Yesterday the first River Girl proof arrived. This is the first time I’ve ever seen one of my novels in book form. I am so excited!!!
I’m re-reading the novel and making a list of changes I might want to make. It seems strange to think about making more changes after the book has already been edited so many times, but I think that’s normal for most authors. It never seems quite perfect enough. At some point you have to quit fussing over it and decide to publish and move on.
I ordered the proof on April 7 and it arrived on the 12th… only five days later! Much faster than expected!
Today I took the book with me into town to show my son. I couldn’t find him but I found a couple other people to show the book too. I was embarrassed when they said they’d buy it. Oh my, I wasn’t trying to drum up business… I was just too excited about it to keep it in the box! Just like with any good thing that happens, it is normal to want to share your happy times with friends. And almost everyone in this community is my friend. It is a lovely town.
I’m wondering how much money I’ll ever be able to make with this book. I think most people are very unrealistic in what they think most authors earn. For a little project like this one, I expect it won’t be much. If I make as much as three hundred dollars from this book in the next five years, I’ll consider it a great success. That’s about what I expect to make. Not a lot! After all, if I drive to Yreka to ask the bookstore there to carry the book I’ll be paying 50 dollars at least just for gasoline. There goes a lot of the profit, right off the top. Any promotional activities will be deducted from what the book earns. It is enough to make me want to stay home and only try to contact bookstore owners using Skype!
I’m hoping to eventually turn a reasonable profit by having lots of my novels and other books available for sale. This is only the first. If I had ten different books to sell then going to a book fair or traveling to bookstores would become worthwhile, I believe. I have a lot more work to do because believe me, putting this first book together took months of effort. I’m hoping the first will be the most difficult. It has to get easier from here.
About that proof…
The demo copy’s cover is perfect. The interior needs improvement. My plan is to make changes on my manuscript and resubmit, then request another proof. This of course means more time before I can publish. I hope I’ll have everything ready in May!