Almost a book!

Last week I had style proofs sent through to me. The first twenty pages of my novel, typeset. Such an exciting moment. And how different typeset words look from Word doc words.

 My Word version...

... and the typeset version...

Seeing your work typeset is an amazing moment. It means you are another step closer to your novel being turned into a book. Also, it is amazing how different the words look when laid out as they will appear on the pages. All sorts of issues become apparent that just aren't visible in Word. Proof reading is going to be an adventure...!

Slowly getting closer to February and my nerves are jangling already... well, they have been pretty much continuously since I decided to self publish. It's hard to know how to overcome the sinking feeling. I'm trying to remain positive and I'm looking forward to all the exciting things to come.

I've had a few ideas for marketing and publicity... I invested in some stationery this week...

Letters feature strongly in the novel so I've decided they can figure in the marketing too. Hopefully it will be something a little bit different... I have to do this my way and I know this book isn't going to be The Girl on the Train, but I'm going to throw myself into marketing with every inch of enthusiasm and attention to detail I can muster. It certainly helps with the nerves when I concentrate my energies on the things that will happen, rather than the things that might happen!

More soon...