Cover was done by
Simon Avery. He has an almost lightweight style that I figured would work, since the book's kinda lit-fic but not super dark. I didn't emphasize it was a furry novel until the very end because I didn't want an overly furry cover. Them being animals comes up around stereotyping more than anything. Think the result came out great on that front.
The book's about a near-30 woman whose personality flaws (namely, indecision and a desire for control) cause some tricky situations (growing away from friends, finding a new apartment) to blow up out of proportion. There are definitely bits based on my own ability to be my own worst enemy, which made writing it kinda hard. The full, final (unless I tweak it again) blurb for Amazon:
Sarah Madsen is a modern young rabbit with a cozy urban life. A yuppie, perhaps, though she'd disagree with the label. After all, yuppies don't hang with eccentric artists in beat-down studios, much less date them. And they don't get pushed out of their apartment by profit-hunting developers, forced to pick between an impossible market and an unsustainable rent.
As she hunts for a new place to live, she learns how her comfortable lifestyle is seen by those around her. Some are sympathetic and kind, some cold and indifferent, some jealous and hostile. None can relieve her frustration from knowing that her easy life is slowly slipping out of her control. She'll take control anywhere she can find it, but not everyone appreciates her attempts to help. Not even herself.
A story of class and success in the millennial age, The Latte Segment explores how well we can trust others, and ourselves, to do the right things in our lives - or, to do anything about them at all.
(I hate writing blurbs.)
The title comes from the Scandinavian equivalent of "latte-sipping liberal elite". Which kinda fits the main characters, although elitism shows up in multiple class directions throughout the story. Plus there are a
lot of coffee shop scenes.
I'm self-publishing. Already put up
pre-orders for myself, because a friend kept nagging me to do it. (I swear, they're more excited about this book than I am.) One of the NaNoWriMo prizes was a line-jump on
Pronoun, which I'm using for the ebook. (Pronoun is "what's the catch?" good, the output is
gorgeous.) Paperback is Createspace, fairly typical.
And, the process. I let the draft sit after November ended. Initially, I didn't plan to publish, because I mostly wrote it as therapy. But, near Christmas, I realized that I had to start sharing my work if I was going to be a writer so I might as well start now. The first draft already used a
beat sheet, which helped me pace things. I set up a new one, along with a
scene worksheet, so as the new year approached I knew the improved structure. Then I rewrote the entire manuscript, fixing the worst language and any logical inconsistencies. That took almost a month and a half. Then I did an in-editor read-through and edit. Now, I'm doing a last pass, reading through on my Kindle.
In the future? Gonna do way more editing. Probably get a professional involved, if I can afford the expense (I have over $800 in up-front costs put into this one; yes I
do know roughly how many copies I have to sell to make that back). It's also very likely I went much too fast with it, but if it's received well enough there's no reason not to keep up the pace. More books out there means more long-tail sales and more opportunities for promotions.
