Tags
Amazon, bookshop, financial crime, G David, Hammicks, Heffers, Kindle, marketing, paperback, print-on-demand, publication date, publicity, Samuel Plank, self-publishing, The Man in the Canary Waistcoat
Apologies for my silence – I was away on holiday in Crete for a week, girding my loins for the Big Week of Publication. My husband – slow reader and therefore typo-spotter extraordinaire – was also reading my proof copy of “The Man in the Canary Waistcoat”, and yesterday I made my final, final corrections (thankfully only a handful of very small ones needed). (A bit nerve-racking, his reading of the book, as it was the first time he had read it – he prefers not to read works-in-progress. So I spent three days hovering over him whenever he was reading, asking, “Where are you up to now?”. Poor man. At the end, I asked him which bit he liked best, and it wasn’t what I would have guessed at all, so that’s interesting.)
When we arrived home, two massive boxes of copies of “Canary” were waiting with a neighbour, so three review copies have been sent out, as well as “thanks” copies to my beta-reader, and to the lady who gave us permission to use a document from her late husband’s collection as part of our cover design, and to two relatives who are not Amazon-y.
So what does this week hold? The paperback and Kindle files have been uploaded to Amazon, as it is something of a dark art to calculate when they might appear, so I thought sooner rather than later might be sensible. Hopefully they will be in situ, resplendent in their golden covers and ready to go on Friday. I am tripping over stacks of copies of “Canary”, so they need to be distributed: six copies are going to Hammicks in London today, care of husband and a Boris bike. Heffers have ordered twelve and David’s ten, so I’ll deliver them tomorrow myself – both are local to me here in Cambridge. Then I’ll be turning to my “people to tell” list, and working my way through that on Friday – it’s journalists who have kindly written about me before, my own websites, the Society of Authors, and then odd little extras like a poster for my local Department of Criminology. I tell you, being self-published is not for the faint of heart or weak of cycling leg!
An exciting time when all that work concludes in a launch. They are fleeting moments so enjoy, Susan. I think you can do so without the natural trepidation you might have felt with your first book. Have a great week.
Dear Roy
Thank you for your good wishes – yes, fleeting moments as you say! But the sun is shining, I have errands to run later today which will involve cycling alongside the river and along the Backs, so life is good.
Best wishes from Susan
Dear Susan
Welcome back from your holidays. I hope that you had a fabulous time … in between harassing your poor husband whilst he was reading the much anticipated Plank 2 !!
If it isn’t too daft a question, will the final, final corrections referred to above mean that there will end up being two subtly different versions in circulation (i.e. the hard copies in the boxes that were waiting with the neighbours and then the corrected versions that have gone to Amazon) ??
I only ask as it has been really interesting to hear about the process from start to finish, and please accept a big thank you for sharing all the trials and tribulations with us.
Best Wishes
Graham
Dear Graham
Crete was just lovely, thank you – I can highly recommend the little town of Chania (pronounced ‘Hania’) with its Venetian old harbour.
And how funny that you should ask that question: my husband said the same! (Although he was wondering whether one day he might be able to retire on the proceeds of extortionate prices being paid for those 75 “first editions”!) Yes, there are now tiny differences between the two versions – the original 75 being distributed as we speak, and any copies bought from Amazon. But those differences are tiny – for instance, in the “original 75”, there is one instance of the word “facade” without the c-cedilla, while the c-cedilla has been added in the “Amazon version”. Perhaps I should run a competition for readers to spot the differences – that way, people would have to buy two copies!!!
And my blogging is not over yet – glad you’re enjoying it. Publishing a second book in a series is not like doing the first, so I will be updating you on whether the appearance of “Plank 2” creates a boost in interest in “Plank 1” – and when I plan to start writing “Plank 3″…
Best wishes from Susan
Dear Susan
Thank you as ever for the speedy and informative response.
I can see the original 75 becoming collectors’ items .. when Plank 2 becomes a best seller !!
Best Wishes
Graham
Dear Susan
As you weren’t sure about the Kindle publication timescale, I thought I would do a quick check to see if “The Man in the Canary Waistcoat” was listed and ….. it is now “live” !!
I’ve just bought and downloaded my copy. I’m really looking forward to catching up with Sam when I get some quality spare reading time.
Best Wishes
Graham
Dear Graham
Yahoo! I’ve been e-formatting like a demon (planning to blog about it later) and timescales are so variable, I’m not at all sure when “publication” will happen for anything! But it’s exciting to see “Canary” gradually appearing…
Thank you so much for buying it – I really look forward to hearing what you think of it (review, hint, hint…!).
Best wishes from Susan