Moving in roughly the right direction...

A bit of an update on all things writing...

The 100 days of writing challenge.

I'm on 28 days of writing, 6 days missed. The ratio is improving all the time - I'm finding a natural pattern is emerging of 5 or 6 days writing, and one not. But as a technique, it's certainly helping to keep me focused on the WIP.

In terms of what do I record as 'writing', well, I'm still flitting between playing in my notebook and physically typing up the story. Either counts. I'm not really referring back to the notebook much though, which some might see as a bit of a waste of time and effort; why bother writing all that stuff in longhand if you're not going to use it?

But I AM using it. The process means I have images and phrases and scenes that are now quite firmly cemented in my head. So what if they don't come out on the computer ('proper') version word-for-word? In those 28 days I've managed to get four chapters pretty well drafted, though they are rough and will need editing of course.

Be interesting to see how I can continue to write this weekend, as we have family staying with us. I may have to sneak off for half an hour a day to get my WIP-fix...

StarMark. 

We are now officially in that 'author-must-be-patient-before-everything-happens-at-once' stage. I do know that there are discussions being had round about now on the subject of blurb and covers, so I hope to have some news to share with you soon.

It's all very exciting, but there's still a little bit of me that's thinking, 'is it really going to happen?' I know it is, of course, but it's a very different process to organising the publishing yourself, like I have with the two Granny Rainbow books. Speaking of which...

More Granny Rainbow.

Authors; don't let anyone tell you the second book is easier and will be a success because you did well with the first and got good feedback; sales of More Granny Rainbow are disappointingly slow at the moment.

Now I'm not one who relies on sales numbers to get a measure of any 'success' - but I had hoped that people who enjoyed the first book would be pleased to see the publication of a second. And then buy it. Either my publicity's not working so well, or there's just no interest in a second.

We shall see. Maybe this time sales are going to be slow and steady?

I'm not going to worry about it too much. I've plenty to do, especially trying to write the WIP while sitting on my hands waiting for StarMark! Onwards and upwards...

Almost launch time...again!

It's time to send More Granny Rainbow out into the world! The launch party is this Saturday; the cakes are ordered, the props are being gathered, the books are in their box...all we have to do is turn up on the day shout 'She''s here!' Well, that and paint some lily pads on a box, find out all my hand knitted socks and make some blue honey... Intrigued? All will become clear in the post-launch blog!

It feels a bit strange this time though.

There isn't the same sense of excitement as I had with the first book launch. Perhaps it's just because there's been a lot of other things to think about recently, and it's just one of many things I need to do? Perhaps it's because I've already done it once before, so it's not quite such unknown territory?

It's certainly not because I'm not proud of the book! I reckon fans of Granny Rainbow will have just as much fun reading and sharing these new stories as they did with the first book.

Perhaps it's because I'm scared? Yep - I'm a little bit scared. Shouldn't be, but I am.

Y'see a friend remarked when I expressed a little concern over how few people seemed to be able to come to the launch party, that they didn't think there'd be a problem because people now know me and are bound to turn up and buy the book.

As an author, as much as I would love to believe that, I really don't feel that I can take that for granted. Perhaps if my name was J. K. Rowling or Chris Riddell or that of any one of a host of other successful authors, I'd feel more secure. They are pretty much guaranteed sales - aren't they?

To date I've sold around 240 copies of Granny Rainbow in just over a year, which I've been told is pretty good for what is effectively a self-published book. (I shan't be living in luxury just yet.) However, not every single copy will have found a fan. And that's alright. Reading is a subjective matter - we all have different tastes and Granny will not suit some children at all. So not everyone who bought or received a copy of Granny Rainbow will want to buy More Granny Rainbow.

But I do know there are some young (and not-so-young) readers who love Granny Rainbow and will want to hear what she's been up to. If that translates into a handful of sales, I shall be happy. If it translates into ten, fifty, a hundred or more, I'll be even happier... But the best happiness of all is having just one person come up to me, having read the stories, to say how much they've enjoyed them.

That? Priceless.

So, I'll be launching Saturday, whether there are few or many present, and we will celebrate the world of Granny Rainbow again, not hoping for sales but for satisfied readers.

I trust they will let me know if I deliver.


(If you can't get to the launch but would like to order a copy of either of Granny Rainbow's books, head over to the website for details. I will send them out as soon as I can after the launch.)

A Tentative Launch Date...

More Granny Rainbow is still at the printers at the moment... but I am hopeful the books will be ready by the end of the Easter holidays or soon after.

That being so, I've tentatively booked a launch date, the 25th April. Stick the date in your diaries, as there's going to be another party! I've asked Delice Deli to host it again, as although there are some accessibility issues (we use the upstairs room), the Delice team are so good and, I found out recently, going to stock Panda Eyes books!

This means that there is going to be a shop in Loughborough selling both Granny Rainbow and More Granny Rainbow! *squeee!* As well as lots of local history books, too - that's actually Panda Eyes' speciality... I'm a bit of oddity for them, really.

I'll be sending out invites once I've confirmed the books will be ready in time; if you fancy coming, do drop me a line. For those who can't get, I'll be posting a Paypal button over on the website soon, so you'll be able to pre-order books which I will mail out on the Monday/Tuesday after the launch. (Some special people will get theirs pre-launch...)

Exciting stuff!

Now all I need to do is sort out food, activities, helpers...

Granny's gone to the printers - again!

I did it.

With trembling fingers and doubt in every bone, I pressed 'send'; the cover and text files for More Granny Rainbow are with the printer...

And you know what? It wasn't any easier second time round. I think the pressure has come because the first book was almost born out of a position of ignorance - this time, I know what I have to do to make it look even better.

I paid for an edit  because last time, I thought I'd done a good job of self-editing - and failed miserably! This time, I contacted Steph Roundsmith - she's really good - for a professional once-over. She picked up a few things I'd missed, but I was really pleased that she thought the copy I sent her was pretty clean to begin with.

Once the text had been sorted, it was on to layout...

I had laid the text out slightly different this time, because when I took Granny Rainbow to The Reading Shop, the lovely Lynne who owns the shop (a dedicated children's book shop - bliss!) advised me to centrally justify the text next time as it looked more professional. I also chose to make a bit more of the story titles; dropped them down a couple of lines and gave them a bit more space again before the story proper began.

However - the justification was an absolute PIG to get right. The template I use has the last line on the page very close to the page number, which I didn't like. So I would do a hard return and 'push' that last line of text onto the next page. For some reason, this made the new last line on that page unjustify itself, so I had a gap on the right hand side. Still not quite sure why it does that - or how I fixed it, to be honest - but I think there is one place left where I just could not get that last line to justify properly...

And of course, some of this was only noticed AFTER I'd saved the file as a pdf, so I had to go back a step to make the alterations and re-pdf-save it. (You can tell I'm really good with computers, can't you?).

I also found (thank goodness!) that I'd used an older version of one of the pictures Laura had drawn; Happy Harry didn't have his badge on!

So it was with fear and doubt I pressed the button. Now I have an anxious wait for the proof, to see if I can spot anything else I missed...

More Granny Rainbow - The Cover Reveal!

As I'm away on a writing weekend with some fabulous Cloudie friends from Friday and unlikely to be blogging until I get back, (when I'll tell you all about what we got up to while staying at The Manor; I'm going to be a Lady for the weekend!) I thought I'd share with you the cover of More Granny Rainbow:

I feel Publication Day approaching... *squeee!*

A Granny Rainbow Day

Yesterday, I had a Granny Rainbow day.

No, I didn't make marmalade. No, I didn't drink gallons of tea - hot Ribena's my drink of choice at the moment. And no, I didn't spend the day mixing magical potions from powders, though it would've been really brilliant if I had!

Instead, I spent the whole day working on 'More Granny Rainbow', the second collection of short stories about Granny and Old Tom and several new characters that I know you will LOVE to meet. And yes, that IS the title: More Granny Rainbow. I didn't fancy Granny Rainbow 2, though that's how I've been referring to it!

It meant writing a few emails: to the wonderful Imran Siddiq, who is creating the cover for me again. It will be similar to the original (can't have Granny Rainbow without her rainbow stripes) but there'll be some subtle changes so you can tell it's a different book. To Panda Eyes, the publisher, so I knew what the ISBN number would be. And to Laura (my fabulous illustrator) so that she could begin creating a coloured version of the Mayoress (a new character in the competition winning story idea, Granny Rainbow and the Blue Bees) which will be part of the prize.

Then...I made the last few changes to the text. It's not formatted ready for printing yet, as I've yet to add the pictures and get some-one to proof-read it, but I'm happy with the stories. Folks who've had a sneaky peek at the early stages have made suggestions for improvements which have (mostly) been incorporated, so I reckon they'll stand up to scrutiny.

So. Just a few loose ends to tie up, a phone call to the printer, and we'll be away on more adventures with Granny Rainbow!

Will you be coming along for the ride? I hope so!

2015 - the Year of the House Project with a Bit of Writing Stuff on the Side..

I spent some time today trying to order my thoughts as to which projects to work on this year. And I don't just mean writing...

Mr Squidge and I decided to have a multi-fuel stove installed into our yellow room. (So called because our dining room faces north and is always cold - I painted it bright yellow to warm it up.) As a result, we will have a shallower hearth than we currently have with the 50's tiled fireplace, so we'll need new flooring. And the walls will need repainting. And the curtains will have to be replaced. And the dining room chairs will need recovering because the seats have the old curtain fabric on them... 

It'll look something like this to start with...

...and something like this afterwards. Except this pic doesn't have shelves.
Or a dining room table and chairs. Or a computer table. Or a 3D printer...

You know the old thing about starting one job and finding loads more? That's us.

We're also hoping to repoint the external gable end of the house and insulate the same wall internally. Mr Squidge has done the maths and it will apparently take only a thin insulated plasterboard to drastically cut the heat we're losing over the vast expanse of double-brick-with-no-cavity wall. 

This is what I'm expecting...along the length of my hall
and up the height of two floors...

Then we'll have to redecorate the hall, landings and stairs - might even end up with stair carpet up to the loft. We've only been up there eight years. Throw in a couple of replacement stained glass windows (currently still the original 1930's metal frames, but we're hoping to get the design copied into double-glazed units) and we'll be done.

We might even have to tackle the lounge - the carpet is threadbare in places and the paintwork needs freshening up. That one might have to wait 'til 2016...

In between all this redecorating and inevitable furniture shifting, there's the writing stuff.

I've said before that Granny Rainbow 2 will be published this year. There'll also be another Random Writer's Anthology, but I don't know yet whether I'll have anything to offer for submission or if my involvement will stop at proofreading. 

I need to work on my website, get it up to date. In fact, I'm wondering whether I even need a website... Decided I need a website fairy to do it for me. (Applications in writing please. *winks*)

I've got one school author visit lined up for March, with three other potential visits. I'm hoping that this year I can make more connections with local schools. 

Oh yes...and there'll be writing. New stuff and old-to-be-revamped. But Granny remains my priority at the moment, so I'll pencil in the rest for later.

So what projects have you got lined up this year? I'd love to know. Drop me a line in the comments below and share what you're planning...

NaNoEdMo

November sees a flurry of writing activity as writers the world over sign up for NaNoWriMo - or National Novel Writing Month. The idea is that during November, you knuckle under and write every day - at the end of that time, you'll have at least a 50,000 word novel completed. A lot of my writing friend are taking part and I'm cheering them on from the sidelines as their word counts creep or leap in the right direction - up!

It doesn't suit everyone as a way to work. Chuck Wendig, whilst being adamant that writers need to write to succeed (which is obvious really, but you'd be amazed at how many of us say we're writers but faff about on Facebook or blog or paint bathrooms to avoid getting proper words down sometimes...), admits that such a structured, pressured way of working might not be for everyone. Quite frankly, I wasn't sure I'd have the self-discipline...

Anyway, this year, if you're a regular reader of the scribbles, you'll have seen I've been struggling to know what to do with the two complete novels I've written. Neither of them have that something special to make them stand out. Add to that a major flaw in how I structure my stories, which became apparent after the York Festival of Writing, and I reached a point where I had to decide whether to fix the flaw or start work on something brand-spanking new where the flaw would not appear. 'Cos now I know about it, it'll never appear again, right? Hmm...

NaNoWriMo seemed like a good opportunity to start a different project. I'd had an idea...a shadow of a new novel that I had actually planned out to make sure that flamin' flaw was not going to be there. NaNoWriMo might give me the impetus I needed to get stuck in. Problem was, I still wanted very much to self-pub one of my already completed novels next year - probably just a small print run and a digital version - see how it would be received by readers. I still love the story, you see, can't let it go...

As a compromise, I decided to adopt NaNoEdMo - National Novel Editing Month. I would work every day on that flaw as best I could, so the book would be ready to publish after Granny Rainbow 2.

And I've done it.

I'm now in the processing of listening to Dragon read it all back to me - and there's nothing like an inhuman digital voice putting the wrong emphasis on a sentence, or struggling with words it doesn't recognise because I've written an accent, to focus the mind on what you've written! Hopefully, I'll get the final chapters listened to before the weekend and then...

Then, it's going to a publisher who has seen a sample of the novel and asked to see the full MS. It's only a nibble, and might not come to anything, but there's hope. And even if it goes no further, I will publish it myself next year as planned - so I win either way!

After that, it'll be JaNewNoStar - January New Novel Start! Wish me luck.

#FOW14 - What a weekend!

*This blog post has been thoroughly disinfected and debugged*

Advice for anyone thinking about spending a weekend away on a writing conference - don't go if you've got the lurgy.

To be honest, I'd had a couple of 'meh' days before I went, but I'd had such a busy run-up to York, I put it down to being tired and told myself it would pass. And of course, on Friday, I was so pumped, I felt heaps better and went.

In hindsight, that was probably not such a good idea; I spent two days full of a cocktail of paracetamol and ibrufen, stole copious amounts of loo roll from York Uni to stem the flow from my nose, tried not to hug/breathe on too many friends for fear of passing said lurgy on, and almost did myself an injury attempting to cough quietly in every session I attended.

At least I didn't get a migraine.

Anyway. York. Where to start?

With friends I've met before and those I'd only met in a virtual landscape? Or maybe those I've made during the weekend? It is always lovely and very special to meet up with Cloudies, however fleeting the encounter, but there's also something to be said for the writers you probably would never have met at all, if it weren't for the conference.

What the cloudies do best - support other cloudies in their ventures!

Or maybe meeting with agents and authors? Feeling just a little tingle of pleasure when your face is recognised and they say hello or ask how your day's gone or pass comment on something you said in a session (see - you're not just an anonymous writer - you said something they remembered!) or even tell you that you look gorgeous in your gala frock!

Me having a chat with the lovely Allie Spencer

Perhaps I need to tell you about the 1-2-1, that all important and absolutely terrifying moment when you hear what someone in the business thinks about what you've written; the hard truth about what might need fixing to make the piece sing - or the unbelievable news that the agent wants to see more. This year, my 1-2-1's were not particularly high points, but there were plenty for whom it was and I'm celebrating their success whilst at the same time trying to suss out my own future direction.

How about sharing the moment where I heard the wobble in Matt Haig's voice that spoke of the deeply personal nature of 'Reasons to Stay Alive' when he shared an extract at the keynote closing speech - a wobble I have encountered myself when sharing deeply personal faith experiences with an audience. Matt, you will never now how much I felt for you then: I am so glad you powered on.

Maybe I ought to tell you about the copies of Granny Rainbow I sold and signed alongside the lovely Jody Klaire and her book, The Empath? And stopping Dave Gaughran as he walked past the table on his way to lunch, just to tell him that self-pubbing Granny was entirely down to his workshop last year, when I decided that it wasn't so impossible to get her into print...

The walking advertisement that was Em...

And musn't forget the workshops. They'll probably get posts of their own over the next few days, but suffice to say that I have not come away empty-handed from any of them. They might even have pointed to a major flaw in my approach to writing a novel...but I need to brood on that one a bit more before I share.

Or the work-in-progress you hear about. Why WAS there a red-headed girl in the attic? What will happen to the man who had his toes eaten by leprechauns? Why did the Vikings disappear from Greenland? How does the story end for the mother who has lost her child to a religion there is no turning back from? There are so many 'I'd love to read that!' moments. Especially when you share a table with not one, but three Friday Night Live shortlisters, the lovely Susan Franklin and her 1-2-1 team, AND the author Nick Sheridan!

How about moments of shared experience, like the photoshoot of fellow self-edit graduates? There were plenty of us there, and many others who weren't...but I would highly recommend doing the course. You'll never look at your writing in quite the same way again...

Some of the self-edit graduates with the wonderful Debi and Emma, out tutors.
(Note my flashy silver shoes...!)

And the food. I had no complaints at all - other than I didn't feel like eating much. No-one needed to go hungry, as proven by this photo of lunchtime cake!

Writing fuel

I could go on, but I'm feeling pretty cream-crackered now. I'll post more over the next few days, but for now, I'm all Yorked out, and I need to rest up if I'm going to be fit for the local author event at Loughborough Waterstones tomorrow (4-6pm - you can order copies of Granny if you haven't already got one, plus chat to around 30 authors from the area) as well as attending the second launch party for KLiCbait vol 1 on Thursday evening in Leicester (7pm onwards in the Parcel Yard, next door to Leicester Station).

Another freebie!

If you fancy something a little ghostly and ghastly to sink your teeth into at the moment, you're in for a treat.

Have a look at Out of Darkness, an anthology of short stories put together by the Short Stories Group, because the ebook is FREE until the 28th February; download it from here. 

(My own contribution to the book is Red Shoes)

Enjoy!

The proof!

Look! Granny Rainbow - in the flesh! A proof copy!

A couple of tweaks to be made to the cover to get it absolutely spot on, but I'm so chuffed! I'm grinning like a Cheshire cat.

I Write

Can you spot me in the photos?

I write...

Got a warm, fuzzy feeling...

Christmas makes me feel good at the best of times, but this morning, I have two extra reasons to feel warm and fuzzy.

Reason 1. 

A Test of Time - the short stories group anthology that was published at the end of November - has, to date, raised around £50 for Foodbank. The wonderful Vanessa Wester has already put the money to good use, just in time for Christmas. You can read Vanessa's original post here.

Vanessa (right) and the book, handing over a stack of goodies
to Hannah King, the manager of the Cowes branch of Foodbank.

Reason 2.

Last night, at the first launch event in London for Stories for Homes, a cheque for £1500 was handed over to a representative from Shelter. (The book itself continues to climb up the charts, officially designated now as a 'bestseller'.) 

A symbolic cardboard cheque, signed by all the authors present

I played only a small part in both projects - a story for each - but I am humbled and in awe of the people who were the driving forces behind both.

So a big shout-out first to Vanessa Wester, who has been the driving force behind not just A Test of Time, but also Out of Darkness, A Festive Feast, Love is in the Air, and Reading is Magic, supporting a variety of charities. (Not to mention her own books, The Evolution Trilogy and Gurnard's Book of Delights. You can find details of the short story collections either on my 'Where I've been published' page, or here.)

And another big shout-out to Debi Alper and Sally Swingewood, the masterminds behind Stories for Homes, who brought together an amazing team responsible for producing a world class anthology of short stories in just three months. They are wonderful!

The last shout-out goes to everyone who's bought a copy of either publication - and there are lots of you, I know!

Shout-outs aside, I realise that some of you might be reading this post and judging the 'success' of these two publications according to the amount of money they've raised. Please don't. From my point of view, both A Test of Time and Stories for Homes have been equally successful, because the money they've raised will help change people's lives for the better.

If you're going to judge these books, judge them on the difference they are making in the world; that's something you just can't put a price on. 

Granny Rainbow's ISBN Number

Omiflippingosh!

Granny has an ISBN number! A real, live, kosher ISBN number! Yesterday, I added it to the formatted document that is my master copy of Granny. It's there, in black and white - a unique number that will be linked to the publisher and me and Granny for ever...

Then I had a bit of a moment; somehow, that 13 digit number made it even more real that I am actually doing this - publishing a book full of my writing and Laura's pictures.

And of course after that, the doubts started creeping in. What the heck am I doing? Are the stories really good enough? What if Granny falls flat on her face and I'm left with 499 copies of a book I can't sell? (I'm ordering 500...I'll let you know if that was a rash decision later).

I'm sure lots of writers - including the big names in the business - experience the same wobbles when it gets close to publication. I know that if I give in to the wobble, it'll eat away at my confidence, take away the joy when I write and make me lose sight of the real reason I got into writing; to give children something they enjoy reading.

 I can't afford to let that happen.

I have to have faith in this book - and in myself. There are too many amazing people who've been on this writing journey with me so far; I'd feel I was letting all of them down if I didn't keep trying to make a go of this writing lark. And of course I'd be letting myself down by quitting.

Those who think they can't - are often right.

So I'm going to take that ISBN number and run with it - see where it takes me. I could end up a mile along the road or I might only be a few fumbling footsteps from where I started - but I'm not going to be going backwards.

Which can't be anything but good.

Calling all self-published authors! What size was your initial print run?

I'm at the point in self-publishing Granny Rainbow where I need to decide how many copies I ask the printer to run off initially.

Depending on the print method and quantity, the price per book varies significantly (as you might expect). At the moment, I have a price for 100, 250 and 500 units.

Initially, I looked at 100 units. But I got twitchy because it meant I had to bump the cover price up to make sure I had enough for the shopkeeper's cut. (I'm already working on a couple of contacts in the 'shop' department) There's something psychologically awful about breaking into a tenner and asking £6 for what is essentially a small book of seven short stories.

If I go for 500 units, I am going quite a bit over the budget I set myself for outlay but the cost per book is significantly reduced. A very attractive proposition, but I am struggling to get my head around exactly how much space 500 books of 100 pages each will take up; the WHOLE of my spare bedroom? Just a corner of the dining room? Every available surface throughout the house for years - until I sell them all or have a ginormous bonfire 'cos I can't stand the sight of them any longer?

Am I being completely unrealistic, expecting to sell 500 copies?! I know it'll depend on the type of book, it's audience and probably a million other factors too, but...

If you self-published printed material, how many did you plump for in that first print run?

I've lost my voice...

No, I don't mean I've got some horrible lurgy! I'm talking about 'voice' - that indefinable something that appears in what a writer writes.

In the past, I've been accused of being 'too nice'...of not being 'thrilling' enough...of not having 'commercial sparkle'. Last Friday, I received another rejection for Rurik; 'fluent and professional, but the voice was not strong enough to draw me in.'

I've heard it before in various guises, so it didn't surprise me. I'm not overly disappointed either - there are more agents to hear from who might have other things to say.

What it did start me wondering, was whether my 'voice' will EVER be strong enough for an agent. I know what 'voice' means - I can recognise it in others and often wish to goodness that I had something as distinctive - but I don't think it's something that can be manufactured. I recognise that I am, first and foremost, a storyteller, and I think I tell a good story.

Just not with a 'strong voice'.

I found this at Writing World, in a post about 'Finding your Voice as a Children's author':

'One thing that separates great authors from mediocre ones is that their writing appears effortless, even if it took tremendous work to achieve. A forced voice happens when authors try too hard to sound like a writer. I think the best voices appear when authors write as they speak. Has a story ever sounded profound and lyrical in your head, but lost something when you put it on paper? That's because in your head you're telling the story to yourself in your speaking voice, and when you write it down suddenly you're trying to be a writer. You go searching through the thesaurus for the perfect word, something you'd never use in normal conversation. You use three words of description, just because you can, rather than one word that really says everything you need to say. And suddenly in that process of writing down what's in your head, you've lost your voice. You've adapted the voice of someone else, or the voice you think your writing should have. So next time you write, try writing exactly what's in your head. If you type, try typing your writing exercise with your eyes closed, so you can't see the computer screen. Closing your eyes also helps you focus inward where the story is being conceived. Then you'll be guided by how the words sound and feel, and that's the closest thing to your true voice.'

So there you have it - I'm probably destined to be a mediocre author rather than a bestseller.

What do I do then, about my 'voice'?

1. Stick with it - this style and voice which IS mine at present - even though it doesn't suit the industry?
2. Be true to myself and put reader's opinions about my stories above the market's opinion, ignoring the issue of voice completely?
3. Stop worrying about whether a 'proper' publisher wants to publish my stories, because in this age of self-publishing it is (relatively) easy to publish myself?
4. Alter how I write?

I really don't know.

To those of you who've read my 'stuff' - can you see 'me' in every piece I write? Is there a recognisable 'Katherine Hetzel' element to my work?

If so, WHAT THE HECK IS IT? I'd love to know...

Granny Rainbow takes a trip to the printers: Part 1.

When I first thought of self-publishing Granny Rainbow, I knew I didn't want to go via Amazon. Not sure why, exactly, as most of my stories to date have been published using Createspace.

Anyway - yesterday, I went to a local printer, (Dovecote Press), who works with a local publisher I've helped with some editing (Panda Eyes). I took with me a mock-up of formatted text, (based on a 5" x 8" page size) some of the illustrations and the cover design.

I don't know what I was expecting to find at the printers - long gone are the days where huge printing presses clatter and rattle; it's all digitalised and computer screens - but there are still HUGE piles of paper everywhere and tubs of ink...

Anyhow - the upshot is that I now know;

1. A fair bit more about putting a physical book together - Granny Rainbow will be stapled and bound, not 'perfect bound.' The cover hides the staples, and I'm assured that the book won't fall apart.

2. A Xerox machine will be better for my initially small print runs. When I'm selling thousands, it switches to the BIG machine...(yeah, right!)

3. The more I can do up-front with respect to editing, proof-reading and formatting, the better it is for the printer - and the cheaper it could work out for me on unit price.

4. That my initial deadline to myself of 'before Christmas' might not be for the best - the printer advises an after Christmas publication/launch date to take advantage of all those book tokens bought as presents. This is because the printer and publisher have links to our local Waterstones store for their local history books; they are hopeful the branch will support and stock Granny too.

5. How important it is, for me personally, to deal with real people and support local businesses rather than deal with a faceless megacompany.

And the last thing I've learnt? That you can be scared and excited in equal measure when you take the plunge to self-pub because I have no idea how Granny will be received by a wider public - but I'm getting really close to the point of finding out! 

Added sometime later: On the subject of finding out what people think... I am one very happy Squidge! Have now received feedback from four young test-readers of Granny Rainbow... 4/4 likes - nay, dare I say, loves - though I probably need to adjust the intended age range to a slightly younger audience. All the stories were enjoyed,  whether they were read by or to the child, with the 'little green man' and 'black shadow' stories coming out as favourites. Also sounds like they were a hit with some of the parents too...

And just to put the topping on the lovely warm and fuzzy feeling I'm experiencing, I found out that one of those young readers has already introduced her friend to the stories I wrote in 'Reading is Magic'; they have been singing the 'Follow the Yellow Sick Toad' song and made up actions to go with it! How cool is that?!

Beginning to believe that kids really will enjoy my stories...