It’s safe to say that to new writers and authors, once you leave the seclusion of your writing desk, the world of PUBLISHING is a little daunting? There is so much jargon, so many processes, ways to do things, ways not to do things, that it can all be a bit much! When I first joined the industry, I was a little flummoxed too. I loved books more than anything, but I didn’t understand a think about how a book was actually made.
Now as an editor, one of the favourite parts of my job is guiding authors on their writing and publishing journeys, offering a helping hand where I can as they navitage this exciting but also steep learning curve.
With this in mind, I was delighted to be invited on the blog tour for Val Penny’s upcoming book: LET’S GET PUBLISHED. It is a small and handy guide as to what happens once you’ve finished that first draft and want to share your mansucript with the world.
As a seasoned author herself Val is an expert on the ins and outs of publishing a book as she has done it numerous times with her Edinburgh Crime series. And in LET’s GET PUBLISHED she divides the various stages of the publication process into easily digested portions. There are chapters on self-editing – and incredibly important process that I can’t shout about highly enough! – working with an editor (Oh, hi!) as well as how to put together your submissions package in the hopes of scoring that coveted agency representation, or how to decide whether self-publishing is the way for you. But that is one aspect that I loved about the book: in her eyes, self-publishing and traditionally publishing are not more prestigious or successful than the other, but rather they suit different authors. One allows you have to more control over the process and retain more of your royalties whilst the other gives you a leg up with the pulling power of the publishers, but comes at the cost of the sizeable chunk of your royalties.
Val’s no-nonsense guide is the perfect companion to any budding author nearing the end of their manuscript – I’ll be recommending it to my clients, for sure!
The details:
Let’s Get Published by Val Penny is available now in both kindle and paperback from https://amzn.to/2A37iyS
Follow the author on Instagram or Twitter: @valeriepenny @lovebooksgroup
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Rebecca Millar Editorial 