Just in time

Losing Face came back from the designer at first proof stage.  It was all very exciting, until I realised that I had made two major errors that affected about 45 pages.  I had used email addresses for my emailing characters that were now taken by real people!  I'm glad I noticed in time, although the designer probably isn't and I may have to pay for alterations at such a late stage.  It took many days to find vacant email addresses that would suit the characters - they are still not perfect matches, but are now reserved in their names.  You'll need to wait for the book's publication to know what they are!

Meanwhile, my present novel-in-progress has ground to a halt.  I feel I have been forcing it for quite a time now, so may revert to one I started on when working for my MA or even begin a sequel to Losing Face that keeps popping into my mind.  My next blog will be full of enthusiasm for whichever novel is in favour.

All thoughts of running a retreat (as mentioned in an earlier blog) are on hold - the room is full with a temporary lodger and his many books.   He's not a writer but an avid reader who enjoys collecting books as resource material.  Come to think of it, he is a writer - of sermons!   Pastors are excellent lodgers - helpful, cheerful, busy and providing prayer and spiritual guidance at the drop of a hat. 
Spiritual guidance . . . now there's a thought.  I'm just popping off for a quick pray re the next novel!

Annie

Losing Face is on its way!

This has been a month of holidays, people coming to stay and times organising various events, but in between it all I have been signing the contract with o-books, uploading my final version of Losing Face and then reading the copy edited version that came back very quickly for me to look at.  I was impressed.  After some really helpful emails with the copy editor, I fiddled around with it a bit (it was rather difficult to leave it alone!) and it has now gone to the design stage!
Although I have had non-fiction published before, this is my first novel and it is rather complicated with emails from two very different girls trying to work through their trauma by writing down what has happened to them.   My advice?  Don't ever write a book like this - I have had two timelines running throughout and so many themes and back stories that I kept getting a little lost myself.
Having said that, if you are a writer, write what inspires you! 
So far, o-books have been brilliant.  They are not nearly as impersonal as their website suggests and they will 'listen' (via email) if you do not think their offer is what you would like.  I am now very pleased to only be paying for some extra advertising services I want, despite this being my first novel and therefore a risk to them.
So watch this space for a publication date.  My next challenge will be to sound like a teenager when doing readings!  I never thought about that when I wrote in the characters' voices . . .


Annie

To sign, or not to sign?

[This was written on 12th July - but my blogging skills lack some refinement, so I have just discovered it lurking in the place where all good drafts slumber - or waft annoyingly, depending on your spelling!  Still, better late than never, so here are my thoughts from the middle of last month:]

Some exciting news reached me last week, via my Blackberry.  My internet connection had gone haywire, so I have spent a whole eight days with only my little Blackberry screen to read.  But there it was - the offer of a contract to publish 'Losing Face'!  I scrolled up and down, back and forth, reading the email until I was sure.  Amongst all the moving images as I scrolled, I realised there were strings attached - in the form of money to pay for some of the services the company offered.

So my dilemma remains - in a slightly different form.  This is not self-publishing - they have now agreed that they will pay for all the publishing element - but it is nevertheless costing something for distribution and advertising.  But maybe I should invest in it?  If I don't believe in my book - who can?

Those of you who know me can imagine that I am now thinking about it a great deal and praying.  I know there was a reason to write this book and that somewhere, somehow, it will be published.  Is this the way?  Some of you will have noticed that I am plaguing published friends (and even strangers!) to find out their publishing stories.  I am astounded at how many others have had to contribute something to costs.

So to sign, or not to sign?  Watch this space . . .

Annie

Losing Face - my first novel

'Has your book been published yet?' 

I must be asked that about three times a week.  My eagerly awaited novel has been round quite a few publishers now, with many requests for the whole novel.  Have you been in the same position?  It's so exciting to send it all off, freshly printed, or even with the tap of a computer key.  Then the wait, and wait, and wait . . . until, in my case, I receive the inevitable response.  'Thank you . . . we enjoyed it . . . sorry it does not fit our list.'  Sometimes there is even a very long letter telling me all the things the readers loved, before letting me down, quite gently.

The question can be slightly different.  'Have you got your book published yet?'  This implies I should get on with it!  Maybe I should self-publish?  Then what?  Five hundred pristine copies under my bed and an empty bank balance.  Or maybe I could market them myself?  But that would take away precious writing time.

So how do I keep the balance and keep positive about the finished novel?  Poorly, I think.  The rest of life jostling for attention and filling up the days I have allotted to work on my other started novels.  The only solution I have found is to go and hide somewhere - away for a few days in a small hotel, or even on a writing retreat to really knuckle down to it.

And speaking of writing retreats, I have always fancied running one.  Watch this space . . .

Annie