I’ve spent a significant amount of time over the past week getting the three manuscripts of the Biome NE47 series ready for both eBook and paperback presentation . . . but I’m getting slightly ahead of myself, out of sequence a bit.
I had the ms of Daughters of Eden finished and printed out before we embarked on a downsizing adventure to occupy a teeny-tiny bungalow in New Galloway, up in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. That was a fortnight ago. Seems like I’ve been treading water since, but in fact there’s been a steady progression.
- My devoted beta reader finished the 272 page ms after about 5 days, and pronounced it very readable, with a compelling narrative (plot, I assume) and intriguing characterisation. She also loved reading about the science. So I resolved, heart palpitating, to move on to the next phase.
- The next phase is my mission to garner sufficient readers via HiddenGemsBooks.com, meeting the pre-booked slot in plenty of time. I uploaded .mobi, .epub, and .pdf formats as well as the eBook cover, and after distribution of my effort sometime after the 23rd of this month (April) I shall hope for a good take-up of readers. Initial auguries suggest that I may be lucky to acquire an additional 15 readers, and from them, who knows how many reviews? But I can hope.
- Having sorted the ARC (Advance Review Copies) out, my next step was to consolidate the whole series into a cohesive set of covers and re-launch on the Amazon/Kindle platform. That’s where the real work has been this past week.
- With some significant perseverance, I’ve managed to create new covers for both eBooks and paperbacks, and to consolidate things for all three books in .epub and .pdf formats for service in the marketplace. The process of review for the paperbacks is now underway, and soon they will all be live, I hope.
- At that point, I will ‘manage the series’ and consolidate the first two titles, now re-issued with better covers, into it. I expect this will all be accomplished over the next couple of days.
- When especially the paperbacks are ‘live’ I shall order author’s copies of each so that I can hold them in my hand as a little library, a trilogy that’s really tangible. No doubt there will be rather a few editing things to think about when the books actually land in our postbox. That’s been my experience heretofore with the first two volumes, anyway.
- Then, with as much editing as I can accomplish by the ARC distribution date, I must sit back and wait for reviews. Without reviews, as I’ve probably mentioned here before, I can’t do any significant promotion/marketing/advertising. But with some good reviews, as I hope to accrue, I can begin again on the sales odyssey. Of course, the good reviews may not be forthcoming. But for my peace of mind, I have to trust my beta reader. I can say, I believe I’ve given this series my very best shot, and it’s been a 2.5 year process to get to this point. [I took along a 15k beginning ms to an Arvon Writers Retreat in Yorkshire during August 2019, and the novels have emerged from that initial encouragement.]
- Meanwhile, Writers Group commences again after Easter, and I’m really looking forward to getting back to weekly tasks again, after the forced hiatus when the mini-move and the finishing of DoE left no emotional or intellectual room for anything else.
- Of course, I’m also hoping to investigate a local Writers Group in New Galloway, our new home-away-from-home. That could well be a stimulating exercise too.
So I think this little quiet writer’s blog is up-to-date again, and this is the current status. A bit of quiet, impatient waiting now, I guess.
Biome NE47 