WHAT COMES NEXT ...

IN THE LIFE OF A BOOK

Photo by Roberto Huczek on Unsplash

Photo of the amount of energy I have at the moment.

What comes next…

So, now that the book is out in the world, here comes the “real work”. By that I mean, of course, marketing.

Unlike most writers I know, I was quite looking forward to doing it. The thing I had not anticipated was that once the book was launched, I would have all the energy of an overfed pussy cat, who sleeps in the sun.

What I learned…

Things I did not know before writing a book:

It would take more time than I ever expected.

It would cost more than I ever expected.

It would cost me physically in terms of stress, disrupted sleep, and that the book was like living with a hungry wolf who was always panting. All consuming, in other words.

The journey the book took…

I thought (foolishly as it turns out) that all I had to do was give a self publishing company my manuscript, OK the cover design, pay them, and boom! They would come back with a completed book.

That did happen, but with multiple, multiple snags along the way. Each delay, no one answering my queries and production concerns cost me quite dearly in terms of mental anguish and anxiety. Perhaps it was down to me being a first time author, not knowing the steps that went into publishing, or perhaps it was due to the production team being overworked.

(I surmise they were overworked, as I did receive emails sent at 9:30 in the evening. So, obviously, someone with an awful lot on their plate!)

But, in the end, I did receive a book that I can hold in my hands and say with pride, “Look at this. I wrote it.” I can be thankful for that, although it did cost me in more ways than one.

Now it’s on to marketing, and then more marketing…

So, in the interests of that, and getting more eyeballs on my book, I’ve decided to enclose an excerpt.

(A little background previous to this excerpt: I had impulsively headed out to Australia from Canada with little or no planning, suffering from the heartbreak of a broken romance.)

Here is my first experience of landing in Australia, starting with what I had packed:

“My small suitcase had just enough for a weekend, if you were quite restrained in what you took. After all, I’d only planned to visit Sonya (in Vancouver).

In the case there was a spare outfit, some underwear and toiletries. And hair rollers, as this was 1968. I couldn’t imagine life without hair rollers!

I had travelled roughly 8,000 air miles from Canada, to arrive with as much preparation as if I had gone for an overnight stay.

But, of course, I had that all important address and phone number of my friend’s mother who lived in Sydney. She was the one person on the entire continent whom I could call. That was my idea of preparation!

When I landed at the airport in Sydney, I was possibly about 100 pounds (45 kilos, or 7 stone). I was actually a bit underweight, considering all I’d been through with strange foods, heart break and jet lag. I was bewildered, but up for an adventure.

When the Australian border force guard said to me, “Step this way,” in order to have my passport checked, I didn’t understand what he said.

“Step this way,” he repeated. I must have looked completely at a loss.

“Step. This. Way. Please!” he emphasised like talking to someone without full use of their senses. Possibly with the addition of hand gestures. This time I understood. I got it.

It was the first time I had heard the deep twang and nasal mangle of Australian English. This was, to me, a place both exotic and foreign. I just had to learn the language, and seeing as it was basically English, I thought I would be able to figure it out. I was totally out of my depth, but perhaps fortunately, I didn’t realise it.

I arrived in Australia with a cocktail of almost no money, no job, no health or travel insurance, and hardly any luggage, but of course, with that all important address of my friend’s mother. If things had not fallen into place, I would have had the world’s most expensive weekend.

As it turned out, Fate was with me. I was on one gigantic adventure! Nothing appealed to me more than “the great unknown” and seeing the world. I thought I was over the anguish of my broken romance, but as I was to find out later, heart break is only one of many things that can derail you.”

From this point on, my Australian adventures began. I did stay with my friend’s mother, but only for one night, before being unceremoniously turfed out. But that’s another story, as they say.

On a lighter note, and not connected to anything in particular, I saw this sign last week and it was so peculiar that I’ve included it to give you all a laugh.

I’m not sure where pedestrians were supposed to go from here, but as far as being informative, it lacks a great deal!

Links for finding my book…

If you would like to read my book, it is available through these links. It would make my day if anyone wanted to order one. I think I only need to sell about 800 to break even. (It’s a moon-in-the-sky target, I know!)

Here’s the Barnes and Noble link:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/i-ate-everything-but-the-napkins-rose-hurst/1149972041

Or the Amazon link for an ebook or paperback:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0GX2ZNJ7S

https://www.booksamillionhttps://www.booksamillion.com/p/Ate-Everything-But-Napkins/Rose-Hurst/9781805419495.com/p/Ate-Everything-But-Napkins/Rose-Hurst/9781805419495

Comments and hearts clicked would be ever so welcome, and would make my day.