SCBWI Conference

Just returned from SCBWI conference and am full of ideas from the inspirational speakers I heard. I really do need to get on with editing Marvin, but school work getting in the way as usual! Found the critique meeting useful and will be putting some of the ideas into practice, but certainly not all of them. Made new friends, Kathy and Mel, and met up with lots of Facebook friends too. A great weekend in all.

Cornerstones report

So here I am, report in hand, looking through all the things that may need changing. It's amazing how when you write a book you just don't see the blatantly obvious - well, I don't.
One thing that came up was using too many other words for 'said' as it disturbs the flow of the reading. I can see that, but in school we are always on at children not to just use 'said' which puts me in a dilemma. We have lessons on, 'how many words can you find to replace 'said'', words to make your writing more 'interesting'.
Hmmm!

Marvin

After a long hard think, Marvin will be renamed as 'The Curse'. It sounds quite dramatic and relates well to the plot of the story. I keep thinking about covers to and have been playing with colours, shapes etc. I am hoping that it will be published mainstream, but I suppose there is always a chance that I will need to self-publish again.

Final stab

I have decided to send 'Marvin' off to Cornerstone's to see if they can give me some pointers seeing as no publishers have been interested.
I'm also thinking that if this doesn't work it may be time to throw in the towel. I'll still write, but for me. Sometimes you just have to be realistic!

Marvin

Marvin, the seventeen year old in my current book, is still moving along at a pace - snail's pace to be honest. Finding time to write has always been difficult and seems all the more so now. I have to just keep plugging away and hope I will eventually come to a natural end - that's the book, not me!

A surprise review from an Authonomy member

'It's easy to see that this is from the pen of an accomplished writer. It may be a simple child's story, but the imaginativeness and inventiveness place it far higher than that. Creating languages that can be read by humans but are easily seen to be foreign is just genius. Using language in such a creative way is exactly what sparks the minds of adults and children alike.'


If only a publisher could look at it like that ...

Red House Children's Book Award

The new book 'Hero Required' has been nominated for the Red House Children's Book Award!!

It is the only award voted for by children which makes it very special.

If you have read the book and would like to vote for it, here's the link;

http://www.redhousechildrensbookaward.co.uk/nominate-books-for-2010-award.html

Did you know that the inspiration for the background of the all book covers is Prague? Not sure what tooth fairies are called in the Czech Republic ...

Having a good week so far.
Wholesalers have just sent through an order for 102 books!

Also sold lots of books at a school talk today!

Had a good week so far as books go. Sold 62 which is brilliant!

Tomorrow I'm at Watertone's Alton, Hants. I'm hoping there are lots of people about who would quite like a novel about teenage tooth fairies! Let's hope they are all open minded!

I'm loving having the set of books to offer people. The three books look stunning together - thanks to Tara, of course!

If anyone's is around north London on Saturday, pop in and see me in Waterstone's Finchley Road branch. I shall be signing copies of my books from 11-3pm.

Talking of signings, I've had a lot of interest just lately. Lots of signings up to Christmas at W H Smith branches as well as Waterstone's which is great. I just need to make sure I sell lots of books because, as we know, they won't move if I'm not there!!

Wish me luck!

RANT

I need to rant!

After trailing round Waterstone's branches for three years, they still won't stock my books centrally because my books won't sell if I'm not there. I don't have the budget to compete with the likes of mainstream publishers. All I have is my family to help market my work. How on earth can I reach the nation like other publishers do?

They keep books in their stores that have probably stay on the shelves for years yet won't give mine a chance even though I have probably outsold many of their 'mainstream' authors if the figures were tallied.

Instead, I must continue to peddle my books through weekly bookstore signings and school talks.
I love writing, but sometimes ...

Books have arrived!!

Seven boxes of Hero Required were delivered today! Brilliant! These are for my talks and book fairs. rest will be delivered to wholesalers as needed so that the world can read the final part of the trilogy ... unless there's a comeback novel. Well, Take That did alright ...

Still no book!

Well, sadly, I am still waiting for the third book to be delivered. the printers have promised that it will be in the next few days. Just hope the distributors don't start getting ratty with me!

On the good side I have lined up five book signings for the autumn with Waterstone's and W H Smith's - hopefully the books will be here by then!

Draft Book Arrived!

The draft book of Hero Required has arrived at last! I'm now in the process of checking that all the errors I found previously have been corrected by Clare at YPS.

I still find it amazing to hold the finished book in my hand for the first time. It's thicker than the last books so a little more expensive to produce and sell. The cover is stunning and it fits in easily with the other two books.

Now just waiting for the first batch to arrive and mass selling begins!!

Still waiting for draft book to come through and getting a little nervous about meeting publication date!

Time to tackle Marvin now while waiting. Now where were we ...

Have just seen that I am number five on the Authonomy children's book chart. May not mean much to some, but means hell of a lot to me.

Authonomy is a great site on which to get your writing critiqued by fellow writers plus there is a chance of it being picked up by Harper Collins who run the site!

http://www.authonomy.com/Profile.aspx

Have finished proof reading, thank goodness. How come that even though three people have read through the work, there are still loads and loads of typos!!! Arrgghh!

Still, it's ready to go back to the printers tomorrow. Let's see what happens next!

First Order for Hero Required

Today the very first order came in for 'Hero Required'! So exciting to know that people want to read my book ... and unless they read my blog or look on other sites, they'll be completely unaware that said book is sitting next to me still being proof read!

First Proofs Have Arrived!!!

A nice fat padded envelope arrived today - first proofs of Hero Required. Just 309 pages to wade through! Interestingly, I have to correct any errors with a RED pen which is quite ironic as in school we're not supposed to use red pens. It's apparently a throw back from the old school days when everything was crossed through and marked in red, leaving the poor pupil quite traumatised! So what about me then - what if I become traumatised whilst correcting it?? Heigh-ho!