It's Editing Time

Some of you may already know that my first novel, Michaela's Gift, will be published as an ebook by Musa Publishing. It's scheduled to come out in June of this year.


The day I signed my contract with Musa was exciting. It was also frightening. I had made a commitment, one completely unfamiliar to me, and one I didn't want to consider retracting. But, although I had spent many hours reading about the publishing industry, it was still uncharted territory. Questions of self-doubt filled my waking hours and disturbed my sleep. What if I couldn't produce what they wanted? What if no one wanted to read my book? For several years I had dreamed of an offer, and now that I had one, it terrified me.


But then I got an email introducing me to my editor. For some reason, the fear and doubt vanished. I realized that someone will be with me throughout the next few months of preparing my manuscript for publication. And then, as often happens, the fear and doubt returned.


I had a reminder that my manuscript had never been uploaded to the publisher's website. I needed to remedy that immediately. Oh, sure, no problem.


Actually, major problem. Or so I thought. I read through the formatting style guidelines, and felt like I was trying to decipher a foreign language. Nothing made any sense to me, except for the fact that I was clueless, once again.


So I called someone very close to me. Someone who had recently been through the same process, and is brilliant. His name is Cornell Deville, or Michael Broadway. His YA novel, Lost In The Bayou, came out with Musa a short time back, and his next YA novel, Cannibal Island, is due out with Musa in the near future.


Besides weaving magic with words, Michael is a genius when it comes to technology. As he patiently walked me through the steps I needed to submit my manuscript for editing, he taught me things about my computer I'd never discovered! I found drop-down menus that had remained hidden from me all these years. I learned quick tricks to make tedious and time-consuming changes speedy and painless.


I guess the point to all of this is to not fall into a panic when matters appear to be impossible. Reach out to others, and you'll more than likely find someone with the knowledge you seek, and the attitude you need to help you reach your goals. Of course, you have to put in the hard work and effort it takes to get you to the starting point, but you've probably already figured that out for yourself by now.


This was just a short side trip, and an opportunity to share my wonderful news with you. I'll be back in the next few days with another author interview.