The First Pancake… Take 2!
…And BOOM, just like that, my revised Book 1 is done.
The pre-order is now live and available here on Amazon in time for the release on January 1st, 2021. I’m also just about ready with the print version, which I’ll publish in a few days. Here’s the new trailer:
I’m excited. I know it’s a bit silly to be excited over a book that I’ve already published, but it’s been quite a journey.
“Climbing The Walls” was my “first pancake”.
The first launch was in July 2018, so the January 1st, 2021 date will be about 2 and a half years since I first became a published author! Crazy, right? Where did the time go?
I’ve learnt a lot since then, and spent months in writer agony wondering if I’d made a huge mistake.
In retrospect, I finally admitted to myself that I may have gone a little gung-ho on the first pancake. I was so excited about the process of FINALLY publishing the book I’d been sitting on for so many years, that I didn’t research and fully understand the market beforehand.
The result was an epic book that — though many readers LOVED, they did comment that it was a bit long-winded.
The Big Chop
Took me awhile, but I finally decided to give the people what they want.
I chopped it down from 550+ pages to 385, the exact length of the other two in the series. And since I’m anal, I’m pretty sure that length (385 for print) is going to be my set point for other books going forward.
It’s a nice balance to get you DEEP into the characters’ emotions, without taking up your entire week or more to wade through.
And I’m proud of my new, sleek book baby.
It’s the same book but just so much better, now that I looked at it with a critical writer’s eye and decided to CHOP, CHOP, CHOP!
So… what’s next?
I’m still sorting out some of the last-minute hiccups over the next couple of weeks, so it’ll be a quiet launch. I still need to unpublish the old one, and link the new one to the series, and transfer my reviews.
I also haven’t booked any promos or book tours as yet, but all of that in time to come.
After initial feedback about the book length, I held myself back from promoting it in some avenues since some bloggers couldn’t commit to reading it. So now I’m a lot more comfortable offering up the shorter version for their enjoyment.
Hell, I’m a lot more comfortable offering up the shorter version for my OWN enjoyment.
Loving your writer self
Overall, I’m super-pleased I decided to do this. It was an epic job to whittle down my first “book baby” to a sleek, no-fluff new edition that will now be leading the series, but I’m so glad I did.
I’m also thrilled with the new cover, which now has more in common with the rest of the series and also gives away more of what the book is about.
And, of course, I’m also adoring the miracle that I was able to pack in the same story but in a much shorter length.
I’ve grown so much as a writer since I first hit “Publish”. This new book is like a brand new me.
No regrets.
Much love to any fellow writers out there who are knee-deep in the “REVAMP” of an already-published book baby. It takes even more out of you than the first version! Keep your head up, and love yourself enough to grow and adapt.
You need to love your writer self, you need to love your stories, and you need to own your book babies.
For me, the best part of this experience is that now that I’m more comfortable with Book 1, I can finally, finally FINALLY settle down and focus on NEW books in the series. I’m hoping Book 4 will see the light of day by 2021.
In the meanwhile, if you haven’t read “Climbing The Walls” as yet, or you enjoyed it and you’re in the mood for a re-read, be sure to check it out. Pre-order for January 1st, 2021!
