Friends,

Something has been weighing on me for the past handful of days, and I want to use this space to get it off my shoulders. I have received the preliminary edits from two of my editors, and one of the main issues that sticks out is that my characters’ dialogue comes across as inorganic and stiff at times. I received similar feedback from a few readers about this same issue after the release of my first book. So in thinking about where my weaknesses lie in terms of writing, I can say with a fair amount of confidence that dialogue is one of those areas.

So here is my dilemma…how to go about editing Unguarded to bring it to publication. The turnaround time for the professional editor is 2-3 weeks, which I originally thought would be the time span from early November until Thanksgiving. It would be at that time that I would begin fixing the editing suggestions in the text, which could take up to 1-2 weeks. After finalizing the manuscript and converting it, the date would be roughly around December 10-12, at which time I would submit my manuscript to Amazon for formatting review before it would be available for purchase.

However, I want to make sure that this book is a step further than the last in terms of writing progression and development. I don’t want to become complacent and end up with a handful of books with stale stories when it’s all said and done. I think I would rather put in some extra time polishing the dialogue and anything other things that might need tending to, than put out a bad book too soon.

So here is what I am considering and will hopefully decide on by the end of the week: I will use the time from now until Thanksgiving (or maybe all of November for that matter) to tweak the dialogue and other issues, and then submit my manuscript for editing in early December. I would then hopefully get it back around Christmas or so, which would then put the final manuscript up for final submission around the first week of January. I don’t feel as bad in this thinking because my original tentative release date was January 12. So it all comes back to quality versus quick release, for me at least.

As I ponder this thought throughout the week, I welcome any comment or suggestion (and even encouragement) from you, my readers, that may help guide me through the mire that is tough decision-making.

As for general news that usually occurs in my blogs, here are some small points:

– the cover for Unguarded is complete and will be revealed at a later date

– there is a development regarding Resistant (related to an updated edition) that I will discuss further in the coming weeks

Again, I thank you all for your support and the fact that you follow along with me on the journey through the world of self-publishing. It truly means a lot, and I don’t say that lightly.

Until next time,

-Eli