publish my book

I am working on the intro AGAIN!

I just sent the last revision on the intro… last one for a long time I hope. I am so tired of that first ms… and so ready to work on something new and fresh. But, the work, the labor, must be done.

Keep your fingers crossed that Editor Dearest will take it on to where it needs to go now.

and then it goes BACK to committee… I hope.

Will I appreciate the day this book gets published MORE if I have to sacrifice and work this hard?

Reader #3 doesn’t think I implimented Reader #2’s comments and thinks I need a rewrite.

The book is now with a THIRD readers. Here’s to hoping it sees the light of day by fall 2008. There is nothing I can do to help this goal along. But, I can be writing on my second book.

I sent Editor Dearest the main changes in the book, including the restructuring and reordering of the whole order of the manuscript. Now… we shall see!

When RP actually comes out in print, and I hold it in my hand, I need to have something really great planned to celebrate. Rather than just pull something out of thin air as I sit here at the laptop, I am going to give this reward some more thought. It needs to be really, really special. Like a cruise. Or a trip to Cozumel. Or throw myself a big party. Something to commemorate the publication of my first book.

I am open to suggestions and ideas!

Now it is time to impliment the readers’ comments for RP so that Editor Dearest can engage the readers in a dialogue about those changes. IF they endorse the ms, the editorial committee at the press won’t even debate publication. (major butterflies in my stomach) The editor in cheif at the press is adamant that we bring the ms up to a place of excellence because she feels that this collection of essays will be a landmark piece of literature in its field. (high praise scares me to death) Plus, both readers are prominent writers. If the masked reader is as prominent than the unmasked one, I need to take a big gulp of fresh air. If I do the job of tweaking the ms adequately, Editor Dearest feels that both readers will lend their names to the project in the form of blurbs on the cover. I thought at one point that I needed to put DTTS to bed before I engaged fully in the process of tweaking RP, but now that I realize that it is only tweaking rather than a massive rewrite, I think I can give DTTS more breathing room and it will all fall into place after the summer. For the most part, DTTS is finished…. it just needs to age and breathe.

I now hold both sets of comments from the readers that the press sent the manuscript to. Reader one’s comments are raving with very few changes necessary. Reader two was a bit harder on me, and much more academic. I now have the tools to do a massive rewrite.

Sigh… conflict! Backcountry or write? Until September I am obligated to the backcountry, but that won’t keep me from stealing moments… and hours.

This is a slow process. The second reader still has not responded.