Summer, finally!
I’ve been super busy the last few months at work with what has to be the strangest school year on record, but now my semi-summer break has started, so it’s time to shift gears and focus on writing again. I will be off work for most of the month of June, so I am hoping to finish up a couple of writing projects.
His Timing Update
The first project, of course, is finishing the editing process for my next book, His Timing. Authors will tell you one of the hardest things about writing a book is knowing when it’s finished. It seems that every time you read back over a draft, you’ll find something else that can be changed or improved. It never seems “good enough,” so you have to get to a point where you’re willing to just stop and let that baby you’ve nurtured out of the nest and into the big, scary world. If there’s anything I’ve learned over the past year and a half, it’s that this book is definitely not about my timing, no pun intended. Still, I am hoping to meet the goal of a late summer launch date.
A NEW Edition of Waverly
My other project is something I think Waverly fans will be VERY excited about!
One drawback to the self-publishing company I use is that paperback editions are the only option; they do not offer a hardback edition when self-publishing your book. Given Waverly‘s popularity, I know a hardcover edition is something many people would like to have available.
A hardcover version be especially helpful for teachers who have reached out to me about using the novel in a high school or college class. As an educator myself, I know very well how hard students can be on paperback books, so I understand having a hardcover option would be especially helpful for classroom use. However, there didn’t seem to be any way around this issue.
Fast forward to two weeks ago, when I received an email from the Amazon self-publishing company I use inviting me to submit Waverly as part of a beta program for hardcover editions. I immediately signed up to participate in the program, and then the frantic work started.
Getting the book submitted to be published in hardcover format meant redesigning the cover in a new size using the company’s online Cover Creator program (don’t worry – I kept the same beloved bird from the original as the cover photo for this edition as well).
A new book size also meant reformatting the entire 370+ page manuscript. The template is in Microsoft Word, so I had to copy/paste the manuscript from Google docs to Word, then modify the headers, footers, change page numbers on the table of contents, etc. It took HOURS, but I am pleased with the finished product and excited to have a hardcover edition.
Since I was creating a new edition anyway, I decided I might as well expand the author’s note at the end. I included some notes about the novel’s reception, the day I met the grandchildren of the person I based one of the main characters off of, and also made some minor formatting adjustments to the text to help it flow better in this edition.
I am happy to announce that my author’s proof edition of the new hardcover version of Waverly: A Novel should be here this week.
Classroom Visits and Book Clubs
If you are interested in more info about using Waverly: A Novel in your classroom, please reach out to me by clicking the “contact” link above. I am available for in-person or virtual classroom visits. I am also happy to work with you to develop standards-aligned activities for your students based on the novel and the primary source documents used in my research.
In addition to classroom visits, I love the opportunity to meet with book clubs to discuss Waverly. Please contact me to arrange an in-person or virtual visit, where I can share “the story behind the story” and discuss truth vs. fiction related to the novel. I love answering questions about what was based on actual facts from the case versus what I fictionalized and why I chose to change certain elements.
More to Come!
Stay tuned for more info about how to get your own signed hardcover edition of Waverly: A Novel, as well as info about upcoming book signing events and the launch of my next book, His Timing.
Happy reading!
Amy Bellamy, Author 