So the year is almost at an end. In fact, the whole decade is almost at an end. Very soon it’ll be ‘bye bye 2019, you little angel of a year’, and hello to something completely new and exciting.
It’s time to look back over the last twelve months and all the goodies 2019 has brought with it.
January, February and March
So I began the year with fingers firmly and hopefully crossed. Having submitted my novel to Burning Chair Publishing right before Christmas, this was the last chance for Haven Wakes. If they said no, I would shelve my precious book and begin something completely new.
January was a month of waiting to hear whether Burning Chair liked my novel, and when I finally thought it would be a ‘no’ or I wouldn’t hear back, I got the email I’d been hoping for – a request for the entire manuscript.
February was another month of twiddling the digits and waiting. Would Burning Chair be as keen on the entire manuscript as they had been about the first few chapters?
At the beginning of March, I received an email from Burning Chair asking to speak to me on the phone. Eek! Their call coincided with their visit to the London Book Fair and they finally gave me the news I’d been waiting for. They wanted to publish Haven Wakes!
Over that month a number of things happened:
- Burning Chair gave me their thoughts on my novel and how it could be improved and edited.
- They introduced me to two of their other authors, Georgia and Neil.
- I received my publishing contract.
My publishing journey had begun.
April, May and June
April was a whirlwind of edits, setting up my website and altering my social media presence to fit. I already had a writer Facebook and Twitter account, but I set up an Instagram account too.
My daughter designed a wonderful piece of artwork for the home page of my website and, with my copywriter hat on, I began working on the wordage for each page of my website.
By the end of April, my website was live.
May and June were all about the edits, by both me and Burning Chair, and beginning the process of finding a book cover design for Haven Wakes.
July, August and September
In July, I added my short story, The Hidden Knowing, as a freebie for subscribers to my newsletter, and continued with the edits.
The book cover design for Haven Wakes was revealed in the middle of August, courtesy of Stuart Bache and Books Covered.
With the final edits finished, the countdown began to publication day.
October, November and December
Haven Wakes was published on 1st October in paperback and e-book formats. That sounds all very factual but for me, it was a dream come true. That’s a cliched phrase, I know, but that was how it felt. After years of trying to get my fiction writing out there in the big, wide world, we had arrived.
October was the proverbial whirlwind of blog posts, promotion and congratulations. By the end of the month, the penny had finally dropped – I was a proper, official, published author and I had a second novel to write.
November saw me use the monthly writing marathon of NaNoWriMo to begin the first draft of the next novel in the Haven Chronicles series and cement my standing as an author by giving readings from my novel at the Chester Literature Festival.
In December, I received an early Christmas present as Haven Wakes became a No. 1 Bestseller on Amazon.
This time last year, I had no idea what 2019 would hold for me or where it would take me. Who knew what magic would reveal itself?
What next?
Book Two of the Haven Chronicles is my 2020 focus.
Steve is back with Hartley, Blessing and the darkling, but with a whole new cast of villains and supporters. He thought his life had already changed beyond recognition, but the journey has hardly started.
I already have it plotted and I’m a few chapters in. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see it published next year?
