The old line about the joys of boating holds that an owner’s two happiest days are when he buys a boat and when he sells it. An author feels the same way about a book, although you have to up the number of happy days to three: the day the author sits down to write a book and realizes that it’s probably going to work, the day the finished work is actually out there for sale, and in between, the day that the actual writing and editing part is finally, actually (really!) done. Thank goodness, that day finally arrived for me yesterday.
Or at least it has for emotional purposes. True, the draft is now in the hands of a line editor, so in a few weeks I’ll still have to decide what changes to keep and what to accept. But in contrast to the several months I’ve now spent slaving through four start to finish editing passes, that will be almost recreational.
What’s it all about? The backdrop is a U.S. presidential election, the hero is Frank Adversego (also the protaganist in my first book), and the bad guys are out to hack the election. As before, the underlying technical details are both accurate as well as easily understood by someone who knows nothing about computers.Also as before, the framework is a fast-moving thriller, the characters are intended to seem convincingly real, and there’s a good dose of satirical humor mixed in along the way.
As you may or may not be aware if you don’t live in the U.S., the primary season for the 2016 presidential election kicked off last week, so my goal is to get the finished book up on Amazon in June in order for it to be as topical as possible.
Although I’m hoping not to make any further significant changes, I do want to be sure that the final book is as good as it can be. As a result, I’d be delighted to get early reactions from a few beta readers. So if you’d like to receive an advance copy in the form of the current draft, I’d be happy to send you one if you would be willing to pass along any feedback you might have within a few weeks, and then post a review on Amazon when the book is available for sale. As a small “thank you” I’ll also send you an eBook copy of the final book.
Congratulations …. Can’t wait to read the book …I loved the first one !..
Thanks for the update
Mary
Thanks, Mary – I appreciate the encouragement very much. I hope it lives up to expectations. So far, it’s gotten rave reviews from the two people who’ve given it a read.
Congratulations, Andy! That’s great news, and quite worthy of a Cosmo oceanside 🙂
Thank very much, Cathyann. We’ll be back in Marblehead in mid-May, so I’ll hold you to that. Hope all’s well.
Looking forward to it. Am sure it’ll be another goodun’ if past experience is owt to go by.
Thanks very much, Paul.
If it’s as good as the first – and I expect it will be – I can’t wait!
You’re too kind, Andrew. I’ll look forward to your opinion when you read it.
That’s the plan, Adan. Hopefully you’ll agree.
Heartfelt best wishes for much success with this, Andrew. Awaiting publication with eager anticipation . . .
Thanks as always, Marcus. And looking forward to yours as well.
Well done – I’ll look out for it when it’s online.
Thanks, Julia. Unhappily, I’m just finishing up another revision round after finding that the editor missed alot of minor stuff. *Sigh* Still hoping to have it out by the end of June, though.
It’s never ending … and you can guarantee that as soon as you press ‘publish’ you’ll spot something else. Or is that just me?
If misery loves company, rest assured that you are not alone,