There follows a long overdue update.
Are we all well? Did
we enjoy London 2012? Congratulations
Kate and Will on the birth of Prince George.
And isn’t it great that Brad and Angelina have finally tied the knot.
Yes, it’s been a while.
But in that time, I have not been idle.
Instead, I have been slaving away on what I have come to regard as my
baby. Not a teeny tiny new-born, but
rather my fifteen pound, massive-headed-baby, who’s taken three years to push out,
with zero pain relief, resulting in excessive stitching to my lady bits.
Let’s just say it’s been a struggle. But Readers, I can now say my novel is
finished.
This is definitely my novel. It is not a ream of blank printer paper.
I say finished, but that’s not strictly accurate. I could edit, rewrite, and titivate the
manuscript forever. I mean, FOREVER. Each time I read it I find alternative words
for perfectly acceptable ones, and a shed load of typos, missed punctuation and
Americanized (see what I did there?) spellings emerge that didn’t seem to be
there at the last read through. And yet,
I need to call time.
So as promised, here is an update.
At the end of last year, I engaged the services of Claire Dyer at Fresh Eyes. She gave me a bunch of suggestions as well
as a ton of reassurance, and I cracked on with the changes she suggested.
Next I let some people read it. Not real people obvs, – only my parents, some
siblings and the in-laws that showed an interest. As a focus group it wasn’t ideal but better
than nothing. Feedback was positive,
albeit brief in some cases (*cough* my sister, Lucy) or, resulting in pages of
emailed notes at the other end of the scale (*cough* my Dad).
I then spent the past year pursuing a traditional publishing
route whilst at the same time becoming aware that this was fraught with its own
problems. Mainly, it seems impossible and
fruitless in these cash-strapped competitive times. No agent or publisher wants to take a risk on
an unknown author. The more frustrating
this felt, the more I became open to the idea of doing it all myself. Because at the end of the day, I’ve written
an ace book. It should be read. You
should read it. Defo.
And so to self-publishing.
There is quite the community online.
When I started to research this,
I was directed to link after link of information that never seemed to end. I am
still working through it, and trying to focus on the specific issues I need as
they arise. But hey, let me share the
wealth. If you need to know how to obtain
an ISBN number, click
here. Or if a handy guide to
completing Amazon’s tax interview is what you’re after, here
you go. It has been a steep learning
curve, and I am still about a month away from publishing. I envisage there is much more to digest.
However, after spending a looong Friday last week converting a Word document into a HTML
file, into a Kindle friendly e-book (zzzzzzzzz) I am looking forward to the
next steps. I need a front cover. That is my task for the week ahead. Obviously
my GCSE Art and Design C grade won’t cut it, so I have the happy task of
looking at the portfolios of the many designers and artists that offer such a
service online.
So, to recap, sorry about the years of silence, I’ve written
a book and its great, and I am looking forward to watching Brangelina’s
relationship flourish over time. As you
were.
