Proof!

I am holding in my hot little hands the very first printed copy of Blowing It! It was sent to me by CreateSpace, the service I am using to publish the book, and it is a proof copy.

I cannot describe to you the thrill of holding a book in your hands that you wrote, a real book that you can lie in bed and read. Something with all the elements of a book you'd buy in the store or borrow at the library: covers, title pages, and even an ISBN bar code. It has everything.

Including mistakes, and formatting problems, and little missing touches that I didn't realize were missing until I got hold of the book. It's the magic of the proof, a chance to see it all in book form but still make the changes I need to make before anyone else gets to see it.

The physical book makes this easier. I can read the book online, but I can't mark it up as I go with bold strokes and notes that I can refer to when it comes time to correct the electronic edition that was the original form of creation of the book.

That's my task over the next few days. And when I've done that, I'll send another file to the ether that will become the real book, the one you can buy and read. And while I'm waiting for approval of that, I'll prepare the Kindle edition, so that those of you who don't want to wait, or pay, or make room, for a physical edition can (I hope) enjoy my book, too.

Time to get out my red pencil!