I’m happy with it and – now that I’ve worked through it – I’m feeling a lot happier about the ending of book 3, as well. It’s not a cliffhanger, and maybe we don’t need a fourth book, after all. I’m still not sure about that. I’ll see how the first three are received and might want to write about something completely different next, instead.
Another read-through for flow, next, and I’ll share the books with my tiny focus group of some – only some! -close family members. Too much negative constructive feedback might result in me shelving them all instead of publishing, which has been the fate of various previous books of mine.
If you’re a family member reading this who did not get invited to be amongst the first to read it, it’s probably a testament to your honesty, more than my trust in you. Not that the early readers are dishonest! Oh no, pass me a spade please, to help me dig this hole some more. No, the early readers are diplomatic, not a trait we are generally famed for.
Preparing for publication and the post-launch marketing means a lot more time in front of the computer, for me. I’ve ordered a shoulder brace, in an attempt to ease the burning. Hmm, maybe I need a higher screen as well. Setting it at eye level might help with the posture thing.
I’m not doing any wider focus group sharing or pre-launch marketing, having made both of those mistakes before. Don’t talk about the thing: do the thing, is my maxim, now, because too much talking, in advance of the doing, can put off the doing, indefinitely.
And here I am, talking about it! Rabbiting away incessantly to you, dear reader.
But somehow, when I know you can’t read this until after the launch, it doesn’t count. And you wouldn’t want to read an empty blog, would you?