I have crossed the 130,000-word threshold for Manuscript Beta: of The Warden of Everfeld: Memento. Now I just need a NaNo-style month of writing to finish!

Okay, okay, I realize that is a tall task, especially considering that the ending is the weakest section of Manuscript: Alpha. I may just scrap what’s there and rewrite the whole thing.

But anyway, this week was decent. I had a lofty goal of 14,000 words, but 9,700 is still solid.

Approaching the Final Piece

With about 50,000 words left in my rewrite, I still feel sort of close and yet very far. I keep thinking about going back to the first few chapters and making sure my characters are laid out properly.

I also keep thinking about what comes next.

So if I finish Manuscript: Beta in about 30 days, what’s my timeline to publication?

• My beta readers should have at least a month to read the second draft. A fifth friend of mine (huge fantasy reader) and Present Wife will be joining my original four readers in this endeavor. I might not even wait for my alpha readers to finish before I begin my edits

Beta Readers: finish by mid-July

• Then I need at least one more round of edits, plus a Proofreader. Like I said, I’ll probably begin my own edits while my Beta Readers are reading, just because I feel like I know what I want my story to be by this point.

Proofreader: finish editing novel by end of September

• I’ll need to take a month or so to finalize Manuscript: Gamma, page formatting, and digital formatting.

Manuscript: Gamma: Finalize final proof by mid-October

Meanwhile, I’ll need to get my cover designed (likely over the summer), begin promotional efforts (such as the newsletter I haven’t actually sent yet), and handle any other pre-publication things I can’t think of on the spot.

So I can publish maybe by mid-November? I’m good with that, but I need to finish the Beta first.

Goal for 5/19: 140,000 words

Steve D