Somewhat down

The post arrived early today, and as expected there was no news. However I also received a note from one of the locations requesting ARCs who are very keen to move ahead with an ARC and a review. Last night I got a message from the Growler (http://www.thegrowler.org.uk) who were interested in a copy and review for their September issue.

This kind of interest, and I am still working on getting a publisher. It is somewhat depressing.

At the moment, unfortunately, everything is still up in the air. I will let you know as and when I receive news.

The current situation

Because things have moved very fast, I was looking back through the blog and realised this is the one place where I haven't covered what happened. To clarify the timeline of events, here is a quick summary:

I got a book deal from Bewrite at end of April/start of May
Firestorm went through the editing process to final galley in May and June.
I started marketing in June, getting requests for ARCs and galleys.
June 22nd the book was released by Bewrite, with the suggestion I should find a full print publisher, not P.O.D.
June 23rd Discussions occurred with a mainstream publishing house, resulting in a request for the full manuscript.
June 24th The manuscript was sent out, with a suggested response in four weeks.

Rather than put all my eggs in one basket, I also looked into self-publishing but found it easier to take advantage of an imprint that publishes some of my existing work in a different field. As this involves begging a favour from a friend to publish something well outside their field, it really is a last resort. It does mean that, one way or another, Firestorm will see print.

The reason for the summary is that most of this was listed on the forum, and due to an interesting technical glitch on nabble, we will be switching that to a new system, possibly proboards.

Marketing and publicity

It seems early, since the book is still being edited, but promotion work is already underway. Once the book is released, promotion and publicity has a hard deadline as a new release becomes yesterday's news very quickly. Although the publisher does the marketing and promotion, any additional work the author can provide can only help; after all if no one knows about your book, how can they know if they want to buy it?

My efforts are already taking effect. This blog is one of the more obvious, as is the online presence I am building. Book trailers and videos are under discussion, and the first mention of a cover was made recently which caused my ears to prick up.

I know how the book reads, but I can't wait to see how it looks.