Why is this book taking so long?!! Please, keep reading...

Hmmm, have you ever wondered why some things takes longer to unfold than others? I have & while I contemplate this mystery I'm also coming to grips with my book's own timeline. It's not the timeline I would have chosen, No, I wanted this baby out into the world months ago but hey, my book had it's own schedule so I've decided to defer to it.

After I consciously allowed this to happen, it was going to anyway, regardless of my thoughts or feelings about it, things got easier. I mean I settled down about the book, the timelines (mine), the deadlines (also mine) & all the other little hiccups & and realities that make up the process of self-publishing a book.
It takes as long as it takes.

Sure, I could have pushed it out weeks ago...I almost did but the thing that kept me from doing that was my overriding belief that it just wasn't good enough-yet. The book is already written so that wasn't the issue, No, it was all the other the details-to be accurate-the dozens of other details that come after the book is written.

The cover is original art-work not from a ready-made template. More time. I've sourced out my own copy-editor, proofer & formatter-huge amounts of time, energy & second-guessing!
The entire book writing & publishing process has been one that I've personally done or organised, all 100% of it plus I learned it all from scratch.
The biggest time consumer by far has been with the endless edits. I wrote my book using MSword which is what I'd recommend to anyone embarking on this journey. Fewer formatting hassles later. I believed that this would give me a head start with the editing & yes it did but seriously, it's the very basics of spell check & grammar-that's all! Once my book was written I then asked a new copy-writer/editor to look it over. She did a terrific job however, this too is just a prelude to more edits. I then went through again & picked up some 'stray' spelling & misc. structural errors. Ta da! I'm done, or so I thought.

I settled on createspace as a publisher for a couple of reasons-it's free! Very important. They will assign an ISBN# , also free (you will need one to display your book in a bookstores as well as the library & a separate number for digital & traditional formats). They have an excellent forum & even better free, brilliant tutorials. Their customer service is unbelievable-fast & very courteous & knowledgeable.
So I first found & selected a formatter. Hmm, what's that? Right, exactly, I took a leap of faith on this one & got excellent help plus this person has gone above & beyond for me & my book. 2 weeks later...after uploading my formatted files to creatspace it had to go through their proprietary checks which took less than 24 hours but it identified many errors with my file. After much, subsequent  'tweaking' my file (manuscript) & especially the cover-art image was accepted as 'error free' (2-3 weeks), yipee!! Or so I thought. The next phase was something they 'strongly' recommended-proof my book. This meant 2 things: 1) order a proof copy (softcover) then go through it 3 times looking for specific things each time such as structure, flow, errors etc, etc. 2) Go through the electronic version 3 times as well!
Are you getting a sense of the massive time requirements for all that proofing & editing?! I think you are. I can say now though,with absolute clarity-I'm, at last, done!
My files need to resubmitted to first the formatter (done) for any changes/corrections (one week) then reloaded to createspace for their approval (another 24 hours of waiting). Once these 2 final steps are completed, guess what? I'll have a book on Kindle (in about a week, fingers are xed) & I will be able to order soft copies as well (& you will too).

It's been a tremendous learning curve & I'm better prepared & equipped for my next book 'The Reluctant Lesbian' which is actually the prequel to The Distracted Yogi.
I've been busy uploading photos to TDYogi facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Distracted-Yogi/359538544159483?ref=hl  cuz I really want you to have a connection to my story through them.
Please let me know what you think...I love comments & I'm excited that you are still here patiently waiting, with me, for this book to be birthed;)
Cheers, Michelle
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