I intended to title this post ‘Great Expectations’, but wanted to add a caveat of ‘Great(–adjacent)’, because my imposter syndrome would not allow me to make that claim. “What if it’s not so great?” is what my self–doubt whispers… So, ‘Exciting News’ it is! The fact that the manuscript of my novella, “The Separation of Briin”, is going through its final round of edits, I mean.
For once, I have been revoltingly productive (*ahem* obsessive) and completed the first draft of my novella last week, as well as proofread and edited it the past few days. It’s going through some superficial changes at the moment, but overall, I think it’s nailed down.
I am very, VERY excited to share Briin’s story with readers, and will be releasing the book in ebook and paperback formats on Amazon (KU) by mid-February. Other platforms will take a while longer, but I’ll eventually get to them as well.
As an indie author, and especially one on a shoestring budget at this stage, I have had to wear many hats for the publication of The Assays of Ata, and now “The Separation of Briin” as well.
These include, but are not limited to: proofreader and editor (I know I shouldn’t, but needs must, and my sisters also have a keen eye for errors), map designer and illustrator, cover designer (and a poor one at that), publisher (with the help of Amazon and IngramSpark), and marketing and media manager (the one I do worst of all!).
Unfortunately, in the relationship between quantity and quality, the latter inevitably suffers when you have to divide your time between so many different, skills–based elements, thereby proving the expression “Jack of all trades, but master of none.”
I therefore have to reconcile the nit-picking perfectionist in myself to the fact that the cover won’t look exactly the way a professional layout and cover designer’s would, and that there might be some marketing hiccups along the way due to my lack of contacts in the publishing world. However, taking into consideration that both books were created, 100% and in their entirety, by moi, I feel quite chuffed — “still better than master of none”, indeed!
In the end, the main benchmark that needs to be met by a book is that it delivers a good story, which I do believe I have managed with “The Separation of Briin”, so cheers to that! 🙂
K.I.S.
