I've had a couple of great surprises lately. The first came when I received my author copies of my January release, KNAVE'S HONOR and discover -- whooo hooo! -- it has a step-back cover!What's a step-back? That an extra fill color picture inside the book.
Obviously, it's the one without the writing on it. And isn't it lovely? I adore the heroine's dress. The hero looks mighty fine, too. Not quite the way I picture my man Finn, but then, I don't think anyone can exactly capture the vision I have of my heroes in my head. Heck, even I don't see a whole face as much as eyes and, ahem, lips.
The other big surprise came when I decided to go to my local fabric store. Well, that's really a good news/bad news scenerio. The bad news is, the store is closing. The good news? Oh, my gosh, everything was on sale, and I'm talking major discounts. I got some great forest green fabric to make tablecloths for the family Christmas dinner we're hosting this year. Twelve meters for $15 dollars, because it was buy one meter, get three free. Whoo! I have more than enough to make the cats their beds, using a Simplicity pattern that was also on sale.
There was one other hitch -- I had a pattern envelope for shorts for my nephew (he prefers to sleep in flannel shorts), and it's still somewhere in the store. Ditto my list, and a pattern. I discovered I was missing the pattern as they were ringing in the sale. Fortunately, they had another.
All that and a step-back, too! That's what I call a good day!
3 comments:
Gorgeous cover Margaret!
Your covers are more beautiful with each release (love the heroine's complexion).
Margaret,
we were discussing speed on DrunkWritersTalk and I was thinking...
if you're on a deadline with the publisher, what happens when the book you write simply doesn't work? That is, you finish it, and the publisher doesn't like it (at all)?
Asks a gal biting her nails due to the edgy second novel she just submitted to her publisher.
Wait a freaking minute...
January?
We have to wait until January?
Why do I have December written down as the release date
(I was going to check stores tonight)?
Aaaggghhhh!
You're killing me, you're truly killing me.
The official release date is Dec. 26, although it's considered a January release (one of the weirder things about publishing). It may get put out early, if the store staff isn't completely exhausted.
Re major revisions. I've had that happen. It meant a lot of rewriting. I've tossed out over a third of a book because the editor had problems.
In my case, I either agreed with the editor, or could at least see why she was a having a problem. Sometimes something that seemed crystal clear to me didn't come across. If I thought I was right and the editor was wrong, I had to find a way to articulate the reasons and why the change shouldn't be made. Editors are human and do make mistakes. :-)
However, I always think if the editor, who is probably more savvy about romance in general than I am, has a problem with something, a lot of readers will, too, so it's worth my while to listen and either make the changes, or come up with a compromise.
No, it's not pleasant, but it comes with the territory.
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