Exciting times!

I apologise for being quiet here in the shed, and can assure you it's because I've been working very hard to make this book the best it can possibly be.

The manuscript has been through the copy-edit stage, and has been returned to Unbound this morning to be proofread. The end is tantalisingly in sight.

I've done the acknowledgements - a surprisingly stressful experience. When I do the next book I'm going to treat them in the same way as you would compile references for an academic essay, and add them to a document as I go along. There are a lot of people to thank!

The cover is 95% done. I only have to finalise the 'blurb' which goes on the back cover if it becomes a paperback. Everything needs to be done at this stage, just in case that happens.

I'm hoping that I will soon be able to show you the final cover (and I may have some other interesting news as well). After that I can get started on the dyeing and stitching to create the rewards which go with many of the pledges. I'm looking forward to firing up the dyepots again, and I have a good idea of the colours I'm going to use for your yarn and threads.

Thank you for your patience. One of the things we never see, as readers, is all of this editorial stuff. It all happens long before a book is mentioned in the press, so a book may have been completely written, but going through this stage for a year or more before it even gets to the door of a publisher. 
What you are seeing is the whole process, and I'm delighted, and very grateful, that you decided to be a part of that. 

I'm very much looking forward to being able to say 'it's been published'. I can't promise that it will be before Christmas, it might be very early in 2017, but I'm doing as much as I can to make it happen as soon as possible.

Many thanks,

Natalie