A few weeks of self-publishing
In October (if all goes according to plan) A Little Christmas Hope will hit the Amazon book shelf. It’s the final part of the Christmas wishes collection, following on from A Little Christmas Faith and A Little Christmas Charm. You don’t have to have read the other two before this one, but if you have, you will recognise some of the characters, including these little devils.
A Little Christmas Hope is my first attempt at self-publishing. Fear not, I’ve got the experts in for the important parts; the cover will be designed by a professional cover artist and the content has been edited by a pro, too. Still, this time, the final responsibility for the book will fall with me…and already I’m in a quandary.
Do I have a cover that fits with the previous two in the series, which were with my old publisher? Do I reflect my new publisher instead? Maybe pump for a middle ground?
Or go with something completely different. HELP! Thankfully I have until August to think about this.
As for the content, that’s what I’ve been doing over the last few weeks while I’ve been ‘between books’. The manuscript for Strictly Come Dating has been submitted and I’m waiting on edits and a direction on ‘the next book’, so I’ve used this time to grapple with the Kindle Create self-publishing tool. I think (hope?!) I now have a manuscript in the right format. Sadly it’s only now dawning on me that the final proof read is down to….err, me. That’s the same me who paints without masking tape or dust covers, believes being 80% there is a great target but 70% is probably good enough. And who lives by her Dad’s motto. A blind man on a galloping horse will never notice. GULP!
So if you ever get round to buying and reading A Little Christmas Hope (it should be available for pre-order in August), please excuse the cover if it’s trying to do too much. It won’t be the cover artist’s fault, it will be my lack of direction. And perhaps when you’re reading it you could be, if not a blind man on a galloping horse, then at least one shutting his eyes while riding a fairly fast one?