The Brave Decision

Hi everybody,

I really want to thank everyone for your feedback and discussion on the last post, here and in emails it truly was immensely helpful.

I have spent a great time reflecting upon it all, and I know for certain now what I am going to do.

As I also want to thank the handful of you who have beta read Godspeed for me so far (and/or are still reading) and given your honest opinion. The feedback is helping a lot and in the end reaffirming what I already believed in my heart:

This is the one.

If I am ever to try to jump into the maelstrom that is indie publishing this is the one to do it with, and so I am. I know I could query it but I fear the toll of the stress would be too great on my health and my family agrees.

Right now I am up to my neck in final revisions before it goes to the professional copy editor (yes, I hired one. I have heard too many horror stories to trust myself.)

The cover art is- well- the concept shots alone make me cry. So that ought to tell you, it's not just going to be good it's going to be gorgeous and there will be much public applause from me to my cover artist after the book is out.

To tell you the truth when I think about doing this I'm still scared outta my mind.

Not so much of the reviews (which I have sworn not to read) because they will be what they will be. I doubt this will be a book people will feel 'meh' about. They will really like it or they will really find it a bore and cast it aside, there will be no two ways about it.

But whatever it is that I am afraid of, at this point I am more afraid of not doing it than doing it.

The beautiful thing is that I have seen people get the story- and when they get it- it touches them and that is what matters to me.

I won't be giving it away (at least not all the time, I do plan to give away e copies for free from time to time) and I am going with Lulu for print despite some folks saying Amazon is better because they have a few policies (and a book size) I like better.

I have someone standing by (a couple someones have offered actually; thank you gentlemen...) to format the whole thing for me so my vision/health issues/chronic exhaustion won't be an issue with figuring all that out.

The dear friend who will be doing it for me has experience with Lulu and so knows the ins and outs of working with them and Amazon too. My cover artist is even taking the time to be sure the art fits the template I want to use (what a guy, I tell you.)

So I'm pretty excited. Nervous, but excited.

This is my baby. This is a book I have put my heart and soul into like no other novel and like few other stories I've written. Since that night when I was up late and in extreme pain and listening to the ticking of my favorite three-faced clock and the idea for a story came to me, I have not been able to forget it for a day. This is a book I simply had to write.

Why do this now, this year? Maybe it's that my prose and poetry finally got published this year (with a few more to be published in the months ahead) that finally told me it was time. Maybe I'm just getting old and know it's past time.

Whatever it is, though, this is the time, this is the book, and I hope that it will find its audience, no matter how small it might be.

I think they're going to be loyal one, once they fall in love with the characters.

So stay tuned: GODSPEED is coming soon: hopeful release date: late Spring/Summer 2012.

Thanks again to everyone for your encouragement.

xoxo
bru