Hi Jim,

I’m just about to publish, but I don’t think the book is ready. I set a release date so that everyone would be ready and excited, but now I feel like I’ve really roped myself into a corner. I want to do more work on the book, but I don’t want to disappoint my fans. What should I do?

-Miles

Hi Miles,

I honestly don’t know. If you’re looking for someone to tell you whether you should go ahead and publish or not, I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. All I can do is weigh out the pros and cons for you.

First of all, you set a definitive deadline for yourself before your book was done. That was your first mistake. If you want to release imagery of your book and let a few plot points drop, all power to you. However it is usually better to just tell people that your book is, for example, ‘due to be out next year.’ That gives you enough time. Don’t set definitive timelines that you may not be able to keep to.

I personally have run into this situation a few times, and even after having the book complete and being reasonably sure that it would go to publishing on time, I’ve had to push releases back due to complications. My most recent book has been pushed back twice.

So on one hand, you don’t want to disappoint your readers and if your book is highly anticipated, you will get some bellyaching from your audience.

On the other hand, if you release a flawed work, it could turn the audience off even more.

However at the same time, I’d recommend doing some soul searching. Does your book need more editing or updating or are you suffering from a case of writer’s fear. Are you afraid of releasing your book and the audience won’t like it to the point where you’re making unnecessary changes and ‘finding’ problems to edit? If so, it may just be the jitters.

If this is the case, I’d find someone to take a good long look at your book and make the call for you on whether they think its ready. If it really does need more edits, then you’d do well to be up front with your readers and let them know what’s going on.

I hope this helps! Readers, what do you think? Do you have any advice for Miles?

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Note:
If you have read my books, PLEASE log into Amazon and post a review. I really love to hear everyone’s thoughts and constructive criticisms. Reviews help get my book attention and word of mouth is everything in this business!

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim