Proof!

In the road to publishing, I passed a milestone this week. My publisher mailed me a hard copy of my novel, Unwrapping. This is a “proof” version of the book, meaning it was created after several edits by the publisher and myself, and by her copy editor, not counting the people who I’d asked to read the book before I obtained a publisher.

What did getting this in the mail mean as I carefully unwrapped the package (OK, truth be told, I absolutely tore that sucker open like a kid at Christmas)?

It makes everything about this project real. Which is exciting. And scary.

I’ve noted before in this blog and to some of my clients in counseling when I’m using writing as a creative tool, we write for ourselves. It doesn’t matter what others think of our writing, as long as in the process of writing we’re getting out something on our mind.

But it goes without saying that most writers, if they’re sharing their work with the public, want that work to be appreciated. And although I’ve had positive feedback from the folks who have read Unwrapping so far, getting the proof copy means I’m just weeks away from being published.

Weeks away from y’all being able to order it and pass judgment on my writing. Hence, scary.

What happens now is I take the proof, as will Terrie, my publisher and a copy editor I trust, to finely read the book for last-minute typos, grammar faux pas and possible content tweaking (though, hopefully, that will be minimal). Then it goes back to the printer, we get to check again to ensure the changes requested in the proof have been made and shortly after—voila!—Unwrapping becomes available. For no particular reason, all these months as I’ve anticipated getting a proof of the book, I’ve had the old Paul Simon song in my head. So for a little musical interlude . . .

Anyway, as a therapist, I’m trained to know how to teach my clients to reduce their anxiety, something I’ve written about frequently over the past year of blogging. Now I’m going to turn that training back on myself.

Wish me luck!