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Wednesday 28 December 2011

The best laid plans...

OK, so the original plan was to release 'Demon's Daughter' as an ebook in September 2011, see how it did and perhaps release 'Demon's Revenge' (book 2) in early 2012. Obviously I was delighted to sell 1 book, thrilled to sell 2 and delirious when the figure crept above 10 - my mum wouldn't have bought ALL of those! And yes, Emily and Co weren't exactly setting the sales-universe alight but I was happy that someone somewhere was reading about my characters and enjoying their antics as much as I did. And then I had a request for a paperback. And another. Swiftly followed by a few more. I was invited to do a reading at a local school - fantastic experience - and the demand for a physical copy of DD grew a little more.
And, let's be honest, the idea of actually holding a copy of my own book is a strong pull - it might make the fact that DD is published and out in the world feel a little more real.
Yes, I absolutely admit to being naive about what Indie publishing entailed - I can't market myself or my books well at all and the whole decision-making process has given me a load of sleepless nights but I realised that an opportunity like this comes along once in a lifetime - do I want to give it my best shot? Or spend my time worrying that someone might think I wasn't worthy? So...I paced a bit, registered with Nielsen, bit a few nails, bought a batch of 10 ISBNs, panicked a little, found a designer to give the cover and innards a revamp that would make it more 'commercial', applied to become a Publisher at Lightning Source, worried that a wee woman from Northern Ireland shouldn't be attempting to push her luck any further than she already had and now I'm 2 months away from launching a paperback.
My local branch of Waterstone's wants me to come in and do a signing once the book is released, another local school has asked if I'll come in and do a series of readings/creative writing workshops, the pace of life is picking up and I don't know whether to be terrified, retreat back to my cave or go with the flow and enjoy the ride...for now I'm going with the flow!
This all means, however, that book 2 in the series will have to wait for a bit before it gets released from its computer prison. *sigh*
How does August 2012 sound?

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