Here’s my proposed timeline for Life of Secrets:
June 19 I must have paperbacks in hand by this deadline, because a lot of folks at the Montana Republican Convention will want one from me.
June 4 I must order the paperbacks by this date, because experience with Death of Secrets showed me that it can take up to two weeks for paperbacks to ship.
June 3 If I want to order paperbacks by this date, I must publish and go live by this date
May 12 I must begin making all the changes proposed by my editor by this date. I’m assuming I can make the changes in about three weeks, since that’s the approximate amount of time it took to make edits for Death of Secrets.
May 1 The current leading contender for the job of editing Life of Secrets told me she needs a week to do it. Give her 12 days to be sure, and that gives us a May 1 deadline for delivering the final pre-editing draft
April 1 I want to have the rough draft done here. That will give me some time to take a complete break from the manuscript, and not look at it for at least a week, and then come back and begin making changes before I send it to the editor.
Wow. I just realize that after the WKO I’ve left myself only one month to finish Life of Secrets.