I had Bloody done it!

12/12/2011

I had done it, bloody done it. It was in the ether and being put into print, 'YOU BLOODY BEAUTY' Michelle Lovi (Odyssey Press) I love you. Thank you for helping me through the last of it. The cover and the print set up, the E Book set up, thanks.  Bogey licked my hand, part of the celebration. Thanks Bogey.  People wonder and laugh about my relationship with this dog, but kindred spirits they understand you, they are part of you.

All of a sudden thoughts of my brother Gary whose anniversary was around now flooded through me. Sadness… my dad Jim, and step dad Bill, my mother Alice all gone, Harry my step dad gone this year, but in the book. I took time out, watched a sunset, pulled out a weed, sat in my thinking chair, talked to the girls, (my chooks) smoked a pipe. Bogey wanted to play ball, he always wants to play ball, he caught my mood, he slunk under the chair. It had seemed as if I would never get there...

17/07/11

The cold winter continued outside, I huddled in my study thinking of how to do this, another rejection but a nice one. Good read she had said but we are not taking anything until 2013. So many like that, were they being nice or gilding the lily, after all they were writers too! I scratched my head looked at the wind blowing the grevillea outside, it seemed to push against it. Ah the satisfying warmth of Jamison’s  eased the pain from the cold air of winter, and another failed attempt. I wriggled my toes Bogie snuggled up to them. I threw my pen down and left.

18/08/11

Someone tells me that Oddyssey  Books is a good one to help you self-publish. I look up their web site. Send them an email.

Maureen and I are driving to Bendigo to see her mum Mary. Bogey has angled his way into the car despite Maureen’s disapproval.  Maureen and Bogie tolerate each other but only just, love and hate so close. But then Maureen could not hate anyone, Bogie is another matter. Looking at him smugly ensconced in the back seat his big brown eyes looking up at me, reminds me of that old saying.

"Dear God, please help me to be the person my dog thinks I am."

I shake my head, the phone rings. It’s Michelle Lovi from Odyssey Books. How did you find out about us, how can I help…we have a long conversation. I like her approach.

Over the next couple of weeks I think a lot about that conversation and whether I should self- publish. I check out the Web and do some research. There are a lot of Blogs on this subject. Bloody writers they just cannot help themselves. You can find out anything on the Web. I remember when someone brought a Commodore 64 into work (Army days 2nd Military Hospital) took two men to lift it in and it could store 1600 names and addresses or some such wonder. It also played table tennis and Aliens. Bloody amazing. 

(Names have been changed to protect the innocent)

I am just about to email Michelle when I get a request from a publisher for a copy of my manuscript. Lori from Earnest Press had read the first three chapters and wanted to read the whole lot. That’s exciting actually being read is amazing, one in two thousand is accepted I keep thinking. Then the day after another publisher from Sydney emails to look at the manuscript. Payalot Publishing is a bit dubious I think but I send it in anyway. What the hell what have I got to lose.

I enter a few short story comps no luck, keep plugging away though. Keep writing things every day. Sometimes it’s hard. Bogey is no bloody help, he just wants to play and crunch bones.

Winter is giving way to spring, an indecisive spring to match the mood I am in. I’m in Limbo, I want to get going one way or another. Someone told me once (was it Bogie?) “If you want to accomplish something, tell people, then you create an expectation which encourages you to complete it”. Sound advice but the flipside is that these people keep on asking when the book is coming out… Words are bloody cheap except when you are a writer.

Waiting is a terrible game, it’s like Limbo I guess. The nuns used to teach us that all the little babies who died and did not get baptised went to Limbo. Kind of like heaven without God.  Like going to an Elton John concert and having Johnnie Young turn up. Worse than Hell.  Any way we prayed for those little babies a lot. Was any one praying for me? I don’t think so.

14/10/11

Lori from Earnest emails, they have had a conference, they like my book but it is not for them. Small publishers have to be very careful and selective make every post a winner... I bloody tell Bogie I told you so, Bogie leaves for a more comfortable place. Another thing, I hate form letters (emails) that pretend they are not.

15/10/11

Addison from Payalot emails yes she will publish if I do this and that…editing, proof reading, her printers, indigenous check (one of the characters in Kiss of the King Brown is Indigenous, some of the themes are too, as seen through the eyes of a white fella.) I add up the cost. I like working part time, more time to spend with Bogie.

 16/10/2011

My daughter Katy sends me an email. She has started reading my book. Loves it… she finishes of with “just wanted to let you know how great you are.”  Ah what a girl youngest daughters are, not always unbiased but hey, in this business praise is a scarce and precious commodity. Thanks Kate I push on.

17/10/11

Might as well be positive. Limbo might be a nice place to be but it sure is frustrating.  Time for another Joke. Bloody Bogie stay, listen, listen…

“A little boy was listening to a long and excessively boring sermon in church. Suddenly the red sanctuary lamp caught his eye. Tugging his father's sleeve, he said, "Daddy, when the light turns green can we go?"

When Peter and I were kids Mum would herd us off to mass. She never came. Peter and I would sit right down the back, on the kneeling rail of the last pew.talking and playing knuckles. Over our heads  loomed an enormous crucified Jesus. I often think of that fella hanging there, maybe I was scarred…

17/10/11

I email Michelle at Odyssey, yes I will Self Publish with them. Over the next few days we negotiate on terms and expectations.  I send her the script.

18/10/11

I apply for an ISBN. I have my own number now, my work has a number, if you pay you can get a number for anything. It’s cheaper to buy ten at a time, I buy ten. Optimistic, I told you this was a trilogy. Is everything privatised these days even ISBN numbers are run by a private company- Bowker. They are very nice but so is everyone who has a monopoly. Well maybe not the supermarkets.

Trim, font, paper weight, paper colour, cover design, colour, dedication page review and post, suggestion and counter suggestion. How come Michelle has so much patience? I love the cover.

28/10/11

I set up a webpage ( kissofthekingbrown.com.au ) it’s like learning to ride a bike, lots of falls, exertion and effort for little gain, until that moment of sheer joy when you can. Bit like love really but that is another story…I look at Bogie ‘bad luck for you boy,’ he looks at me sadly, ironically. Did he wink at me!

29/10/11

I order business cards “kiss of the king brown” it’s good fun doing this stuff.

Self Publishing is like a Pandora ’s Box once opened it never ceases to open. Offers, promotions, advice and  deals pour in from these fellows like money at a Greek wedding. I push on stoically, impatiently patient.

Now I start looking at printers and E Book providers. Michelle makes some recommendations. I do a lot of research. I hum and ha, choice is a double edged sword. I tell Bogie there are more E Books being sold now then print books. What in the bloody hell is an Aggregator?  Is it related to the Terminator, or the Manipulator? No!

                                Aggregator-“a person that collects things”

In our context it means companies that collect a book and distribute it to other companies. Eg Lulu, Smashwords etc to Amazon or Kindle etc. It’s amazing this industry, even Bogie is impressed.

15/11/11

I struggle to read the proofs Michelle send me, Trim, perfect Binding Page colour, dedication page, did you know cream coloured paper is thicker then white; cream is 0.0025mm...how long have I been doing this? Seven years plus, you were just a boy Bogie. A life time for some.  I pat him, he nuzzles in close. I close the office door and head out into the sunshine.

“What you get by achieving your goal is not as important as what you become by achieving your goal.”

12/12/11

I had done it…