This book, a novel called "Tropical Depression," is the final installment of a three-volume comedy cultured in the petri dish of contemporary human relationships that starts with "Equal and Opposite Reactions,"
The projected launch date of "Tropical Depression" is April 27, 2023.
Getting ready for the launch of one's book is kind of like planning a wedding in that a good nine months out from the Big Day – aka the book’s release day – one must get to work on a list of to-do’s, all of which must be checked off by a specific date about seven months from the launch date in order for one’s book to snag its spot in the production queue.
Okay, maybe the wedding metaphor doesn’t work quite as well on the page as it seemed to when it was rolling around in my brain, which is nonetheless quite preoccupied at this time – my brain, that is – with the pre-production to-do’s:
There’s figuring out which genre my book falls under: (Comedy? Relationship comedy? Relationship conflict comedy? Family relationship conflict comedy? Central American family relationship conflict comedy? None of the above?)
There’s coming up with some spot-on keywords or phrases to use for marketing my book, (Jungles? Volcanoes? Psychological jungles? Emotional volcanoes?)
There’s submitting a marketing sales pitch, a back cover and metadata synopsis, an updated author bio, social media links, a description of my book’s target audience and my favorite line from the book.
I need to give my dedication and list my special thanks and acknowledgements.
I need to send in a photo of myself for the back cover.
I need to gather some blurbs from other authors who might consent to giving my book a recommendation.
But most of all I need to read, re-read, and re-read again my manuscript, read it chapter by chapter, then read it mixing up the chapters, over and over again, hunting out every typo, every rogue punctuation mark, every misspelling, every linguistic blunder, clunky construction and syntactic faux pas that mars the telling of my story.
My deadline for turning in my pre-production requirements is October 1. If anybody is looking for me between now and then, just follow the glow of my laptop screen.