Once an author reaches the typeset stage, it's almost like completing a marathon. Well, let me back up . . . since I've never ran a marathon (I peter out around 3 miles), I'll compare it to cleaning your entire house in a single day. Wait, I haven't done that either.
Forget the analogies, I'll just say it straight up.
Reaching the typeset stage is like starting a book in July; writing like a maniac for about 2-3 hours a day; finishing draft one in November; anxiously waiting for feedback from your notoriously honest critique group; submitting in December; holding your breath for 8 weeks straight, all the while editing; finding out it's accepted in February; working on rewrites and trying not to light a match to your computer; working with the editor, 2 copyeditors, 2 proofers; and finally, reading the typeset.
It's almost time to celebrate--to shake off 11 1/2 months of work and look at the surroundings that you've ignored over the past 4 seasons. Hey, how did my walls get so yellow? Did I really choose that paint color?
And what will I do to celebrate? Clean out my office, dust off the bookshelves, turn on the computer, and start on the next book.
Celebrate, indeed.
3 comments:
Hmmm . . . that doesn't sound like an analogy at all. That sounds suspiciously like a very good description of how it actually happened. Congrats on reaching the finish line!
Just don't let anyone touch it after you've done the final proof!
Congratulations on finishing the marathon, and I think that's a very apt comparison.
Yeah, it's great to be at the end. But it's really the beginning of the promotion :)
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