This for one!

My last blog post at the beginning of November 2016 (and my first ever NaNoWrMo) you’ll notice that I abruptly finish posting on November 8th. All will be revealed – although I’ll confess now – it doesn’t involve much about writing – at least initially.

In November I had a serious digestive system issue, which ultimately led to numerous tests and me sinking into – what I can only describe as – a pit of despair. I’ll spare you the gruesome details, but suffice to say I didn’t feel at all able to write – I could barely leave my sofa 😦 Fast forward to November 2017, and I was beginning to feel relatively like my old self – although three stone lighter (every cloud and all that). So I set about (in earnest) bringing my book, Restless: A Novella, to the world.

Weirdly, being struck down with some mysterious malaise enabled me to see clearly what I needed to do regarding getting published – it was as if I’d finally listened to some inner voice – which was shouting in my ear to get on with it! So that’s exactly what I did.

In late 2017, after having employed the professional services of a copy editor & proof reader (Catherine Coe), and book jacket designer (Rachel Lawston), I set up my own independent publishing house (agnesjackpress.com) and began navigating the complex world of independently publishing my book. In December 2017 my book ‘hit the shelves’. Restless: A Novella, is available in both paperback and eBook formats, from all good bookshops – including of course, everyones love/hate organisation – Amazon.

I won’t lie to you and say the process of bringing my book to print was easy, it wasn’t. The concept was straightforward enough, but I wasn’t in the best frame of mind to deal with technical issues – which there were a few. I’ll write another blog post soon about the ins and outs, but for now believe me when I say you’ll need a lot of patience, and please, please make sure you’ve checked your work to within an inch of its life!

I had planned on having a pre-Christmas launch (on my pub. date) but due to issues with IngramSpark’s delivery date, I had to delay it until January 19th. But in hindsight I’m so glad I had my launch in January, as practically everyone I’d invited was able to attend. I think in the end I had about 40 people turn up at The Suffolk Anthology in Cheltenham; friends, family, my writing group, my book group and most of my fellow MA grads. It was a wonderful evening, and the cake I’d commissioned was absolutely delicious… Gluten free too!