Sunday, October 25, 2015

Day 1394: Time for a title!

Today, I finished reviewing my entire manuscript, made a few important decisions and created a plan of action for the book.

Many of the chapters are already in finished form.  Last spring I revised ruthlessly to achieve a nearly finished product.  Fourteen chapters will need only minor editing.  That should take a week if I do two chapters per day.

Six more will require a bit more work.  I'm going to completely reorganize the classes chapter and move the lesson plans to the appendix.  That chapter will require two or three days.

The student leader chapter needs some new voices and a bit more punch.  That's true for recruiting and enrolling, too.  They'll probably take two to four days each.

I still have the issue of conflicting accounts of dates for the early 1970s.  That must be resolved with a bit more research, revision and two more interviews.  A few more days will be necessary for the two early history chapters.

The biggest task is to write the first and last chapters.  Although I've got sections to include, they will have to be woven together carefully.  I'm sure that will take at least a week each.

The appendix will be a collection of supplemental materials.  They are mostly ready, but will have to be organized.  I've decided to put the songs, games and cadences in that section as a reference.  That will probably require a week or ten days.

And I'll need a new preface.

All in all, a Dec. 31 completion date seems possible, although holidays could interfere.  We'll be away for a week at Thanksgiving.  And there are all those parent meetings.  So could my book be completed in ten weeks? Wow!   Jan. 15 might be more realistic.   It's very exciting!  Seven years of work and I'm closing in on the end.

Then the really hard work begins.  Finding possible publishers, query letters, submissions, rejections, rounds of editing, making an index, actually getting it published and then promoting the book.

Sounds like it's time for a title!



A shrub on Forest Place


Maples in our side yard











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