Date: 2018 September 18
APOK News
A huge thank you to all of the APOK fans who took the time to review the latest Concept Covers. I’ve asked for some slight alterations based on comments that will be shared as soon as they are available. The APOK facebook page has seen a large increase within the last month thanks to everyone’s interaction. We are over 1/2 way through the month of September the next draw for $50 CAD is coming fast. Be sure to stay tuned to FACEBOOK for an APOK trivia question that will get you 10 additional ballots.
FINAL REVISIONS AND PUBLISHING
Jittery with excitement, I had to keep it together just a little while longer. After three editors and countless revisions, I couldn’t believe I was approaching the finish line. Am I really going to do this? I was down to the last process, three more revisions rounds. Each round would require two to three days of reading, combing every work, period, sentence structure and overall story. There was no more wiggle room. I was signing off and approving the front and back cover design, page layout, and many other things I took for granted picking up a book. If during these rounds I noticed aspects that I wanted fixed, this was the time to do it.
With each revision round, I checked and rechecked each aspect, tweaking little things here and there. The more I did the more the story ran on a loop thorugh my mind. My imagination went wild, coming up wit slight variations adding more spice to scenes. Keeping work material was key (being a pad of paper and a pen). At random moments throughout the day, awe inspiring ideas would pop up and I would scramble to write them down before they would get lost in the great grey sea.
Finishing the work day, I would remove my notepad and instinctly find within the three hundred plus page document the location for each revision. I was actually committing every work to memory. I suppose that is expected considering the amount of times I read through it.
This was it. My third revision was complete. Hovering the cursor over the onscreen SEND button, I finally found the courage to click the mouse. Within seconds the manuscript flew through the internet reaching the publisher two time zones away.
Sitting at home reliving the two year journey to get to where I was, I decided to read through APOK one more time. What could it hurt I thought? After a couple of days going over the content, my imagination found something that I wanted to add. Do I ask for it back or just leave it? Bouncing the ball back and forth, I asked myself that same question, “In twenty years would I regret not making this last alteration?” Desperately I called my account manager and pleaded to have the manuscript back one more time so I can perform one final revision round? Just in time, the publisher returned the book.
With this being my absolute final run through I was extra vigilante. I had to be absolutely certain I did everything that I could in order to make it the best. Swallowing deeply, I braced myself flipping the last page. Nothing else. My mind was blank. Grabbing my mouse my finger assumed the position and ever so gently pressed on the button.
April 29th, 2013, APOK was officially published. Within a few days I received a shipment of several boxes. Slicing through the packing tape, I folded open the top flap and faced the business ends of several forty-five caliber handguns. Reaching in, my hand wrapped around the spine of the top book and pulled it out. Here it is, two years worth of work. Finally it felt real. No more would I be haunted by the story lingering in my mind, no longer was it a word document on my laptop. This was tangible. There was weight to it. Removing the plastic sleeve, I reviewed the naked hard cover. Amazing! I couldn’t believe the beauty of something so simple. The material and attention to deatil was breath taking.
Looking at the boxes in my livingroom, a voice in my head spoke, “Don’t get comfortable. Now I had to get out of my comfort zone and welcome the world to the adventures of APOK.”
Mike’s Thoughts
Journey’s famous song, “Don’t Stop Believing” – has a chorus that helped me get through some of the tough times.
The APOK journey took over two (2) years to materialize.
APOK Derailed is now over five (5) years and it will six (6) years by the time it actually materializes.
If you believe, really believe it’s possible and you’re willing to do the work, anything is attainable.
I can’t express how great it was to hold that book in my hand for the first time. It was magical.
If I could say one thing to you it would be this, “Keep Working!” Day by day it adds up. That’s across the board, in anything you do.
Keep Working until you make it a reality.
Until next time, take care,
Mike
