Hello, hello!
This coming Thursday (Dec 8th) Eudaimonia will have been out in the world (officially) for a whole month!
Thank you so much to all of the folks who came out to our little launch party on Nov 12th. Truly, it was such a nice bow to top this whole experience.
And THANK YOU for all of your nice text messages, comments, and reviews! I am beyond pleased with the feedback that I have gotten from those of you who have read Eudaimonia. The fear, the worry, the white-knuckle anxiety of putting a piece of yourself in the world for everyone to judge seems like a recipe for insanity. (She spent five years on this?! *disdainful incredulity*) The only hope after it is out there is simply not to humiliate yourself. Based on early reviews, I think I have averted utter humiliation. *whew*
For those of you that have already read Eudaimonia would you please consider rating/reviewing it on Goodreads & Amazon? (It really gives Mr. Godwin something to look forward to, as he checks these sites daily.)
Thank you, again, to all the folks who have already read and reviewed Eudaimonia. Reviews help. There are more books coming out than people can possibly read. For those of you who haven’t read it yet, do not worry. I am a very slow reader and have piles of books around my house that "I’m meaning to get to." Whenever you get to Eudaimonia is a perfect time. I appreciate that it is even in your world sitting on a shelf or an e-reader somewhere.
Also, please keep Eudaimonia in mind as you are looking for stocking stuffers and holiday gifts. Books are always an excellent gift :)
Since this project is concluding with Inkshares, I’ll be moving away from this platform for updates. In the coming weeks, you should see a test newsletter from "hello@meghangodwinauthor.com". I am not a fan of spam or writing useless copy, so I assure you this will be an "as-needed" update email. Of course, you are welcome to unsubscribe at any time.
I hope your holidays are merry and bright.
Thank you,
Meghan Godwin
Hello, hello, hello!
I am chug, chug, chugging along! I received my copy-edited manuscript back at the end of October. Then I spent a couple of weeks going through each note on every page. I submitted the reviewed copy edited manuscript on November 9th. Since I have never done this before, I was a little unsure of what to expect.
As I did my initial graze through the whole document I was shocked at how thorough this copy editor person was. Shocked and delighted. The amount of time and care they took to fix emdashes, point out inconsistencies, and "just confirm this was what was intended" was a whole new level of oversight for me. And I was relieved. This is not just me throwing all of the words into a sentence and hoping my primitive knowledge of commas will get us to the end. A very smart stranger read 409 pages of something I wrote and then took the time to make notes. And not just vague notes, specific, granular notes.
This must be how that shoemaker in the fairy tale felt when he woke up one morning and found that elves had made everything better in the night. I didn’t even know people like this existed, these copy editors. I believe they might be modern day elves. The next step will be to send this spiffed up manuscript to the typesetter to have it poured. Pouring is what makes it look like a real book. Again, kind of sounds like magic to me.
I hope you have a magical week. too.
Your friend,
Meghan Godwin
Meghan, what in the world have you been up to?
I’m a glad you asked! At the end of December ( and I mean the VERY end) I submitted a second draft to my friends at Inkshares. Then, the next 4 months I was engulfed in all things tax. I don’t know what you personally think about the new tax law, but I can tell you for all of us in the tax preparation industry this year was a doozy. A "maybe we should get a different job" kind of doozy. Which is probably why I can’t remember May, my recovery month.
But, here we are nearly at the end of June. I have regained my zest and vigor for life. I have new notes and suggestions on that second draft I wrote. So my course is clear: I will be re-writing for the next several months.
What can I say? Writing is hard. But, as my husband says, "Meghan, you do the hard things." Or maybe I just work harder, not smarter...
I hope you have a lovely summer. I will be tinkering away with the earnest hope that I will have more to tell you sooner rather than later.
And, as always, thank you so much,
Meghan Godwin
7 more days. Home stretch, friends!
Eudaimonia is still in 3rd place! But I have a feeling there will be a flutter of last minute pre-orders this week for everyone. Nothing is for certain as of right now.
So, if you have not pre-ordered yet, would you? And for those of you who have, would you mind, one last time, sharing this with your friends?
https://www.inkshares.com/books/eudaimonia-48b598
This has been one of the most rewarding things I have done in a long time. I can’t tell you how flattering it is to tell someone about this contest and get responses like “You bet!” “I’m in!” or (my personal favorite) “Done.” How quickly everyone jumped on board to support this, to support me, has just been so encouraging and motivating.
Before I was, “Eh, if I make it, cool.” Now, I’m more like, “Shoot, I do not want to let my mom or Sara down!”
It has also been so nice to chat up folks I haven’t seen in a while. I mean, we are social media friends, I get to see all the pictures of their kids growing up, the antics of their pets, and hilarious memes. Yard roosters, pictures of triathlons, and envy-worthy vacations. Oh, and the memes and GIFs and Bitmojis! But, a back and forth message with a former co-worker? Friends from high school saying they are proud of me? My brother calling me to ask “how are things?”.
The best. So thank you.
Thank you for all your shares, tweets, private messages, and emails on my behalf. (“Upon pain of death for noncompliance,” said my most aggressive supporter while another mailed me a Nobel Prize medallion he found somewhere on the internet.) The support has been unbelievable.
So, thank you, again.
But onto the matter at hand, to getting this book published, right?
Nearly there,
Meghan Godwin