Pre-Launch of My First Novel

For nearly a year now, I've been working on my first novel, and it's almost ready for publication.  I finished it!  It just needs to be formatted for e-readers.I've decided to self-publish, and to have a digital version only.  Why?  Well, a lot of people now have a Kindle, or Nook, or iPad.  And if they don't, they still can read a digital version of my book on a computer.  I'm self-publishing, meaning I format the manuscript, create the book cover, write the bio, and do all the marketing.  I chose this after a year of reading posts by authors and publishers, understanding that the publishing world today is so different than it was thirty years ago (when I was dreaming about a career as a writer), and, if I am to be honest, not wanting to spend months or years sending electronic queries to publishing houses, waiting for replies (rejections), when I can get my work out there.  I don't believe that traditional publishing is validation.Look, I don't know who will read "Chocolate for Breakfast."  I know some of my friends will.  But I didn't write it to make a lot of money.  I wrote it because I love to write.  Whether it's these weekly blog posts (or daily last April during the "A to Z Blog Challenge") or writing and rewriting my first novel, I'm doing what I love.  I hired an editor to, well, to edit, to polish the manuscript, and I believe it's the best it can be.  I've built my platform through Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and, thanks to the fabulous Tonya Kappes (http://tonyakappes.blogspot.com/), I've learned how to market.One thing Tonya suggested was to create a Pinterest board for my book.  Are you familiar with Pinterest?  I joined months ago, put up some recipes, some of the places I've traveled to, but never really got into it.  To me, it seemed better suited for a bride-to-be or a home decorator.  But I had a lot of fun creating a board for "Chocolate for Breakfast."  I found pictures of places relevant in the book.  Then I thought about who should be cast in the movie version (hey, a girl can dream!), so I posted photos of some of the people I imagined in the roles of Timmy, Karl, Hanna.  Now, you can look at the board http://pinterest.com/marthari/chocolate-for-breakfast/ and have an idea about the book, even before it's out.Hoping for a July 3rd launch date, but a lot of it depends on the formatting and getting it all ready for Amazon.  I'll be back here to shout when it's ready!