It's Out!
Hello Friends
My book is out! My book is out in the world and available for your reading pleasure. If you want the specific links, you can take a gander over to the BOOKS tab and click on the BUY IT links.
My book is currently available in e-book format on Amazon Kindle and Nook websites. I am extremely hopeful that the paperback version will become available on Amazon this week. I will definitely keep you posted.
May 15th was an amazing day. I received flowers, a congratulations card, ice-cream cake and a gorgeous red top (picture featured below). I was deeply touched by all of my friends and family’s enthusiasm and support. I am very lucky to be surrounded by such generosity and kindness.
There is something quite spectacular about finishing a book. It is a mix of exhilaration and deep nauseating fear that what you’ve created is actually a pile of cow dung. A short while later, you will stumble upon the question of “what’s next?” Now that I have this book done, what do I do?
Well in my quest to become a published author, I went to a romance writer’s convention last year and pitched my story to three publishers. One publisher was even interested…if I changed the first hundred pages and made the hero come into the story-line sooner (like in the first ten pages). I also needed to make the heroine less ditzy and more Xena warrior princess-like.
So naturally I went to work and I tried to re-craft my story to fit this mold. Except it didn’t fit and I realized that I needed to tell my story, my way. I couldn’t write to the so-called masses. I could only write a story-line that felt genuine and honest.
That’s when I decided to self-publish. I enlisted the help of a self-publishing expert who gave me some wonderful guidelines, but unfortunately a month prior to my release date, they let me know that they could not meet the May 15 deadline. This sent me into quite the tizzy. But I was determined to make the May 15 deadline. I had been talking about this book since I was 18 years-old. I needed to see something tangible come out of this long, arduous process. Which is why I spent the last four weeks, creating this website, working with a new copy editor and book cover artist, learning about the various online web publishing forums and their template requirements. Let’s just say it’s been an educational and extremely exhausting four weeks. I think I stayed up til midnight on most week nights and had to work my day job. I am not complaining just giving you a bit of the “behind the scenes” action.
Now that everything has almost fallen into place, I can say with a self-satisfied smile, that it was all worth it. Seeing my name on the Amazon and Nook websites takes my breath away. I created that. It did not exist a week ago and now it does.
I always felt that writers were immortal because long after they’re gone, their words still exist and their thoughts still touch us. I know that I am nowhere near that level of notoriety, but in my own way, I’ve now touched the feet of the immortal writer Gods…and it is freakin’ awesome
Happy Readings
Tanima Kazi
