Well… we’re just about there! My brilliant book designer, Natalie, just sent me the final files for WILD HEARTS, and it’s officially ready to upload to Amazon KDP. It’s ready to be sent out into the world! I truly can’t believe it. This dream of publishing – of having my name on the cover of a book that I wrote is a dream ~20 years in the making. I’ve slaved over manuscript after manuscript. I’ve blogged and read and tried to hone my skill… and I seriously doubted that I’d ever have the guts to actually do it.
But today I’m going to upload my manuscript to KDP and work on the final touches as I prepare to hit that “Publish” button. I’m going to gear myself up, set that celebratory bottle of champagne in the fridge to chill, and try to settle the nerves that are buzzing beneath the surface, because I am SO CLOSE. Now, I know this is very likely not going to be an overnight success. I’m not going to be able to quit my day job and be a full-time author just because WILD HEARTS is available to purchase.
But it’s a START!
Now, for another exciting reveal… Natalie created some absolutely beautiful promo images for the book. Here’s one!
I am SO excited just looking at this. I look like a real author! My book has a gorgeous cover. It has a tagline! It’s available at Amazon!
When she created this, I was pretty sure that I was only going to e-publish the book. I had no plans for a paperback version until my friends and family started asking me about it, so I’ve since changed my mind. WILD HEARTS will be available in both paperback and e-book form from Amazon, and I’m absolutely thrilled about that (though the promo images only show it on a Kindle).
There’s no real point to this update other than to share this exciting image and talk about how close I am to making that final leap. Once I do, I’ll be a published author and I’ll be committing to making this writing thing really happen. I’ll have to devote the time to regular writing, to editing, to making the investment in this great cover design work, to continue pushing books out so the people who support me will want to continue to do so.
It’s going to be a lot of work, but I’m so excited. It’s what I’ve always wanted!
I have an author photo shoot coming up this weekend, which is going to be REALLY exciting! Again, a pretty surreal thing to be preparing for. I’ll share those photos once I have them.
That’s all for now. Have to get that manuscript into KDP, work on pricing, complete my author profile… all the things! This book is going to be out in the world very soon.
STEPHANIE KLINE 