Feels Like the First Time

As the title of this post reads, it feels like the first time, and to borrow from Foreigner even more, it feels like the very first time. You may be asking yourself what the hell I'm talking about. Have I gone crazy? Some people would tell you I probably did that a long time ago.

Here's a hint:

I know I've been hyping that cover for some time now and I keep saying, "It's coming, it's coming." Well, it's definitely not long now! It has been in front of several of my beta readers. Edited and edited until I'm tired of going through it. I formatted the manuscript, uploaded the cover, set all of the interior images, etc., and ordered two copies of the paperback proofs.

Those proofs arrived today!

Here me now and believe me later when I tell you, I was as excited as a kid on Christmas morning to see the package on my doorstep when I arrived home from work today. I immediately opened the box and began inspecting the books. Upon a cursory glance through the interior, everything looked all right. There was a small problem with the cover, which I believe I've taken care of, and one graphic missing from the inside text (which I'd taken care of before the proofs arrived), but aside from that, everything looks great. Now, you might be asking, "So, when the hell are you going to release it?"

I hate to keep you in suspense by prolonging it, but I assure you, it will be very soon. I only need one more person to read through it. That person is my brother. He was the one who read a copy of Majoring in Murder after it was already available through all of my distributors and alerted me to nine...yes NINE mistakes which all of my beta readers (myself included) had previously missed. It just goes to show that someone with more time who reads slower can find more of my egregious faux pas. I promised to let him read every subsequent novel I publish from that point forward. As I've said previously, I want to release the best possible book I can hope to create for my readers. I hope you'll understand and appreciate that.

I'm hoping to release the book, in all formats, at the beginning of June. I hope that date's still fairly vague as I need to format the digital version, make any changes my brother points out (in all formats), and upload the files to the distributors (which will undergo a verification process before they will be available). So, even at this stage in the process, things are not set in stone. But, I have my fingers crossed and feel pretty certain that everything will be on track for the first week in June...but (as I've pointed out before) don't hold me to it. I hope you'll buy a copy of The Old Royal when it comes out. In the meantime, I'll leave you with a music video that seems appropriate to this blog's title. As always, thanks for stopping by!