The middle of the year was one of quiet transition. I was uncertain of just about everything. The novel took a backseat to my health, and the release date of Stage One was only a minor concern. It was at this point that I began to doubt my need to get Monarch published. I had been writing it for over a year, but who would miss the story if I were to stop writing it?
No one but myself.
Thankfully, by August the horizon came back into view. The world became tolerable once more. I was ready to begin the final push of Egg out into the world. First, I had to deal with the pesky November writer's conference.
My experience with the November conference can best be described as a helpful distraction. I had to change the release date of Egg. I should have done so earlier when I was in the midst of physical therapy, but I was distracted. It was changed from 11/11/11 to 12/22/11. I didn't change the date until October and felt horrible for having to do so. The last thing I wanted to do was get people's hopes up and dash them. I heard some grumbling but I made the change out of respect to the agents I was to meet at the conference.
Once the conference was over, I was actually feeling pretty good. Healthier than I had been in almost a year. I had just finished a massive rewrite and was geared up for the homestretch. In truth, the story benefited from running the gauntlet in the lead up to the conference. It had been a shinning beacon for months and my preparation for it had me ready for anything. Hearing the news from eight respected agents that self-publishing eBooks is a viable way to break into publishing was validation for the last year and a half of work. I was ready to roll.
After one last polish, I was ready to begin the roll out of Monarch: Egg. First was the Chapter Preview, which was an opportunity for me to not only say thank you to those who purchased during the pre-sale, but also to get feedback and test the Amazon KDP system for the December release.
Thanksgiving was a nervous time for me in Savannah. The KDP system was slow to update because of the holidays, yet ultimately did update a week later. Lesson learned as December came into sight.
I must thank SaraBeth Huntley and Scott Padgett for their efforts. It is with their help, and Amazon, that the rest of the year has unfolded beautifully.
The release of Monarch: Egg went as smoothly as I could have hoped. Except for having to give technical advice to people trying to get the Kindle App on their electronic device. If it was perfect it wouldn't be real, right? Nothing has been perfect this year, so why end it that way. I can joke about it today on the last day of the year, but I wasn't laughing in May. Time is slipping away and I am aware how fragile we all are. I am thankful for the lessons learned this year and look forward to next year. Long live 2011!
Tomorrow is the first day of 2012. This should be interesting. Let's see what it brings.
Happy New Year!!
-Aaron Pitters
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