The Quill: Adventures in Publishing Part Two

September is here and with it much excitement as I unpack the first paperback editions of Midwinter Folk!
The anticipation, the joy, the exhilaration is akin to holding your new born baby for the very first time…wonderful. I have placed my book on the bookshelf, and I can’t stop smiling.

So, back in June, I was checking the final proofs. This requires a close inspection of the typeset manuscript with the finest of metaphorical toothcombs. The tiniest error can be missed, or creep in, at the typesetting stage: a semicolon for a colon, speech marks for single inverted commas, the misspelling of dialect words, to name but a few. After the copy edit I thought there would be a mere handful of changes to make, but it’s surprising what a 460 page M/S can throw at you. In the end I actually found it all rather enjoyable and have picked up a lot of proof reading skills – never a bad thing for a writer.

Eventually I could sign off the Pass for Press and this meant that the manuscript could be sent to the printers and also be converted for ebook publication. We are now ahead of schedule and so the publication date has been rescheduled for 28 September 2019, a month earlier than planned.

I have also, over the summer, been working with the video producer and motion designer Rohan Moran, who is creating a promo video for Midwinter Folk. It’s been a fascinating experience… quite a revelation to see how much creative passion and technical expertise it involves. Inspired by Amanda Clark’s designs, and utilising his imaginative manipulation of graphics, sound and SFX, Rohan has captured the very style and essence of the book. It looks amazing and will be posted here very soon. I would also like to thank the graphic designer Simon Godsell for creating my beautiful author website. Do check out his inspirational website ‘Lovely Things’.

And now… I think I’ll make myself a cup of tea, choose a couple of delicious biscuits, settle down in my armchair and gaze at that new, and rather special, item on my bookshelf… just for five minutes.