Well it's been a busy few months, as always. But let me start by saying a big thank you to all those who supported the charity that I was promoting on my last post. Very sadly, Stephen died shortly after, but not before he had inspired a nation and raised a huge amount of money. I think everyone was hoping for some fairy tale ending, the likes of which we would want to write, where he made a miraculous recovery and lived to a ripe old age. Its the kind of thing that stops you in your tracks though. He is a real hero.
And the publishing news? Well a few weeks ago I made the decision to self publish. I know that people will have their opinions about this, that some may say it's the right way to go for an unknown author, others might criticise for the impatience. But I have my reasons. I am quite excited about the whole process and things are moving along quite nicely. So I am starting to put the word out in preparation for a full on marketing campaign.
Which brings me to the question of how best to market my novel. There will have to be a number of changes and adaptations to start with. I will be making a blog site and possibly web page in my author name, rather than the name of the book. So please look out for K. Elaine Taff in the next few weeks (I still have to work all this out as web and blog set up and design are not my strongest skills!)
The picture that currently illustrates Sadie's House;The Key, will be disappearing. This was just done in the first place for fun and so that there was an image to go with the book. But there was nothing ever professional about the drawing, and I am in the process of working with a design team to come up with a suitable front cover. Then I will be pursuing every possible avenue for getting the word out there! Anyone have any suggestions? I would be grateful for any advice!
One of my concerns is that the book will be available as print on demand which makes it, I feel a bit expensive. It will also be available on Kindle, for, of course, considerably less. However, even before I knew this, I had asked the publisher about donating all royalties for the time being, to 2 charities that I support, #Macmillan Cancer Nurses, and #Help the Heroes. I know that this can also be seen as a bit self serving, but isn't any charity contribution the same in some ways? That won't stop me. I would be over the moon if this serves to raise money for good causes, as well as promote my book.
All in all these are exciting times. The summer holidays start next week and I will be using much of the time to crack on with the second of the trilogy, which I have to say, is still not finished. This isn't because I stopped writing, but is because in between writing the trilogy I have also written a children's sports book and an inspiration book for teenagers (not chasing publishers for these just yet). This is just how I roll.....
So that about brings me up to date. I will be blogging much more regularly for the time being as I share my journey and market the novel. I hope you will continue to share the adventure.
Have a great week!
