What's up, everyone?
Well, it's been quite a while since my last blog post. I recently sent out a newsletter that addresses some of what I'm going to be discussing in this post but I thought it might be helpful to write it out again in this format for those of you who haven't joined the newsletter crew yet.
As many of you know, I recently graduated from Western Washington University this last December. After a very stressful quarter, I decided to take some time off from my author-related duties so I could enjoy the winter holidays with my family and relax before I started job searching and getting my dominoes lined up for the release of The Cardorian Complex this May, and finishing my last round of edits on The Laws of Vanity.
Some of you may remember that I said I *might* be able to have physical copies of TCC to show you all in time for winter break. Given that we're halfway through February, I'm guessing many of you connected the dots and figured I didn't live up to my expectations. The reason for this is because I realized that the hardcover and paperback copies of TCC were not going to look the way I needed them to because of the measurements I chose. The spines for both versions were both barely over 0.6 inches in its current page size, so I requested to have my designers alter the page size so that it would look more professional. This may seem unnecessary, but I assure you that if you'd seen the current measurements, you would have noticed something was off as well.
Chris and Claire from Eight Little Pages have graciously agreed to re-format my book with a small page size that will make TCC look more presentable. Due to their busy schedule, they were unable to start the process until February 22nd. They told me they will likely finish their work by the end of February, give or take a few days. If all goes according to plan, I will be able to hold a physical copy of TCC in mid-March!
Yes, I'll be the first to apologize for keeping you all waiting. This is frustrating for me as well. I've waited more than ten years to hold the official copy of my book in my own hands, but I have to be responsible and make sure all the pieces are in place. This is my first book and there's still a lot I have to learn as I go. Rest assured, everything is still on track to be done before the release date of May 24th, 2019.
That being said, I do have some good news to share! I've finally finished my final draft of The Laws of Vanity. After receiving tons of helpful beta reader feedback, I have a copy of the manuscript that I believe is ready. I've already sent a copy out to Kirkus for an indie review, and later this week (if not tonight) I'll send it out to BlueInk and Foreword Clarion. The ELP Team is ready to start the cover for TLOV on April 15th, so once I finish everything for TCC, I'll be good to go.
That's all I have for you today. I'm going to make a commitment to putting blog posts up more frequently so I can connect with all of you. I also thought it might be fun if I start doing a "Question of the Day" routine in these blogs so I can encourage more people to comment and make these blog entries a little more fun to read. Since it is the new year, my first Question of the Day will be: "What is your new year's resolution?" Whatever it is, tell me in the comments, because I'd love to know what you hope to achieve in 2019.
And as always, if you liked reading this you can follow me on Twitter @JTaylorBaker and subscribe to my newsletter to receive updates about my writing projects.
By for now,
John
