Day 309

My fortune card this morning said that I was going to have a ‘change of direction’ – and I think perhaps it could be right. I’ve been thinking recently about both self-publishing and e-publishing, and I’m thinking I may just go down the Kindle/e-book reader route with Slippery Souls rather than having a physical book. I need to get my business head on, after all. It won’t cost me anything to upload the book, and then all the money I make from sales will be pure profit (except, of course, for the cut Amazon takes, but hey, that’s fine). Whereas if I self-publish it’s going to cost hundreds of pounds, which is a heck of a lot of money really, and, on top of that, I’m concerned about getting the right printing company for the job, because I want it to look the absolute best it can (i.e. front cover imagery and colours to be really crisp and good quality). I’m thinking it would be best to put money towards marketing instead.

I was going to use GIMP to design my front cover – however I decided to have a trial 30 days of Adobe Photoshop Elements (which is pretty much how I remember Photoshop when I was at university doing my Graphic Design course over ten years ago)…I’ve picked it up again really quick, so I may end up just forking out for that at the end of the 30 days.

Anyway, I have a sketched thumbnail idea of what I want the cover to look like, and so far I’m really pleased with it (so long as I can create the look properly). It’s very kitsch, colourful and hand-rendered – and I’ll post it up here as soon as it’s finished.

Now onto other writing news, erm let’s see…

A short story of mine, Counting Chickens, was published on Shortbread Stories website this week. It’s a non-paying website but it’s a great place for showcasing your work. My story can be found here: http://www.shortbreadstories.co.uk/story/view/counting_chickens/#axzz1X61g3kvu

I have a new entry on my travel blog called Jumping Off at the Steep End in Niederau – which was an account of paragliding in Austria. That can be found in the usual place: http://rachaelhdixonstravels.blogspot.com/

My sister-in-law is still working her way through the Slippery Souls manuscript – so no news on that front yet. I’m going to crack on with the front cover in the meantime, and I’ve also started making notes for the sequel. I’ll probably start writing the first draft of the sequel this week.

And apart from entering a few more competitions I think that’s about all the latest, so I will go and get on with things – I’m a very busy girl at the moment!