Mixing it in the book world

April 17^th. 2015

My trip to the London Book Fair last Wednesday was something
of an eye-opener. I’ve never been to a book event, probably because we lived in
Spain for seventeen years and the cost was prohibitive when taking into account
travel and lodgings etc. I’m pleased I went although the book fair is really
for Trade. I did at least meet my publisher, Gill Jackson of Robert Hale Ltd.,
so in that respect the trip was worth it. She was busy and had people buzzing
around her; but she was able to spend some time with me chatting about — well,
books!

After speaking with Gill, I dropped in at Matador Books. The
reason for that was because two of the CHINDI group I am with have had books
published with Matador. I saw a copy of The Farie Tree by Jane Cable on their
stand. So I took a photograph and sent it to Jane. If I’d seen any of my books
up like that, I would have been over the moon. I like to think that Jane was
pleased too.

I wandered around Olympia, amazed at the number of publishers’
stands. It was good to see that the book world hasn’t been destroyed by Amazon.
They had a stand there too. I chatted to a guy about audio books; then found out
he was there to sell to publishers, not authors. But it was good to talk, as
they say. All in all it was an experience, but not one that I will repeat
unless I’m invited to give a talk about my work. I live in hope!

Last Monday was the monthly meeting of the Chindi authors (www.chindi-authors.co.uk). It’s
interesting to see how independent, self-published authors achieve their hopes
and ambitions. Because I’ve been traditionally published, I haven’t learned too
much about the go-it-alone path. Working with Acclaimed Books (www.acclaimedbooks.com) was easy
because most of the work was done for me at no cost. Now I am looking to
self-publish as a stand-alone writer (by choice), I see I have a lot to learn.
My first attempt is a paperback with Ingram Spark, which shouldn’t be a problem
because it has already been published by CreateSpace. The test comes when I
finish my current work-in-progress (WIP) and set about having it edited,
proofread and published. I suspect that’s where Matador may come in added to
the advice I get from the Chindi group.

My WIP is now at a half-way stage. I putting it on
Scrivener and am within a few thousand words of finishing the upload. Once that’s
done I will begin writing again. It will seem strange because I haven’t put pen
to paper in a serious way for such a long time. Now it’s all about discipline,
getting the brain cells working and finishing the book.

My e-mail subscription campaign is building slowly but
positively. I am selling about one book a day, probably because of the interest
generate by the campaign, and also by small promotions I’m running. The longer
this goes on and the more I delve into the book world, the more I see how much
involvement is required — after the book is finished — by the author. If I was
a best-selling writer, it wouldn’t need much more than to attend signing
sessions and attend TV interviews. Do I want that? One half of me says yes, the
other half says, well, maybe. But whatever happens; wish me luck!