LUSITANIA GOLD – THE WAITING GAME

At this point in the publishing process, I’m in-between things as far as this book goes. I don’t really have much to do. In the meantime what do I do? I work on other things like the sequel to Meleena’s Adventures which is Across The Endless Sea. I write my articles like this one, telling you what I’m up to or doling out advice on the world of writing. I may be writing a short story if the muse strikes. I may be working on the Observer’s Challenge, my visual astronomy monthly project. Just because the current book is in limbo doesn’t mean I stop writing.

Folks, I’m a writer. That’s what I do because as I’ve said many times in the past, this is a passion, not a hobby! I have self-imposed deadlines though nobody’s telling me I have to do anything. I do them “juss cuz.”

With all that in mind, where does Lusitania Gold sit right now?

PROOFING AND ARC

The last I talked to my publisher, the manuscript (MS) came back from the proofer with surprisingly few edits. Now that she has it, she’s completing the master and getting the ARC ready. What’s the ARC? The Advanced Reader Copy. However, what’s holding that up? The cover.

I got word also to seek out anyone I want for cover blurbs. There are two specific people I’m asking for endorsements. All I can do is ask. It’s up to my publisher to seek out others. The process is to send the ARC out to as many advanced reviewers as possible to create (hopefully) positive buzz for the upcoming book. This also gives some people a chance to look for last-minute mistakes.

THE COVER

There are some last minute tweaks to the cover which as of last Monday, were still being worked out. Maybe by this Monday (I’m writing this Sunday), I’ll have more news to tweak this article before I post it Tuesday. As of the last I heard, the cover is still on hold so the ARC cannot be completed. Oh…kay. Conversation with my publisher Monday morning and she’s seen the new version of the cover and it’s just about ready. I haven’t yet but should soon. Once that’s finalized, the ARC should be ready to send out.

PUBLICITY PACKET

I’ve turned in the mock interview and bullets. Now the publisher has to compress them, tweak them to fit precisely on one page with the headers and footers and then she needs a good photo of me.

AUTHOR PHOTO

I’m not sure if they’re going to use the same one from Treasure Of The Umbrunna or ask for a new one. I didn’t do any COSPLAY for Treasure so we’ll see. I have one from when I was researching Palmdale Gold, the third one in the Gold series, but it has me in a Mark Martin racing jacket, which is quite dated. No, I’m not a huge racing fan, but I liked the jacket and used to make fun of a certain commercial Mark Martin did when he still raced. It’s a long story. Anyway, that photo is on my Amazon author page and is me standing by the real lake that’s integral to the fake one I had to use in the story due to legal issues. It might be a more relevant photo than the author photo we used for Treasure Of The Umbrunna, but maybe not.

WEB PAGE ON FACEBOOK

Still nothing because I don’t have the final cover yet. I still have only the Detach And His Gold Adventures page on this web site which has no real updates yet, except those photos of the real Lusitania.

SUMMARY

At this point, it’s just a waiting game now. I’m sure there’ll be more things to do, so I have to be ready to go when I get the call or e-mail.

Folks, this is the world of publishing.

Get ready!

Happy writing!