Hello,
I thought I'd write a wee blog about the adventure of publication. Since November when I signed with Hodder and Stoughton, things have been moving and grooving behind the scenes and so here's what's been happening.
My first novel, This Thirtysomething Life, was sent off to one of Hodder's lovely proofreaders a few weeks ago and I got the copy edit back last week. Basically it's the proofreaders job to find every mistake in the book and blimey, did she find a few. I would feel bad about it but it's impossible to write 80,000 words or so and not make mistakes. Most mistakes were just silly ones and a few I wasn't even aware of, but it was a humbling but rewarding experience.
I made the required changes and that is now back with Hodder. Hopefully everything is now perfect with that and it's ready for publication - we'll see. Hodder is also working on a new cover for Thirtysomething which I'm due to see any day now. Thanks to my lovely editor, they're keeping the cover I designed but just making a few tweaks to make it even better. Hopefully once that is approved, I'll be able to share it on here!
Hodder is going to re-release the eBook of Thirtysomething in January, so if for some crazy reason you haven't already bought it you can! It will then be released as a paperback in all good bookshops across the UK on APRIL 25TH! Yes that is the official publication date. Unfortunately, I won't be in England for it so I expect dear friends that if you see it in a shop you take a photo and send it to me!
Next up I'm working on the re-write for Happy Endings. My editor has spent the last few weeks editing it completely and we had a lengthy chat on the phone about it yesterday. Let me tell you, as good as I think Happy Endings is (and I think it's pretty bloody good), my editor found absolutely tonnes of ways to improve it. It was eye-opening and again humbling, but one of the best experiences I've had as a writer because it was insightful and I know it's going to make the book a hundred times better. This is the advantage of having a huge publishers like Hodder behind me. They want the books to be as amazing as they can and want to put in the effort to make it work.
I'm expecting the edited version back today or tomorrow and so I'll spend the next month or so working like an eager beaver on making Happy Endings even better. Then it will go back to the editor who will no doubt have further changes. This is why it isn't being released until the second half of next year. It's a long process but it will make the book the best book it can possibly be. I am very excited!
That's it for now. Any questions, please let me know. You can keep up to date with what's happening if you follow me on Twitter @JRance75.
Until next time,
Hugs
Jon X
