The Book is Locked

Countdown to fall semester: thirteen hours

In case you couldn't tell from the title, yes, the book is locked. Which means it's done. I have uploaded it to Amazon, where final processing is taking place of its formatting for Kindle and other e-reader software and devices, and it should be ready and for sale on the site within 24 hours. It will be priced at $9.99, I will retain all copyrights and publishing rights, and 70% of every dollar spent on the book goes directly to me. It clocks in at 463 pages from beginning to end.

Hoo boy.

This is, sort of, a lifelong dream finally fulfilled. I've written a book. I've published a book. I will be making money off of my published book. Eventually, anyway. If I want to, I can even have the money I make from said book be direct-deposited into my checking account, though for the first few months I'll hold off on that to see what sort of business it does. I'm guessing some of you folks will buy it, as will family and friends both here in Kansas and back home in West Virginia, but outside those circles I doubt it will sell a whole lot of copies.

As much as it's about selling books, though, it's just as important that it's out there at all, in the first place. As you know, if I choose to continue into a PhD program (or otherwise apply for teaching jobs in academia), publications help. If I make a lot of money off the book in the meantime to supplement my income as a GTA and possibly pay back some of my student loans? Great, wonderful, I'm all for it. If I don't? Oh well, I can at least add that book to my fledgling CV.

See? It all works out. Sort of.

I was also technically able to keep my promise I made here months ago when I said the book would be finished and for sale before school started. Tomorrow's the first day of classes, and if all goes well, it should be on sale by tomorrow evening, if not sooner. I don't teach until Tuesday, and I don't have any actual classes of my own until Wednesday and Thursday. So really, from my perspective, at least, I kept my promise.

I spent the day today working on the book, cleaning the house some more, and washing all of the sheets in the downstairs so that I could put them in the dresser (to keep them away from brown recluse spiders). The former girlfriend's room is almost completely gutted now, save for the desk she left behind, four bags of clothes, and the lamps/notebooks/folders/iron/etc that I decided to save because I'll probably have uses for them eventually. I know I will for the iron, with how wrinkled some of my clothes get. I also completed the first month's timeline for my new science writing students, and if I can stay awake long enough tonight, I may go to Walmart after it gets dark and the Sunday crowds go down.

"The Trashing" continues onward; tonight, I cleaned out the refrigerator and pantry to get rid of anything and everything that I would never, ever eat. I also found the former girlfriend's wired temperature probe for her slow cooker, as well as its manual. Her lost jeans, however, aren't here in the house, as I've now gone through everything left in the house.

Now that I think about it, it'll be easier just to do the Walmart trip in the morning, when I can go to the post office as well to mail off the first barrage of thank-you packages to friends, get some more stamps, and get an official change-of-address form so that I will no longer get mail sent to her parents' place in Smallville (which, in case you're not a longtime reader, is the codename I always gave to her hometown in Missouri). Not that I got much of that anyway -- maybe three or four pieces of mail per year, usually junk -- but still. Better to be safe than sorry; I'll never return there again if I can help it, or if I have any say in it. I have four of those thank-you packages to mail out right now, and will be preparing three or four more in the coming week or two. Let's just say I must peruse the gift card rack at Walmart for a while tomorrow.

In addition to that, I'm still finding things I need and/or need to replace around the house. Bleach, new pillows (or firm throw pillows), a small comforter/throw blanket, cat scratch pads, Band-Aids, envelopes -- all sorts of stuff both random and necessary.

Yesterday was my parents' birthday (yes, as previously mentioned, they share a birthday), and today is my grandmother's birthday. As a good son/grandson, I called them and gave them my best wishes. I also told my grandmother that the former girlfriend and I were no longer together, which neither surprised nor fazed her, as she suspected as much when she got her birthday card from me and saw that only I had signed it. She told me to tell her hi and wish her the best from her, etc.

Then she paused for a moment, and cautiously asked if I got to keep the cats -- to which I replied in the affirmative.

Eighty-four years old, and still sharp as a tack. One of the "Special Thanks" in my book was dedicated to her, as she taught me how to read between the ages of three and four (yes, I was reading that early), thus instilling in me a craving for information and an appreciation of the written page.

Other people who got "Special Thanks" mentions were Jim Harms and Ethel Morgan Smith, the former being the chair of the Creative Writing program at WVU while I was there, and the latter being one of the strongest supporters of my writing talent I've ever known. Others who got special mentions were my parents, the former girlfriend, and the only man I could comparably compare to being my writing mentor, Clark Perry, amongst others.

I even gave a shout out to Phil Collins, thanking him for his song "Easy Lover." For those of you who remember the story behind that, I'm sure you find it hilarious. For those of you who came late or are new to this blog, well...I guess you'll just have to buy the book if you're curious, won't you? It's in there, starting on page 393. I'm such a tease.

In reviewing the PDF manuscript of the book after it was locked, I've found a few little errors here and there that I'll have to go back in and fix, quickly, though once it's been cleared for sale that process can be done very easily. Because of that, until absolutely everything is totally finalized and I'm confident that all of the little errors have been fixed, I won't be giving out the info to find and purchase the book (not that I have a link for that yet anyway, since it's not yet up). There's always a little more editing to be done and some interesting stuff to change or remove.

On that note, I'm getting a headache, so I should probably pack it in for the night and get to bed. I have another long day ahead of me tomorrow.