Confessions of an Author

How to Host a Book Launch Having a book launch is scary. However well planned you are, you cannot be sure anyone other than your Mum will actually come. This is true for all but the most famous authors, and authors who are more successful than me assured me beforehand that this is normal. One even told me that she’d held a launch that was packed to the rafters, and another, just last year, when only her husband and daughter came. This made me feel better – because the success of the launch does NOT reflect your ability as an author. It’s random. There are however, a few things you can do to try and improve the situation. I’ll let you know what I did. Firstly, obviously, you need to decide on time and place. Decide who is most likely to be interested in your book, then consider things like school term dates, when people are likely to be skiing or away on holiday. Then choose your venue. Many authors hold a launch in a bookshop. This has the advantage of being in a public...

How to Publish a Book The Journey of Self-Publishing In my weekly blogs, I have recorded the things I discovered when publishing my books. I have copied some of the more useful ones here. It is an on-going journey, so as I expand my business, I add to my blog posts. For an up to date record, my blog is a better source of information (though you will have to trawl through funny stories and travel diaries to find the relevant articles.) I have tried to include actual costs and problems and time frames – because people tend to be rather coy about these things, and it is difficult, when you are starting out, to know what you are committing to. I hope this is helpful. 4th July 2016 Hi, how was your week? I have been working hard on my book. Getting it published as been an unexpected journey, so I’ll share my experiences so far with you in case you ever decide to go the same route. The first (and most fun part) is writing the book. I love doing this, it feels a lot like acting ...