Good or Fast?

I have a confession to make. I have overbooked myself (pun intended. Sorry.) When I originally scheduled the release of Caroline Bingley, I didn’t foresee the tornado that put a major hold on my writing activities for the past six weeks. Today, I’ve had to face facts.

I could rush and get the book done by July 15, but I’d rather give myself more time and do it right. Here’s the way the landscape looks right now.

  • I have until the end of next week to finish rewrites. Whoa.
  • The proofer would have 2 weeks to finish her job, which is really too close a deadline to demand. I’d like to have a month for that.
  • Then, I’d have 2 weeks to make corrections, format, and upload.
  • There is no way the paperback would be ready due to all the cover and interior checking required, but I could squeak out the ebook.
  • I probably wouldn’t have time to reread the text before uploading.

I just can’t do it that way. I feel like a failure for having to postpone the release, but it really came down to a question of quality. I can’t let anything but my best work be published, and I cannot guarantee my best work at this pace. Besides, one of the benefits of self-publishing is flexibility, so I’m going to take advantage of that.

Due to the exact timing of the tornado, it looks like my thriller will actually come out before Caroline, which was not the plan at all. So, please accept my apologies for the delay, but I hope Caroline Bingley will be stronger thanks to the extra time.

10 thoughts on “Good or Fast?

  1. Don’t sweat it – it was a TORNADO for cryin’ out loud! I’ve had to postpone release of my next book and I don’t even have a natural disaster to blame, just my own hectic life. Your readers will still be there when the book is done, and they (and you) will be happier for not having rushed the book to market.

  2. Hey, publishing houses delay releases all the time for less reason than a tornado! I’m in the same boat without as good a reason. I’d been planning for a July 1 release of Mr. Darcy’s Letter, but when I was proofing the final version, I realized how I could make it a much stronger book. When looked at it that way – keep to the schedule or produce a better book – it was pretty easy to make the decision.

    Looking forward to Caroline Bingley whenever it appears!

  3. This better be a big boat, because I’m in it too. I just rearranged my own schedule to give more time for revisions. I’m still far enough from my release that I might be able to make up the time later, but who knows what else will come up in the next five months.

  4. Your proofer appreciates your decision. (: Seriously, relax and keep holding yourself to the same high standards you’ve had all along. We want a work that makes you confident and we are willing to wait for it. Breathe deeply and do your best!

  5. If it were a tornado AND an earthquake, I would understand, but JUST a tornado? Would Jane Austen quit if it were just a single natural disaster? I don’t think so, and she didn’t have fancy computers. She had to write with a horse-drawn chisel by candle-lit mammoth! We modern writers are just big softies, I guess. Good luck and we love ya.

  6. Thank you all for your encouragement. I am really happy with my decision to hold off a bit. I can now take my time and make the book right, and I can enjoy the release of the thriller. Plus, you know, rebuild the stuff the tornado knocked over. I spent the weekend painting our new porch. Warning: I inhaled a lot of paint fumes.

  7. Good is definitely the priority. I had set my original publishing date, but as I read, I realized the need to rewrite and postponed my date twice. The book kept getting better and whoa- I got a publisher! Something I had never expected and so intended to self publish. Now I am working toward their deadline and the book gets better by the day.

    I am so sorry about the tornado. I hope all is improving on that front.

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