Four Days to go Until UNTAMED Releases: the Editing and Admin of the last Eleven Months

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Four days. Four days. FOUR DAYS!!!

I can’t believe this–it is SO exciting. This weekend, I’m busy reviewing the print galleys of UNTAMED (ready for it to be printed as a paperback; I’ll have more on this soon), and this is all so exciting. Did I mention how exciting this all is?

But, still, four days? This seems crazy. It seems like only yesterday when I was querying publishers, and then signing the contract with Prizm Books. I can’t believe that that actually happened eleven months ago.

But, wow, has a lot happened in those eleven months!

I was assigned an excellent editor, (Deelylah Mullin) and she really helped me reshape UNTAMED into something that flows much better, as well as cutting out a few superfluous scenes. All in all, I think we had three rounds of revisions and edits, as well as proofreading and reviewing. My editor also helped me see how my writing could be improved–yes, passive voice, I’m looking at you. Like, seriously, I hadn’t realised that there still were that many instances of passive voice in this manuscript. Before I even queried publishers, I went through my manuscript so many times, doing so many edits and revisions. But I hadn’t caught everything. But Deelylah’s fresh set of eyes really helped me see which aspects of UNTAMED could still be improved. And now I really love this book I wrote.

Also, during this eleven months I’ve filled out countless marketing forms, sorted out tax forms and other ‘stuff’, (who knew there was so much paperwork to do?) and begun promotion. It was only around Christmas 2014, that I actually realised that my book really was happening. Until then, it felt kind of dreamy. But then it felt real. And now it feels so real, it’s kind of scary.

But it’s what I’ve always dreamed of. I’ve always wanted to be a writer. I’ve always had this passion within me, this desire to keep writing and creating new worlds. I love the possibility of writing, and the freedom it has.

And this is why I am so happy that so very soon UNTAMED will be born and available for all to read.