It’s the strangest feeling. My debut novel will be available for pre-order this week (you can read what it’s about here). Ex…CITING!
This week I’ve been in full “author mode”, checking for stray typos and creating my Amazon author page and gathering keywords and categories and ISBN numbers and author bios and all sorts of other things I’d either never heard of or never given a second thought to until recently.
=breeeeeeathe=
Thinking about the whole kit and kaboodle, writing the book has been the easy part. Getting it online and starting the marketing campaign is going to be the real test of my patience of my skills as a publisher. About a week ago, I remember thinking: this reminds me of setting up my blog, back in 2011, which I launched on my 39th birthday.
(A strange noise just left my throat, something between shock and awe of having started this online journey in my thirties. Having turned 54 last week, that’s kinda scary, in a “where has the time gone?!” way.)
I was definitely flying by the seat of my pants back then, too.
I remember that time quite clearly: it was new and exciting, and people were bemused and curious about “blogging”, especially when Instagram husband Keith was helping me with the photo shoots in the early days. I can recall a conversation with a farmer (hardly surprising, seeing as I live in the West Country) about two months in. He asked what we were doing, and I replied, “We’re taking outfit photos to put on my blog.”
“You’re doing what to put on a what?”
“Oh, a blog is a website where I post pictures of what I wore that day and people online can comment on it…” The awkward conversation didn’t end there, of course, and from that moment, I vowed never to explain what a blog was ever again. The explanation then became “I’m taking photos of my clothes to sell online.”
Easy. No more questions.
But for this chapter of my life (pun not intended), the phrase “I’m writing my debut novel!” apparently needs no explanation whatsoever, and that’s something of a relief.
But like with the blog, the learning curve has been huuuuuuuuge.
What you initially think is just “I’m writing my debut novel!” becomes learning about formatting, the minutiae of grammar, editing, understanding plot mechanisms, catering for your audience, learning how to ‘show not tell’, more editing, watching webinars and how-to videos, yet more editing… AND THEN there’s marketing, Facebook ads, Instagram plans, working with a designer, writing Amazon blurb and keywords and author bios, setting up accounts with endless publishing-related platforms, buying ISBN numbers…
Oh.
My.
God.
These things are never simple, are they? Meanwhile I’m dealing with the loss of my parents, sorting out their estate and trying to sell the house, working domestic cleaning shifts in houses that are currently anywhere between 28°C and 37°C (I checked thermometers after I’d wiped away the sweat dripping down my face) because no one in the UK has aircon, and generally wondering how on earth I’ve managed to write and finish a book in two years. At times it seemed like I’d never finish.
[Cue Limahl singing ‘Never Ending Story’…]
But to end on a positive note: I’m immensely proud of what I’ve achieved. I have a finished book, I have a cover, and that’s really all you need, isn’t it (she says with a cough and a big dollop of irony)?
So the book will be available for pre-order in the next day or so: I’ll publish a post here and toot my horn about it on social media when it’s ready. Meantime, here’s a look at the cover — which I am totally in love with!
(Big shout-out to designer Margarita Castaño, who’s been an absolute superstar in bringing my vision to life.)
I’m still looking for readers who’d like a free advance copy of my debut in exchange for an honest review on Amazon when it launches… I decided to keep the application form open for a little while longer, so if you’d still like to be on my special ARC team, you can still apply!
CLICK HERE TO GET AN ADVANCE COPY TO REVIEW
(Don’t be intimidated by the questions; if you’re a Substack reader you’ll almost certainly make the list unless you say, “I hate second chances/time travel romcoms”…! Just fill out what you can.)
Speak to you VERY soon with a link to the pre-order page — and thank you!
Catherine x
If you got this far please click the Like ❤️ button and maybe even leave a comment to make this post more visible… thank you!
You can always — if you’d like to help me out on a pay-as-you-go system — Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/catherinesummers (thank you sooo much)
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