Hello, Posse!
I'm actually writing this a bit earlier than usual. Normally, we have groceries delivered on Thursday nights, but we are out of a few things, so I'm having them delivered tomorrow when I usually sit down to write this. I guess it is good to shake up a routine once in a while.
I'm sure you can probably guess that it is raining here. While it does make it unseasonable cold, it is perfect weather for staying in and working on my books.
I do have good news. In case you have not heard, Part 5, Into the West: To Save Them All, is with my professional editor. As soon as he gets it back to me I will load it up and set the books to publish. I am hoping for July 2nd so it can be out for the fourth of July weekend. However, I am not going to even consider trying to rush Greg in his editing considering how long I took to finally write the darn thing and get it to him. He is much ore reliable in his turn around time as an editor than I have ever been as a writer.
I have everything set on Amazon to go live. I just have to drop in the text and hit publish. I need to do one more check on the covers. I might have to make a correction on it tonight. But it should all be set well before I get the book back from Greg.
I spent most of last night, and early this morning, making sure everything on my Amazon site was uniform for keywords, categories, descriptions, etc. It was a lot more work than I expected. Now everything should have a uniform look to it. See, I am getting better at some things. Tonight, I plan to set things up on the Barnes & Noble Booksellers site and make sure things there are all uniform. This is really the stuff that takes all the time, the social media, the website, the formatting, the cover designs, promotional material, marketing, networking, I actually spend the least amount of my time writing. It's a good thing I love all this kind of stuff.
After I get the things all set on B&N, I'm going to go back to finish writing part 6, Into the West: Last Showdown. I am just a few chapters away from finishing that book. Once that is published, there will just be one final book (If I do not get carried away writing again) to finish this saga. I'm so excited. I hope the next will not take me so long to complete. I spent a lot of time learning how to all of this, one day it should be second nature . . . I hope.
I am still working on a way to get audiobooks for this serial. Tonight, I am checking into what all I need to buy to set up a decent recording booth here at home. I have all of the equipment I should need, but I need a bit better sound proofing before doing the recordings here. I am getting some great tracks, but there is a bit too much background noise. It's not really noticeable but it bothers me that it isn't cleaner. If I'm doing this, I want to do it well.
So, that is the update for now, posse. Things are progressing nicely and I hope to announce the release date very soon for part 5, Into the West: To Save Them All. I actually got the best complement ever about my writing. I asked my sister to beta-read part 5 for me and give me her thoughts. I knew I could get honest feed back from her. I was expecting at least a few notes on things I should work on. What she told me was my writing style reminds her of Harper Lee. Nothing like being compared to a Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author to build your ego. It was the nicest thing anyone has ever said about my writing. I feel like I should cross-stitch it on a pillow or something.
Now, just to leave you with a smile (in case knowing that part 5 is almost available doesn't cut it) I want to share a feel good video.
Enjoy!
Dianne