book cover | Writing and Martial Arts

I know. I know. Writing’s not as much fun as Jiu-Jitsu, but this is important, not to mention half my blog’s name.

My mom is friends with a librarian in charge of ordering new books, so she sent her a copy of mine for consideration. I believe the woman has been a librarian for decades. Therefore, her feedback, which was great to “uh-oh”, is valuable.

Here’s what she said, the great part:

Wish I Was Here is fantastic! I loved the story and pacing and characters! Love Ilsa’s style! An absolutely thrilling, suspenseful, engaging novel!

I read it in two nights. Loved every vowel, every syllable. My only complaint is it kept me up past my bedtime!

We cannot let this title go unnoticed. Two thumbs up, five stars, and fireworks! I’ve not been this excited about a teen book for quite some time!

Not bad, right? Now the uh-oh part:

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The email from the publisher began:

“We have now begun the production cycle for your book, Wish I Was Here. Your submitted final manuscript has been professionally formatted into a custom PDF bookblock and attached here for your review.”

I had been texting with a coworker when this email popped up, prompting me to hastily exit that conversation and clock out of my day job.

The cover was also attached. Naturally, I began there. Oh, how I wish I could show you the cover, but it’s still a work in progress. When I saw it, I didn’t hate it. But I didn’t love it.

I sent it to my Faithful Few for feedback. (Isn’t it wonderful when alliteration happens naturally?) I got varied responses:

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