The Friday round up

As is typical of a self publisher, I’ve been trying to fit in a bit of everything this week. I’ve taken a step back from opening a shop, because the cheap or free options turned out to be very much on the terms of the operators, and in some cases not even with a proper domain name without upgrading to higher priced options. So I’ve got my links to Waterstones set up. It remains to be seen if this option results in any sales, but as my books each have an ISBN it is a valid route to expect to sell my books, it’s just a matter of getting them noticed, which is the hardest part.

So this week I’ve been working on my website, sharing thoughts and ideas on my blog, and adding content about my books, and footfall has improved during this week. Any attempts to get more visitors through social media seem to have resulted in scam emails offering some very expensive publishing options. I can only assume that these have been generated by bots or some such technology to home in on anyone using words relating to writing or publishing.

I’ve also got back to the work in progress, which is a picture book. It’s already been out into the world on a round of submissions to literary agents, where it gathered some good comments, but no offer of representation. So, I’ve got the art folder out and worked a bit more on illustrations with a view to self publishing again. I had an idea in my head of ‘coming in from the cold’ where I do everything myself, and having someone on my side, someone who could get my books noticed by a mainstream publisher… (Yes I’ve checked out agents websites and read what they offer, and it all sounded lovely).

 But finding the right agent on the right day with the right story is a tricky thing to pull off, and I suspect there’s quite an element of luck involved too, not to mention an abundance of patience, in an industry where nothing happens quickly.