Author retreat... into my proof copy

Exciting...!

My proof copy for my new book has now arrived, and , after allowing myself the initial pause to enjoy the moment - I'm now going to get down to the final act of reading through and checking that it's error-free before I order my first print run.

So now I'm going to retreat into my proof copy, and try not to get too distracted by all the colour photos of kittens as I go along...

But first...

Here is the first glimpse of the cover.

Still under wraps... just.

If a picture tells a thousand words, then the word count on this one is huge!

The book files are now at the printers, getting magically turned from digital files to a shiny new book. So what's happening during this waiting time...?

Well I've been phoned up and offered a table at a Christmas fair - so I now have my first event booked for Christmas 2014!

I've managed to finish a book I was reading, and buy another in the series... plus another that just took my fancy... so I suppose you could say I've been book shopping.

...and next I need to do all the paper work involved in the actual publishing of a book - namely register the ISBN of the new book, so that it will be out there for all to see...

And what about the publicity?

The experts say that a book should be advertised long in advance of it coming out, but what can be more annoying than hearing about a book long before you can get your hands on it; and at that point I didn't know some of the crucial details - such as how many pictures it was going to have, final word count and number of pages...  In the end there are a lot of colour photos - so if photos of kittens is your thing you're going to love this one, and if a picture tells a thousand words, then the word count is huge!!

New book finished and sales to report...

I may be a week later than everyone else, but I've got that just broken up feeling. And why am I feeling this way...? Well I've finally finished my latest book, and zapped it off to the printers! It's a great feeling to finally finish a project - next I'll get to see my proof copy in all its glory - now that will put a big smile on my face... :)

Meanwhile, other good news this week included another sale of A Face Full of Snow on kindle - well it is ski season, and with the winter Olympics ongoing, it's a very topical book to read. I think  the athletes all have better trained skis than Eric (or me for that matter...)

What's new in books for 2014

New for Spring 2014 - the book about the cats who constantly distract and inspire me.

They say you should never work with children or animals, well what if your animal has children...?

Well the result was large chunks of time when I didn't manage to get to a computer, let alone do the ongoing blog that I intended, but sometimes you just have to go with the flow, enjoy the moment and write about it later...

What I did have time for was to write kitten diaries - it's easier to write with pen and paper when kittens are climbing all over you, than it is to try to type. And from these kitten diaries - which have paw prints and chewed edges, a book is emerging...

                                                                ...and what's more... it's nearly finished!!