How do you...

Original post is at http://www.ailionora.com/, please comment there.

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…revise your manuscript’s final draft in a week and be happy with it?

The answer is, you can’t – and I suspect the same would apply if I had a year to work on it.

“Art is never finished, only abandoned.”
— Leonardo da Vinci

Thanks for the quote, Bryan. 

So, I’ve got a deadline – a date where I must finally abandon The Human, or, in other words, get it to a state where I’m mostly happy with it. The truth is, I’m mostly happy with it now. Yes, there are problem areas, and things I know need to be fixed & I will address those before I turn my novel into my editor – but, I think that I could potentially revise this thing for years and never be 100% happy with it. So I’ve decided to turn it in & move on to the next book in the series, The Hunter.

I know the writer I am now is writing a drastically different version of The Human than the writer I will be in 10 years. But in 10 years I’ll be writing other stories. For this one, it’s time.

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And just because I’m not about keeping good information to myself, this is the due date timeline that my editor has come up with for a June 22nd release at Origins:

I checked out the CreateSpace community and found this: https://www.createspace.com/en/community/thread/15755?tstart=0
The average seems to be 3 weeks for uploading it, receiving a proof (a lot of people skip this step, but I refuse!), okaying the proof, ordering copies, and receiving them.

3 weeks back from June 22 is June 1. I’d feel more comfortable starting that process no later than May 23. Cause, you never know. Memorial Day is in there, and holidays tend to bugger up schedules. So… Yea. My goal for having files uploaded and proof requested is May 23. That means our DROP DEAD DEADLINE for having all files finished is May 22. So there’s a hope that you could have finished books in your hand by June 15.

That said, it’s time to get strict.

Janine, I need your latest (3rd?) revision no later than April 24. My goal is to have the editing and interior layout done and back to you for review by May 8. Since I want to be uploading the final files and requesting a proof on May 23, we have two weeks between May 8 and May 23 to go back and forth approving edits and making final changes. Obviously, if we get done sooner, that’s GREAT, and I can upload files and order your proof earlier.

Betsy, I need your finished artwork that Janine is 100% happy with by May 8.

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-I’ll also be posting links and whatnot as I go that you might find helpful. Feel free to ask me any questions about this process & I’ll do my best to answer them.

-Now 19 people “like” me on my Facebook Fanpage. I like all of you too.