Breaking the Chains: Preface

This editing stage of my book has been a challenge for me, but not for the reasons I thought it would be. I imagined an editor having a certain number of pages or words in his head and wanting me to cut portions of the book just to make it fit into his idea of an appropriate length. I thought I would be pressed to cut parts that were important to me. It hasn't been anything like that. A good editor just helps you say the same thing in slightly fewer words. And I have the final word on every suggested change. So the actual edit has not been grueling at all. But the waiting is driving me nuts because I'm not doing anything except when I get edited chapters for my review.

Unfortunately, my editor has had some unexpected distractions to come up and, of course, he has more on his plate than just my one book. So it's taking a bit longer than he initially estimated. But I like his work, I like him, and I am trying to be patient. Meanwhile, a lot of people are asking me "How much longer?" He seems confident that we'll have a book in print by the end of August.

I mentioned on my blog a while back that I had contemplated sharing the preface in advance. And then I didn't. I wasn't sure if that was a good decision or if I was just being impatient. Tonight I asked my editor what he thought and he said it was a good idea; especially since we are so close to publishing. Therefore, I decided to go ahead and post the preface online.

To read it, go to the book's Web site and click on "preface" at:
Breaking the Chains.