The Cube is coming April 2!

​Folks, things are getting VERY exciting! I’m happy to announce that the publication of the Cube will be taking place the first week of April! 

In fact… the launch date is Monday, April 2! 

YAHOO!

So, that’s soon, isn’t it?

Things have been moving very quickly. Once I submitted my book in word doc format to the publishers, they shifted it into the proof format (which came to me as a PDF). From there, I submitted edits and changes and they helped with layout and the mechanics of the book. Then, they sent me the actual physical proof which was one of the most exciting things ever.

I actually wasn’t really prepared for it either… I had a long day at work and I was exhausted and hungry and I also knew I had to go to a meeting later that night for Moms Demand Action and I felt like I was going to have to really push myself just to make it through the evening… and then I checked the mail and saw the package and knew exactly what it was. I started shaking and Cora helped me rip the package open and I just stood there with my book in my hand, marveling at its mere existence. I took photos and just stared at it, and have basically been carrying it around with me wherever I go ever since. I even brought it to boxing class. And showed it off. Yes I did. 

But, aside from just revelling in the book itself, there was work to do too. I had to re-read the whole book and go through line by line to see if there were any last minute changes I wanted to make. I wasn’t sure what I would find, but, thankfully, I discovered the changes I wanted to make were relatively small and overall, I was pleasantly surprised with the state of the book… and how much I enjoyed reading it!

So, I submitted those changes, they have already been made, and now we are awaiting the professional proofreader to get back with her edits. That should come in at the end of this week or early next week. Once those are made… which shouldn’t take long... we’re ready to send it to Amazon and Ingram! WOO HOO!

So, I’m sure you all know what Amazon is… but what’s Ingram? Good question! It’s basically the go-through for booksellers to order your book. If you have your book on Ingram, it will populate to all the online stores (like Barnes and Noble) and bookstores can order your book at no risk to them (because they can return them through Ingram as well). 

I’m also opting to pay for my book to be formatting as an eBook, so that’s cool too. 

Apparently once we send it to Amazon and Ingram it will take a few days for it to populate and be ready for order. Then I make sure to set up my author page… and it’s full steam ahead. 

So, stay tuned. Things are very close and very thrilling. 

I’m also planning a book launch party for the end of April, tentatively scheduled for Sunday, April 29 - so save the date! (more on that to come later)

One other piece of good news… I was at the Chicago Writers Association’s 1st Annual Let’s Just Write Conference over the weekend (and it was excellent… really well done, great presentations, great people) and I saw the owner of the Book Cellar was there. The Book Cellar is one of my favorite book stores. I approached her, showed her the proof of my book, let her know it would be coming out soon, told her it’d be available through Ingram with returns, and asked her if she’d consider selling it in her store. I told her if there was going to be one store in the world I’d want to see it in, it’d be hers. She actually started tearing up! And she said of course, especially for a neighbor, and gave me her card. Isn’t that wonderful?!?!?! So, of course, as soon as I know it’s up and running I’m going to follow-up with her… and the day it shows up in her store I will run there full speed and start ugly crying when I see if for sale in an actual book store. 

My friends at the conference were all so supportive too. Here’s a photo of my friend Marcie (board member of CWA) who insisted we take a photo with my book and then posted it to the conference group because she’s lovely and so cool. 

It was actually really cool to go to the conference and know so many of the people there and to have a lot of the board members support me and my book. One person I didn’t know was listening to me talk to the owner of the Book Cellar, and congratulated me, and I thought to myself “he was a nice guy” and then I went to the next session and he was the speaker and he’s an awarding winning author and I didn’t even know it! Ah!

Anyway… so many great things happening… we’re on the precipice. My dream is about to come true. And I am so grateful. 

So… to recap…

• My book birthday will be April 2!
• That will quickly be followed up with purchase incentives and other fun stuff
• And a party. April 29. Because we will PAR-TAY!

Thanks for believing in me everyone. The Cube is just weeks away!