"Who Moved My Mouse?" Coming Soon To A Bookstore Near You...

/

Sorry to be blog-silent for so long. I got back from Ohio and had an e-mail waiting from my editor at Ten Speed Press. We're on round two of revisions. Round one was the editor going through the book and making suggestions/comments. I was surprised (and quite happy) at how few revisions there were. I'd heard stories of books coming back with all but five words crossed out, asking for rewrites. I had tissues and Tylenol standing by but, thankfully, they weren't needed.

This round is all about the copy editing. And this copy editor is GOOD. Straightening up my prose right and left. Plus, she's a cat person, and had some helpful comments/suggestions on some of the text outside copy editing. 

It's hard to believe I'll have to wait until October for the finished product. The book seems to be just winging along. I've got sample pages for how the book will be laid out and I've been approving illustrations for over a month. The book is already listed on Amazon and on Random House's author page. 

This is it though. This week is my last chance to make any substantial revisions to the book, so I'm going through with a fine tooth comb. My writer friends have been there in spades for me, responding to my anxious e-mails about "which is the funnier cat litter joke" as though they had all the time in the world to spare. 

I'm surprisingly calm about the whole thing. The only thing that makes me ancy is thinking about all the publicity I need to stir up. I've got a mile-long to-do list when it comes to marketing and promotion and I'm at the point where I need to start making things happen. 

Got any great ideas for making a cat self-help book a bestseller? Send 'em my way!

Cheers,

Dena

Any Ideas For a Funny Cat Index?

/

My editor from Ten Speed Press wrote me to say that she thought my upcoming cat humor book would benefit from having an index. Only, God love her, it's not a real index. It's a humor index, in line with the parody of the rest of the book. So index references may read:

Butt Licking, social.... 48

Butt Licking, hobby... 22

Kibbles - see NOM-NOM-NOM... 18

I love that this is how I spend my day. I spent two hours at Panera (my satellite office for those new to the blog) last week, sipping coffee and brainstorming ideas like, "Toenails as grappling hooks." Who has a better job than me? NO ONE. 

Of course, brainstorming is the fun part. Actually making something of the four pages of scribbled notes is something else. I'd say about 1 in every 8 ideas I come up with is worth keeping. The others are cliche, nonsensical, or just lame. I have no idea how long this index needs to be but I know I've still got hours and hours of work ahead of me. My goal is to have a solid, almost final draft complete before the end of the year. 

Over the holidays some of you may snuggle with loved ones, others may sip eggnog and roast chestnuts, and still others may curl up in front of the TV to watch Christmas specials. As for me, I'll be writing index jokes about dust bunnies, grasshoppers, and the evil moving red dot of light. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS.