I've been waiting for this birth for a long time. My novel, Anna Incognito, took a lot longer than your standard baby. This is partly because publishing is a super weird business, and partly because I have a job, a family, and very demanding dogs.
But the end product will be, I think, worth waiting for. I've always wanted a hard-cover book with a gorgeous cover, and this will have that. I want to transition into writing and the arts as my full-time job(s) and this is one step closer to that. So, I'm pretty excited.
One comment I'd make is that if I had waited for this book to be traditionally published, it may never have happened. Today's big publishers are not risk takers. Many people don't know this, but there are basically three large publishers who put out almost every book you see in Barnes and Noble. There used to be small, independent imprints, but most were gobbled up by the big three, so there is an appearance of diversity, but that's not real.
In going with an independent publisher and crowd-funding my project, I took control. I decided that I wouldn't wait for one of the Big Three to tap me with the magic ink pen. Is that a mistake? I have no idea. We'll see. But at least I'm putting out a book that I'm very proud of. I hope you like it too.