Novel Developments

Geralt via Pixabay

The end of last week was a banner week for my novels. On Friday, I did some cover artwork brainstorming with a writer friend and, on Saturday, I typed "the end" on the last page of the last Marita/Angel/Charli novel. Although Saturday's success was probably inspired by Friday's cover creativity afternoon, this final novel in the series has been close to completion for some time now.

So, that's it, right? Book comes out next week?

Hardly.

Although the longest part of the process is over, there is still work to be done. Since I expect to self-publish this third installment, the timelines are of my own making, but the steps in the process are what will establish that timeline.

In the case of this book, the third (still untitled) Marita/Angel/Charli book, about two thirds of the chapters have been through my critique group; although I've managed to stay a few chapters ahead of them, my colleagues have been, for the most part, reading it as I write it.

The next step is to gather all of the input they've given me and use it as part of the revision process. Not all the input is created equal. Some of will require me merely to fix typos, but most of it is more substantial -- fixing logical issues, clarifying prose and making sure the reader's experience is as easy and enjoyable as possible. A copyedit should complete the process, catching the small, but important errors missed by those of us with less of an eagle eye.

I'm hoping as I go through all of this, the elusive title will present itself. If not, the next step (finalizing a cover) will be more difficult than it ought to be. Because I'm self-publishing, once I complete this step, I'm ready to move on to uploading and tweaking.

Geralt via Pixabay

What time line do I have in mind? My goal is to re-release Casting the First Stone (with a new cover) by September 1 and to get the final book out into the world no later than January 1, 2020. Whether or not I can accomplish these things depends on not only the timeline and its steps, but everything else that is swirling about me as well.

Still, even with so much work ahead, it feels really wonderful to have, once again, typed "THE END."