading the book and making random edits here and there as I go.
Once I get the last two remaining beta reader comments back and get their suggestions worked in, I’ll send the novel off to my editor/manager/life coach/mother, who’ll read it through and make her own random edits. Then it comes back to me for another read through. And maybe a few more random edits. Definitely a few more random edits.
Next up, formatting time! The book goes into my Createspace book formatting document, where I add pretty chapter headers and put in page numbers and whatnot. Then I send off the page count to my graphic designer so she can whip me up the paperback version of the cover. Then I print off 2 copies of the book — one for mother, one for me — and we do more reading and editing.
Finally, once we’ve read and edited the proof copies to our hearts’ content, and I’ve gotten the fancy paperback cover from my designer, it’s publishing time! Ebook goes live, paperback goes live — victory!
So that’s the game plan. We’re looking at a mid to late August release date at the moment, depending on when I get that beta reader feedback in, and how long mother’s multiple read-throughs take. She’s busy with house renovations, so she’s low on free time, whereas I’m totally unemployed and have all the time in the world! Huzzah!
Have an awesome week, everyone, and thanks for reading the update!
Unrelated media of the day:
I have a weird feeling I already shared this one, but I never removed the bookmark, so maybe not. Either way, enjoy!
Source: http://imgur.com/gallery/Ckva71C
Michelle Proulx - Author 
Enjoy your week and good luck with the next phase. Also, Pitbull really is a Pop song trope at this point, right?
Thanks 🙂 And yeah, Pitbull is EVERYWHERE. Although really, he could be replaced with “rap solo” — it’s almost impossible to find a hit pop song on the radio that doesn’t include a random rap segment.
Probably a union thing. You get fined if you do a pop song without a rap solo.
Might not niggle at anyone who isn’t a typesetting nerd, but the idea of telling someone the page count before you have the final text troubles me.
Well, by the time I put the book into paperback format, the text is basically set. The only changes would be minor (like, add a word, change a punctuation mark, whatever), and wouldn’t upset the page count too much. And the nice thing about the cover design process is if you design the cover to be for a 350 page book, and it ends up being 348 pages, the cover still comes out totally fine. It’s if you go from 350 pages to 340 pages that the trouble starts.
Adding a word can change the page layout enough that a chapter shifts by a page, which could result in a blank page to start the next chapter on the right. So, with spine widths set by four-page blocks in POD, a few added words could change the spine width.
As I said, typesetting nerds only.
Oh, I see! I didn’t think of that. Hmmm … okay, I will have to tread very carefully 🙂
So cool – congrats and best of luck with the final edits! 🙂
Thanks! Yaaaaaaaaaay revising :S
Good luck with revisions. I’d like to say the hard part is over. But then I’d be lying. You will do wonderfully! 🙂
I just finished the hard part! Now to read through and make sure all the revisions make sense, lol.
Good luck. Sounds intense. Who does your EBook interior? I use Pressbooks for mine. They also have a PDF you can load onto Createspace.
I just format the ebook myself in Word and then load it up into KDP. It’s a bit of a hassle, but not nearly as much of a hassle as formatting a print book. Eek.
You should really look into this site. I formatted all my ebooks and my paperbacks here. It’s all free. You can pay for upgrades and professional formatting, but you don’t have to. Here’s the link: http://pressbooks.com/
Thanks!!! I’ll check it out 🙂
Hope it helps.