I said I’d be back on form soon, and after taking some time out, muddling through some crazy hormones, allowing myself space to process and grieve and some long chats with good friends (you know who you are), I’m feeling more like my old self. See my last blog if you’re wondering what I’m talking about.
I’d been getting a bit stalled with my book, mainly as I’d been waiting for an editing company to come back to me with their assessment of my manuscript – for five weeks after the agreed date (I sharn’t name them). From what I can gather, they’ve been having a bit of a ‘mare with losing staff and have built up a huge back log. They’ve given me a refund, so you can’t say fairer than that, but I was feeling a bit flummoxed as to my next move. Do I start again, looking for another publishing company to assess, or do I jump straight to the proof reading stage then go ahead with publishing?
A coaching session at work gave me a kick start to get moving again. I remembered a lady I spoke to a year ago, when I was in the early stages of writing my book. I’d contacted her as she was part of my local writing group (who, as a brief aside, have been amazing in listening to me read sections of my book, giving useful feedback and boosting my confidence – shout out to the Saltaire Writers Group!) This lady is a published author and runs her own editing business, so I picked up the phone. She’s agreed to have a look at the first chapter of my book and give her professional opinion on whether it’d benefit from a closer edit, before I go ahead and publish. Thanks Helena Fairfax. 🙂
While I was still excited from my first ‘being cheeky and asking for stuff’ working out, I bumped into our Head of Design at a work conference yesterday. Seemingly on a roll, I thought – what the hell, I’ll try my luck again. While doing the usual dash to grab a cup of tea and a biscuit, juggling papers and various electronic devices, before the conference restarted, I jumped in and asked if any of her team could help me with designing my book cover (outside of work, obvs). I’ve just got off the phone with another lovely lady who’s agreed to look at what I’ve got so far and give me some design ideas. Looking forward to working with you Kerry!
So I’m back on track, in no small part by networking and being a bit cheeky. This demonstrates the point I made in an earlier blog – if you don’t ask you don’t get. I’ve found that people are genuinely interested in my project and are pleased to be asked to be involved. People are cool.
My advice to other #indieauthors – put yourself out there, ask for help and get stuff done.
I’m hopefully on the home stretch now, exciting times.
Tori x
Tori Day 