My book 'A Place to Play' (which had from the outset the working title of 'My World Famous Novel') is off to a promising start as it has a publishing contract. This is obviously the first paving slab in the road to success. There are now going to be lots more slabs laid en route to publication which will involve back and forth communication between the publisher in England and me, the author, in Canada.
It was a satisfying feeling last week when I received the first proof read from England and saw that someone had taken the time, indeed was being paid to find edits needed for consistency in spelling and punctuation. Seeing red corrections (yes, red) gave me a warm glow which brightened when I saw that there were not too many of them needing to be corrected. My manuscript is now flying back to Cambridge for the second round of proof reading.
I have also been asked for cover ideas, press release content, a list of places to publicise my book and an author's photograph. All in all, it is a learning experience to find out what is needed to publish a novel. Perhaps a larger publisher generates some of this information themselves but working with a smaller publisher like Vanguard Press (an imprint of Pegasus) allows me to be more involved and a decision maker. This is good educational practice and I am at the receiving end for a change!
One aspect of this trans-Atlantic jet setting on the part of my novel that I am not so enamoured with is the difference between the cost of sending the same parcel from the UK via Royal Mail and returning it via Canada Post. Now, most of you reading this will be assuming that the cost from the UK is greater as we are led to believe that post-recession UK is still experiencing an inflated cost of living at present. However if you work it out, I wouldn't be grumbling about UK post as that is not what I pay for. From the UK the parcel cost the equivalent of $10 (6.50GBP) but upon return from Canada the same parcel (no additions) cost a whopping great $65 (45GBP). Hmm...perhaps I need to publish 'WFN2' which also has an English theme from within the shores of England or skip a novel and look for a Canadian publisher who wants to publish a novel with a Canadian theme. Fortunately there is more to Canada than bears and Mounties so I think I could find plot inspiration from somewhere in this vast country.
