Another Title almost ready in paperback!

Hello!

Well, it's not been months & months this time since my last post - only just over a month - so I'm getting a little better don't you think?

Well, I've been working extremely hard, finalising our latest title 'Through The Mist', a fantastic summer read - and hopefully, I will have the actual printed copies in my hand for the 31st of March. I still haven't quite gotten into the hang of trying to stay 4-6 months ahead of the game - I can't break out of the spontaneous mould unfortunately - so I'm frantically ensuring that all the background information is all sorted and ready to enable the sales & marketing etc., of our new book title.

After much deliberation and months of mulling over imprint possibilties, after a session in the think tank (bath with lots of bubbles) last week, I finally decided on a new imprint for our 'Contemporary fiction' titles - Purple Velvet. I also, on the same evening came up with a second imprint for our 'Erotic' titles - Crimson Pearl. Both the names just flow rather nicely I think - so now our books will be stamped with their own identity rather than coming under 'Collective Publishing'. Feels like things may just be coming together after all this time.

I sent out a press release relating to our new imprints - my husband read it today (it appeared along side an article about Ken Livingstone's biography, and Tolkein's hobbit) and asked if I'd written it as it was quite good! Who else would have written it I asked?!

I will take it as a compliment as he doesn't dish out compliments very often - and considering I wrote it at some un-godly hour - I am quietly chuffed!

So, last week was extremely busy, I came up with the imprints, finished off the book cover back page, finalised the layout - doing sanity checks on every page - (just as well, as I'd lost the end of a sentence half way through the book!) - pdf'd book contents & cover in accordance with the printers requirements, (they (namely Dale) have (has) been very patient with my strange questions), and confirmed approval of my lovely proof copy which arrived in the post on Thursday. Approvals all sent through Thursday afternoon - and now I am just waiting...
It is definitely still exciting to take delivery of a new book. This will be my third one now, since taking over the business some three and a half years ago now (bloody hell, is it really that long?!).

As always though, my critical eye has found a few things that I will need to change next time round for book two (it's a trilogy you see... ), only layout-type stuff, but that's just down to me and my personal preference - but hey, I'm still learning.

Whilst checking all my data was in tact in the various databases all publisher rely upon to get their titles out there - I discovered that I hadn't uploaded our last title up to Googleprint/search - so I had to rectify that one rather quickly.

Also, now I'd come up with our new imprints - frantic emails had to be written to check that my ISBN's could be used with new said imprints, and that the likes of Amazon & Google etc, could handle imprints! (Not necessarily the case though I have now found out - but that's one of the challenges for this week!)

I had an interesting email today from to different people offering forms of marketing for independent publishers - I may just take them up on it :-) - everything helps these days - we need to be a bit more visible as the big boys just make us disappear into oblivion.

So, where were we - oh yes, imprints, book finalised & off to printers, uploads & catalogueing data etc., and conjuring up a way of promoting / launching our new book.

Now how on earth am I going to fit in my full time job?!

OK - time for me to go - it's nearly midnight and I have another full on day tomorrow (in my other life as an Executive Secretary which is rather crazy!).
I hope to hear soon when I will be receiving my new books.

Watch this space....

Come back soon...

PaulineThePublisher