Besides, some of the worst of my fears already happened. A few weeks ago, my laptop died. No big deal when I back up my files regularly via a wireless backup system in my house, right? Wrong. Important files were corrupted and lost including the final, line edited version of my book, a formatted version of my book, and my students' semester grades for the homeschool co-op classes I teach. Yikes! Then, my cover artist, who also happens to be my niece, was in a car accident. Thankfully, she is ok, and walked away with only a nasty face rash from her air bag.
However, somehow, with a lot of help from my family (especially my awesome husband), I line-edited my novel a second time and am almost done formatting it for various pub sites like createspace, smashwords, and kindle. I'm almost there. Just a few more crammed hours over a few more days. And I'm excited . . . with a wee bit of 3a.m. nervousness thrown in just for kicks.
I don't know if I would have had the courage to self publish if it weren't for all the awesome encouragement I receive every month through IWSG, and from all of you on a regular basis.
If you don't mind helping me out one more time, could you sign up for a release day party for Champion in the Darkness?
If you can, sign up on the linky list, and please give me a shout out on February 11th! Plus, there's a giveaway!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks for all your awesome support and encouragement!!! See you around IWSG!
Plus, I'm looking forward to a special guest post from L. Diane Wolfe tomorrow on: Writing Articles to Promote Books. She just released her newest book:
27 comments:
Yay for courage to self-publish. Hope you find a lot of success. And boo on computer dying. Ugh-- been there and it's a horrid feeling, like having our blood supply cut off!
Julie - Thanks!
Wow! Congratulations on your upcoming book release! Glad your niece is okay!
Congrats for your upcoming release! I would've completely panicked if I lost some of my work, so that's great you've been able to push through. :)
Okay, you got all the bad stuff out of the way, so the rest of the road is clear! Sorry you lost your files. My computer crashed a few months ago, but it's 9 years old and I back it up continually with flash drives, so I was lucky...I think :) Anyway, I'm up for helping a fellow indie! Just let me know :)
Wow, sounds like you've really had to overcome some hurdles recently. But, I think it will make the release of your book all the sweeter.
Best of luck! :)
Wow. That had to be incredibly stressful. Glad you got through it.
Having a computer fail is trouble enough on a 'regular' kind of day.
Enjoy your launch!
I'm signed up. Will you be sending any info, or just take this and put it in my blog on the 11th?
It's so exciting, we share our first full-length self-pub release month. :)
Yikes indeed about the backup woes. I'm a compulsive backerupper. ;-) I scanned the comments to make sure it hadn't already been mentioned, but I'm a BIG fan of Dropbox. (There are other free counterparts too.) I do my "work" in the dropbox folders and then backup (again) to a separate internal and external hard drive. (Dropbox backs up to my other 2 pcs and my laptop.)
Congrats on the upcoming publication and surviving all the calamities.
I love parties! Of course I'll help you with one. :)
Wooh. Sounds like a rough time. When I got in my car accident a few years back I had a pretty nasty rash on my face from the air bag AND a black eye. Not pretty. The important thing is that she's not seriously injured!
Congratulations on your upcoming release!!
How did you create links to your chapters on Smashwords? I'm trying to do that with my novel and I have no clue. Is there anyway you can show me? Thanks.
MJ - Thanks!!!
Cherie - I had a moment of numb shock where I just felt paralyzed, but then with my family's help I started moving forward again.
Gwen - Thanks!!!
Mark - I think it will be sweeter when it's all done . . .but then I don't think we're ever really done as writers.
Tonja - me too
Barbara - Thank you!
Ciara - You can take what's here, and I'll send you something too. Thanks! I'm excited about reading your book! :-)
Jeff - I'm new to dropbox, but I think it could be a huge save for me.
Al - Thank you Father Dragon!
Samantha - that is the important thing!
Lisa - I admit I kind of got my husband to link the chapters. I watched him . . .he was in full swing and I didn't want to interrupt his "teaching" moment. It has to do with bookmarking them . . .I'll see if I can get him to teach me again and find out if I can send you some pointers.
You are much braver and made of sterner stuff than I. I already have a guest post on my blog on Feb 11, but I will give a shout-out for your release. I hope it goes well for you. Good luck!!
yay for the mighty tyrean! just make sure you are taking time to breathe!
Ouch! I format books for other authors and I know the amount of time that goes into one of those. Cheers to your husband for helping.
Nancy - Thank you!!!!
Tara - Thanks! I have been . . .it's called obsessive reading moments . . . when I get a little stressed I pick up my favorite novel and read the favorite part and that gives me a bit of rest.
L. Diane - Yeah it hurt, but my husband is awesome for helping.
Did you cry when your computer died? I would have. I did when one caught on fire and I lost everything. Now I back up redundantly -- flash drives and I email my latest to a friend everyday, so I have it in my outbox and her inbox.
I have guests on my blog on the 11th-15th, but can sneak in the announcement of your release on the 11th. Email me all the info. :D
Computer and a car accident? That's a lot in one whack. No panic though. You're still on track. Got your awesome cover and ready for Monday.
What's the release day party entail? Just announcing the release and showing the cover to the world? Would love to help out. It's coming up soon!!
Allison (Geek Banter)
I back up my important files (aka my mss) everyday, but never thought about the issue of corrupt files. That would be painful. :(
People like you are who I dedicated my post to today. Takes courage to self-publish, whether on Amazon or on our blogs. Good for you! So glad you got your novel edited again and ready to go. :)
Mary - Thanks! I'll send it as soon as I can - just getting some last minute stuff done.
Alex - that's right. No panic - although I did have a day of walking around in numb shock.
Allison - that's exactly it! No post requirements - just announcement time!
Stina - always a good idea to back up files, and I like M Pax's idea of e-mailing stuff to a friend.
L.G. - Wow! Thanks!!!!
I can't wait for your release!!! Didn't realize you were going through so much:-( But nothing can keep you down, girl~hugs!!!
Your niece is very talented. That's a stunning cover! Glad she's OK.
Yikes indeed to lost files, especially at a time like this. I recently lost a rewrite of my previous WIP when my flash drive got corrupted. I'd got a new laptop and forgotten to save the files to the computer or anywhere else. There wasn't too much changed, but I know how horrible it is!
Glad you managed to move forward and wishing you all the best with the launch. I'm more than happy to help out.
Cheering you on in this journey, Tyrean! So sorry to hear about the challenges you had, but glad your niece is okay and things are moving forward. I'm excited for you!
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