how I spent my “vacation” from being a published author

You might recall the blog I posted in May of 2016 when I told you how my publisher was closing its doors and my books would be temporarily unavailable. I confessed that I had no idea what would become of them, but promised I was working on it. I posted another blog in July, 2016 reporting that I’d signed a seven-book publishing contract with Henery Press, who would be re-publishing modified versions of the novels in February, 2017.

Last summer, I remember thinking that seven months was a really long time to wait for my book babies to be available again for sale. I didn’t know how I was going to get through it! Believe it or not, the time flew by and now the wait is finally (almost) over. The release date of February 14th is next week!

You might be wondering how I spent those long seventh months. Well, even if you’re not the slightest bit curious, I will tell you. I was a busy bee, or more accurately, a busy chicken! (Henery Press, Hen House, chicken, *clears throat* you get the joke, right? Moving on…)

Since I signed my contract on July 13, 2016, here’s an overview of how I spent my time:

  1. Edits of Blogger Girl – moderate in nature.
  2. Edits of Novelista Girl – minor revisions.
  3. Brief break from editing during which I worked on my seventh novel (due for publication in November 2017), details to be disclosed at a later date.
  4. Edits of A State of Jane – heavy lifting.
  5. Edits of How Do You Know? – minor revisions.
  6. Edits of Just Friends With Benefits – completely rewrite from the original version! Same characters, same basic premise, but a different story for sure.
  7. Brief break while I continued working on my seventh novel.
  8. Reviewed proofed ARCs of Blogger Girl and Novelista Girl for final changes.
  9. Reviewed proofed ARCs of A State of Jane and How Do You Know? for final changes.
  10. Additional round of edits of Just Friends With Benefits and review of ARC for final changes.
  11. Wrote acknowledgments and dedications for all five novels.
  12. Finished first draft of seventh novel, conducted several rounds of self-edits, and sent to beta readers.
  13. Started eighth book (third installment of Blogger Girl series due for publication in March, 2018).
  14. Revised seventh novel based on thorough comments from beta readers.
  15. Made final adjustments to my sixth novel, Kim vs. The Mean Girl, to be self-published in April, 2017 and sent to formatter. Scheduled cover artist to begin work in mid-February.
  16. Finished seventh novel and sent to my editor at Henery Press (yesterday!)

And there you have it—how I spent my seventh-month hiatus from being a published author. It was far from a break. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever worked harder in my life. That being said, I wouldn’t change a thing. It got me to where I am now—nine days away from the big release day.

How will I ever wait that long?

7 Comments

  1. Mary Rowen on February 5, 2017 at 2:17 pm

    Super exciting, Meredith!! Congratulations!

  2. meredithgschorr on February 5, 2017 at 2:18 pm

    Thank you, Mary!

  3. susieqlaw on February 5, 2017 at 5:47 pm

    Wow! You’be been super busy. Congratulations!

  4. macjam47 on February 6, 2017 at 10:08 am

    Wow! You have been a busy bee for sure. Congratulations! Now B-R-E-A-T-H-E!

    • meredithgschorr on February 6, 2017 at 10:16 am

      Thank you so much. I’m trying to relax, but now I’m anxious about the release and my next deadline. It’s a vicious cycle!

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