There is a lot involved in getting a book into the world. It’s exhausting I tell you and there have been many times when I thought I’d sighed that final sigh. I’ve thought it was done and dusted. I was wrong and below is the story of the making of a story.
! I remember it now, getting to the end of that first draft and dancing a little jig and then discovering how far from the finishing line I really was. Disheartened, I wrote THE END is Only the Beginning. I had a book of sorts, but I didn’t have a story, not yet. There was a lot in there that didn’t belong and a lot of holes which needed filling. My main character, Fiona, was too approachable and under the circumstances, she wouldn’t be. The old man came into the story too soon as a point of view character, and I needed to hold off on that to build suspense. These are just a couple of problems I remember, but there were many many more. Around this time and in a slightly better frame of mind, I also wrote Writing is Perseverance; Editing is War.
Finally, I engaged an editor and I cringe a little when I remember what I gave her that first time. Working with Ellie Gleeson from Le Mot Juste taught me a lot about story. Stories are innate to humans I think, (we know it when we see or hear them) but writing them is another thing altogether. It has to be learned. I’ve written many short stories over the years, and often the ending is illusive. I grope around for it, knowing how truly important it is. And in a novel, the ending is even more complicated. It’s a drawing together of many different strands of a net to capture it and give it form. If this is not done well, the meaning, the purpose of it, can slip away and be lost.
About Solving a Puzzle
Those second, third and fourth drafts were about solving a puzzle, moving things around, ratcheting up tension, pushing characters hard, so they would reveal themselves. And it was about getting that ending right and that took a long time. I ended up contacting Ellie again and booking the manuscript in for another round of editing, just so I would have a deadline. A journalist without a deadline is on holiday. 🤔
I think I gave myself a couple of months before I needed to get it to her. At this point, I was so close to the story I lacked objectivity and, by the end of that time, had no idea whether I had improved it or made it even worse. I was suffering from a particularly bad case of immersion and the ‘real’ world seemed strange to me. It’s a very odd feeling. It reminded me of another time. I broke my hand once and couldn’t write, so I decided to learn to speak French. I listened to French podcasts, I watched French television and I repeated French phrases endlessly in my head, and the end result was not what I expected. I not only couldn’t speak French, I’d somehow impaired my English as well. Great gaps would form while I searched for a word I had known my whole life. There was nothing for it, but to send the manuscript back to Ellie or else be committed.
Destroying Our Own Creation
After a wait, she returned it to me. She approved of my changes and I thought her quite mad. I remember saying there was something wrong with the end. I thought it skipped on too quickly and I was thinking of inserting another chapter to slow it down. Ellie told me to read it again and highlight the point where I believed this slowing down was needed. She thought I was the mad one, I could tell, but I did what she suggested and I arrived at the ending without a single highlight. That is the beauty of editors. They know how fragile a book is. They know if we continue to tinker, we can destroy our own creation. I would have. I would have pulled that book apart (the back end of it, at least), pushed more words into it, and then I would have needed to stitch it back together and make it seamless. I am beyond grateful for her sanity because, at this point, I had little of my own.
So then, I danced another jig. The book is done, I thought. Not quite, though. While I had made it through the structural edit, I needed to do a line-by-line edit. Ellie had been gracious enough to do some work on this for me, but I needed another set of eyes on it, so I engaged Jenn Zabinskas, from RedInk Creative (meet Jennifer here in On Book Editing with Jenn Zabinskas).
Slapping the Baby on the Bum
We chatted on the phone and then worked together on Zoom. We polished and slapped this baby on the bum. What impressed me was her attention to detail and her understanding of how language changes the pace of a book. I learnt a lot about the use of passive voice and how it allows a book to meander when needed, while active voice can spur things along. A judicious mix of the two was needed for Numb. I know that now.
Jenn also did the professional proofreading for me, but not before I frogmarched my family into reading it for missed words, awkward phrases etc. So, Kerry, Jackie, Patrick and Clare spent a weekend reading the manuscript, while I spent it biting my fingernails.
A Swoop in the Belly
There is a swoop in the belly, when you give a book you have written to someone you know. It’s a bit like waiting for the results of your driving test. It’s a cliff to fall off. What is to become of you without a driver’s license or a book to be proud to put out into the world? I know, it’s the same but different. As much as I like to have my own opinions, the opinions of these four matter to me. So thank you to my petite party of unpaid proofreaders.
So, of course, I danced another jig. But that was when I realised I needed a book cover and interior book design, barcodes and ISBN numbers, a blurb for the back of the book and a book distributor to push it out into the world.
The Dreaded Photoshoot
I also needed an author photo where I didn’t look like I’d spent a week at sea, which I actually had. That is when I discovered Brad Delaney from Bradkay Photographix. I drove to his studio through torrential rain. I swear the world was flooding, but that didn’t frighten me. Having a camera pointed at me did. I’m the one who goes to bathroom when it’s time for the family photo. I’ve also been known to fake a phone call. I stare urgently into the distance with the phone pressed to my ear, saying, ‘Oh no….oh dear…How can I help?’ Its shameless, right? Now scrunch up your toes and think of Brad Pitt describes my first ever photo shoot and plumbs the depth of my shame.
As for the rest of it, I did one thing at a time. I engaged IngramSpark to distribute the book and to use their print on demand service for the paperback. I followed their courses and filled out their forms. And then I found Nada Backovic, graphic artist and cover and book designer.
Giving Numb a Body and a Face
I was even more frightened of Nada than I was of Brad. While he had dealt with the author, she would be dressing the book. She would give it a face and a body and that’s important. A manuscript is a poor thing. It’s limp, drab and utterly uninspiring to look at. My nerves centred around the idea, that while I do love great design, I don’t speak that language. I feared she would ask me that inevitable question – ‘So, what kind of cover would you like?’ And I would stammer about, saying nothing illuminating… and this is exactly what happened. But Nada is very good at her job. She seems able to bridge that gap. She speaks writer and designer, thank goodness. She is also very talented. Read about Nada in On Book Cover Design with Nada Backovic.
At this point, the weight of having to promote said book was beginning to weigh heavily. It was the part of the process, which scared me most, so I’d sunk into denial. I did everything other than promote it, until I realised no one would have a clue Numb existed if I didn’t. So, I’ve needed to back myself and do justice to the work others have done on my behalf. Thank you Ellie, Jenn, Brad and Nada and many thanks and love to Jackie, Patrick, Clare and Kerry.
Please help
So here goes: Please help me sell my book. Please share this with everyone you know. Numb and I are very small fish in a giant sea! The details are below and feel free to share this email with the world. I would be very grateful.
And available for order from your local bookstore