Reviewing the reviews

Hello everybody, having received a request to meet and have coffee with one of my readers who I have never met before, I was intrigued to meet her today face to face and to discover her thoughts on my debut novel. I was introduced to her by a friend who had recommended  my book Exactly 23 days to her. Upon arrival her greeting to me was, "I am so pleased to meet you, I am your number one fan, I just have three words, "'Amazing, I loved it!' Oh that's four words!."

Well she certainly appears to be my number one fan! She was so full of praise for my work. She continued to tell me that she could not put the book down, that she read it at every available spare moment she had, taking it to work with her to enjoy it in her breaks and often falling asleep at night reading it too, such was her determination to get to the end. She said that it was the fastest that she had ever read a book, stating also that she has hundreds of books and that it was the best book she had ever read! AND that she cannot wait for book two! She said that I had inspired her with my attitude and determination to survive, when I could so easily have sunk to the depths of despair and that she cried and laughed throughout the story and that she too, loved the 'creative' name given to the villain in the book! She finally said that she loved the fact it gave other women, in a similar situation hope that they too can survive betrayal! 

All that praise from one woman!. I am so thrilled that one of my readers took the time to request a coffee meeting with me and give me such wonderful face to face feedback. 

How does it make me feel? Well, incredible, excited, grateful, humbled and inspired to carry on for sure! It also made me want to reflect on ALL the praise that I have had for Exactly 23 days over the past few weeks for two reasons: 1) to allow myself to actually relish in the pleasure that my work is bringing to peoples lives and 2) to acknowledge that each one of those many many positive reviews (there has not been a single negative review to date) is equally as valid as the comments from 'my number one fan' in inspiring me to continue and adding to those feelings of excitement, gratitude and humility! Thank you all, everyone of you. 

Here are some more of those reviews:

Two words: Love it! (female 40's)

I can really see this as a movie! (male 50's)

I have not read a book since I was 16 and it was compulsory to do so at school, I couldn't put it down. I couldn't wait to get to the end which had some amazing twists! (male 40's)

Wow, this book is amazing, it is very relatable and had me tearing up at points. (female 20's)

Wow Jayne what a story!!! unbelievable. Couldn't put it down at one point...the book made me laugh and made me cry all the way through, well done you. Now get on with the next one haha. (Edited version in order to prevent plot spoiler alerts! Female 60's)

I'm so fed up 😟 have finished your amazing book, Exactly 23 days. I didn't want it to end, I can relate to so much in your book, have laughed & cried at Fi's journey and felt her heartache. Well done!!!! (female 50's)

I'm really enjoying your wonderfully written and funny book Jayne!! Clever lady! (female 40's)

And so on and so on. I am truly overwhelmed that my passion for writing is having such a response and to have the women who have read it, now buying bulk orders off me for their girlfriends Christmas presents is just wonderful. People could simply humour me with their praise but they are not, they are 'heaping' praise upon me and my work and that is THE most perfect of all reviews as a writer, to have your readers giving honest and heartfelt feedback and praise. To have multiple people tell me that they have cried and laughed at my book is truly phenomenal and I am so proud that my book had the capacity to evoke real tears in people, but to know that it is also making them laugh out loud too is incredible. Thank YOU. Oh, and that means YOU too! Thank you. 

Word of the day: Emotional: I have smashed it! I have managed to create a piece of work that has evoked emotions of sadness and gladness within my readers. And to my editor who said he could really see it as a movie on several occasions, that sentiment was also re-iterated today by my number one fan!

If this blog post has sparked an interest in my book then you can purchase it from: https://completelynovel.com/books/exactly-23-days
in paperback or from iBooks for all apple gadgets or from Amazon.co.uk 

Jayne Higgins on Realising Her Purpose in Life.

Jayne Higgins on Realising Her Purpose in Life.

Book Giveaway Exactly 23 Days by Jayne Higgins

Book Giveaway Exactly 23 Days by Jayne Higgins

Jayne Higgins: Advent Giveaway

Jayne Higgins: Advent Giveaway: Hello everybody, It's the countdown to Christmas for some of you and so I thought I would have a sharing giveaway event on the first adv...

Advent Giveaway

Hello everybody, It's the countdown to Christmas for some of you and so I thought I would have a sharing giveaway event on the first advent calendar day. I am giving away copies of my book 'Exactly 23 days', for exactly 24 hours today on apple gadgets. Just search for Exactly 23 days by Jayne Higgins on iBooks and help yourself to a free copy at check out. Happy reading as you absorb the emotions on the roller coaster ride with the main character Fi.

Word of the day: Sharing. I am sharing with you all by giving away my words in an effort to kick start the 'giving' ethos of Christmas AND I am being perfectly honest in admitting that I hope in return that this may lead to my words being shared by you!

  

Traffic building on Marketing Highway

I've had a good week. Everything is heading in the right direction with the cyber and marketing journeys. My google+ account stands at 4,600 views, my blog at 1,068 and my Instagram and Twitter accounts growing daily! I've had my first royalties notification and given that it was in $ then that is purely Amazon sales and not my own or other sales on Completelynovel.com and I saw today that there are now 7 book retailers on Amazon selling my book.

https://completelynovel.com/books/exactly-23-days 

I continue to get ONLY positive feedback which is so encouraging and this weeks has included: 'I have never read a book so fast, couldn't put it down' to 'I haven't done any bleeding housework this week because of your book, I can't stop reading it' to 'A...MA...ZING'. I have also had a book reviewer message me to say that based upon the blurb on the back of the book they would not be able to review it as it would switch too many PTSD triggers for them in terms of relationship issues and I guess that that fits in with the very first review I had, several months ago which said the first chapter made her tear up as it was very relatable! I like that my words evoke emotions be they tears or laughter and to be repeatedly told that my book is making people both laugh and cry as they read it fills me with pride, pleasure and the continued desire to write! 

The marketing journey continues though and I have continued to email, Tweet and Instagram details of my book to media people, concentrating on women's media based in the UK this week. There are so many magazines out there both paper and digital. It is so easy to get distracted reading, and so 
my focus for the remainder of this week is to develop a firm strategic plan for the marketing in order to avoid the distractions of reading, even if that is 'strategically planning the plan'. I look forward to the research but need to put the breaks on the distractions. I've got a destination to reach!

Word of the day: Strategic. Planned, calculated, deliberate, tactical, prudent, clever, shrewd, well though out. I'm onto it. Promise.

A ripple in the pond before a wave in the ocean.

A ripple in the pond before a wave in the ocean. 
In other words you have to learn to walk before you can run! I have taken my first tentative steps at writing, publishing and now the marketing. The launch event for me was always going to be my first major step in the world of marketing and I smashed it, even if I do say so myself. The venue was stunning, creating a wow factor for my guests which was a must on my list. The venue was in a bar called On the 7th in MediaCityUK. The bar is the whole seventh floor of one of the media complex's that houses production companies, TV companies such as the BBC and ITV here in the North West area of the UK and it is part of the Eclectic group of hotels. It was a fantastic choice of venue and I chose an afternoon tea for the food aspect of the event. There was fine crockery, polished silver, white cotton and English roses decorating the enormous table in the centre of the annex room of the main lounge area. My guests were greeted firstly by me and then served with tea or coffee and home made biscuits. When I had done my final head count and knew all guests were present I was announced by the manager in readiness for my speech. I acknowledged three people who were not present who should have been, my mother (who died when I was a child), my son (who was away at uni) and my best friend Julie (who was too unwell to attend) and then I delivered my speech which I had written and edited 4 times in order to perfect it. I presented it with confidence to 60 people and witnessed tears and laughter as well as the round of applause at the end! I certainly didn't expect to move people to tears. I then announced a raffle to raise funds for one of my favourite charities (Gift of a Wedding) which gifts weddings to terminally ill people and the prizes were a frame containing artwork, signed research notes and part of an original email appertaining to the book. The first prize, I kept a secret, which added to the mystery as all my guests were told was that it was relevant to the book! The first prize ticket was drawn and it was announced that the winner would be going for coffee with the 'coffee o'clock' girls, who are characters in the book based upon three of my friends! and that we will be going to one of the venues mentioned in the book! I thought that was a great idea and it was certainly well received by the winner! The food was served on slate platters and ornate cake stands and the candles glistened as dusk fell and darkness finally changed the outside view to reflect electric lights of various forms, catching the ripples of the canal down below. The variety of cakes, intertwined with strawberries and kumquats made a pretty site and a created many a salivating mouth! I mingled with each guest individually and thanked them all as I handed them their gifts bags containing signed copies of my book, bookmarks with a feather image (representing my mother) and luxury chocolate and mini pastries to enjoy as they read their books. I presented certain people who had helped me on my journey with bouquets, individual bookmarks and a special bottle of Whiskey for Mr Ed my editor. The lounge area bustled with conversation, the photo booth created laughter and glasses chinked and bottles popped as bubbles were enjoyed. I had a cake designed by Little Moo cakes and she created a library shelf with my book atop of the creation and a white feather hidden amongst the fondant! There was also a plaque on the cake which said, 'If you cannot see the book you want on the shelf, write it' which of course I did. It was a fabulous fabulous day and I am humbled that so many people chose to pay to attend my event but to have people saying that they could not wait to read the book based upon my speech and people telling me that I had inspired them to write and to arrive home so many text messages and over 50 Facebook messages was overwhelming to say the least. My windowsill flows with congratulatory cards and flowers and I have received wines, champagnes and feather pens too! It has been an adrenaline filled twelve months and I am really looking forward to the marketing phase which although in it's very early stages, I am loving, despite my mistakes! It's all a part of the walking to throw a pebble in the pond before I can run into the ocean and show the waves what I am made of. Thank to everyone along the way and that undoubtedly includes my readers. Thank you for sharing my various forms of social media and please could you do me a favour. Chuck a pebble in the pond for me would you and share this link with another potential reader! https://completelynovel.com/books/exactly-23-days Thank you.  

Word of the day: Success. The accomplishment of an aim or purpose. Without a doubt!

The checks before the cheques!

Well the launch date is almost upon us. 

Fabulous venue.... check
Catering requirements....check
Cake....check
Flowers....check
New frock....check
Shoes etc etc etc etc all checked. Final arrangements to be made tomorrow with the venue, speech written, re-written and yes re-written. I am a stickler after all. Gift bags containing signed copies and other goodies all done too. 

I feel nervous, excited, humbled a whole gamut of emotions to be perfectly honest. 58 people have paid to attend my launch event and I feel the pressure to ensure that it all runs smoothly but I have decided that as always I will just be me. I don't want to impress, I just want to deliver. 

Good food, stunning venue, a well prepared speech, spending individual time with my guests and hopefully a well deserved drink afterwards. That sounds like a perfect plan. It has been a long time coming. The date has changed 4 times due to publishing hiccups and at long last it is imminent. 

After Sunday is over and I can check my launch event off on my to do list I will then focus on researching and completing marketing tasks for the next four months at least, until the book has begun to increase it's ripple effect. If only it were as simple as the checks before the cheques but alas NO. It's not that easy, I don't have an agent or a publishing house behind me but in actual fact I am glad that I don't, because I want to do all the marketing tasks myself to fully understand what is involved in spreading the word about my words. Rather like a factory owner being aware of the menial tasks of his teams efforts, I want to know exactly what is involved every step of the way. I am an apprentice as a writer, publisher and as a promotor and that's fine by me. I'll keep on checking whilst I await the cheques. I intend to post images next week, as I promised at the start of this blog journey to keep you all informed of all stages of the publishing process and a launch event is crucial to the start of the promo journey. 

I also want to share with you today some initial feedback from new readers. These readers are outside of my review team circle and so their reviews are very touching:

1) 'oh my god, I can't put the book down' AMAZING!!, Female 74.

2) Just finished reading your book, wow Jayne what a story!!! couldn't put it down at one point...the book made me laugh and made me cry all the way through, well done you. Now get on with the next one.(Female 60's). However it would appear that the men are enjoying it too, describing it as very well written and phrases like, "I couldn't put it down!" More reviews are available to read by clicking on the link below.

You can get a copy from:

https://completelynovel.com/books/exactly-23-days 

and also from iBOOKS for iPad, iPod and iPhone.

Word of the day: Celebrate. To publicly acknowledge (a significant or happy day or event) with a social gathering or enjoyable activity. Well I fully intend to on Sunday!

Back on track, paperback, no looking back!

Well I got there at last. 

The paperback is now available from:

https://completelynovel.com/books/exactly-23-days

Getting to this point has been painfully frustrating and I have had nothing to do with the frustrating aspect of the process. I have not touched this book electronically since June 2015 and I had to liaise with my publishers, relentlessly checking every page of the book dozens and dozens of times to get to a point where I was satisfied that I could go ahead and print the book. The issues arising were apparently to do with the software of Apple and Windows not communicating very well and it brought tears to my eyes on numerous occasions, such was my frustration with it all. The lesson I learnt from that, is, for any future work that I consider for publication, I will definitely purchase software that is suitable for both Mac and Windows computers. That in itself will be a piece of research. 

I have given one of my aforementioned talks and I have been asked to speak at business women's lunch. 

Today marks Exactly 365 days since my world was turned upside down by betrayal and it has been a day of mixed emotions. 

The euphoria of  speaking to a book club and people showing an interest in my work, my launch event and being invited to speak at further events, coupled with the admiration of several people telling ME, that I am an inspiration to others, which I find astonishing!! 

I have also had friends letting me know that I have done well, my daughter telling me she is proud of where I have come in the last year and I myself have sat awhile today and contemplated the roller coaster ride that this has been. 

If somebody had told me Exactly 365 days ago that I would publish a book entitled Exactly 23 days to inspire others to recover from betrayal and lies, then I would have attempted to laugh at them in my tear driven emotional state of 365 days ago. 

I did do it though, and now I can laugh in the face of betrayal and walk on in the midst of triumph over adversity and get out there via cyberspace and sell my fiction/faction rom com to the world. I didn't let my illness stop me in my quest either, I used voice activated technology to type as I spoke and I used in built tools within my computer programs as well as my editing team to help me achieve my goal. I am proud. What a difference 365 days can make.

Word of the day AIM: My aim was to help other women survive the turmoil of betrayal and if I get ONE woman who reads my book and says it helped her through her own pain then it was worth it. I had a fabulous group of women to help me and I merely aim to do the same for other women. Nobody who is living their life in the right way, being a good wife or partner putting her husband/partner and her family first deserves to be betrayed and lied to. I would rather have had a husband that told me he was unhappy and chose to leave than the husband who cowardly betrayed me repeatedly behind my back. Yes, my aim is to help other women when we need it the most. The publishing got back on track, now it's a paperback and I am certainly back on track and there is definitely no looking back. 

Now available on ibooks for iPhone too.

As of today the iBooks, iTunes issues have been resolved when there was a recent iOS update and my book, Exactly 23 days is now available as an e-reader option on iPad, iPhone, Macbook and iMac gadgets via iTunes and iBook in your web browser. Happy reading and PLEASE, I would love your thoughts on the book. 

Word of the day: Marketing. 

Writing a book is a process divided into three. Writing, publishing and marketing. (I have done my research!) I am so excited to start the final phase of marketing and today I have ordered my business cards and postcards and I have completed my list of 100 influential women to send my book information to, either via email or postcard or for the very influential women on my list, an actual signed copy! I will compile a mens list too asap! 

I have paid for social media advertising and finalised banking details with various companies so that I get paid! (The exciting bit!)I am now going to look for influential media outlets both locally and nationally and invite them to interview me regarding my book, I have two book club talks slotted in my diary and I am finalising my book launch event date and other finer details with the venue events manager (food, drink, estimated numbers etc). I did not set out on this journey to let my writing sit on my laptop, it was ALWAYS going to be sent out there for people to hopefully enjoy reading and to get comfort and reassurance from too, in some cases. That can only be done with a detailed marketing strategy! 

I am new to all this so please feel free to message me with any marketing ideas you may have. 

Exactly 23 days music playlist

This is the complete playlist as featured in the book. 
Enjoy. I would love to hear your comments. 

An Apple a day! Maybe not!

As a new author this has been such a journey. An Apple a day is certainly not always best for keeping the doctor away and certainly not the technical Apples! Using an Apple laptop and inbuilt software I have found the incompatibility with other software on other computers THE single most frustrating time I have ever experienced whilst using computers for the last 16 years or so! I really thought that I had passed the phase of crying at the screen in front of me many many moons ago. Alas I found myself there once again last Saturday as I tried to rectify once again the editorial and typesetting errors presenting themselves to me once more. I have literally lost count of how many times I have edited, re-edited and typeset and re-tyepset this book! I have now completed it again and I hope for the last time and sent it to my publishers AGAIN today for them to once again attempt to 'fine' typeset my typesetting!! Phew. 

I will be partaking in some fruit now as I sit in the garden in the glorious sunshine here in Manchester but it will be not be an apple but from the grape variety and tinged with pink and ice cold in a glass! Cheers! I will keep you all posted re the paperback launch date. 

Word of the day: Persevere!
To continue in a course of action even in the line of difficulty or with little or no indication of succesS.

Note to self: I WILL SUCCEED!

Second note to self: I need to nail exactly which software is best for authors to use which transfers with ease to publishers software!! I feel like I have been playing editorial tennis since mid May, now that is some grand slam tournament! I wonder is there is a Strawberry software company!! 

For sale at last!!

ibooks is now selling my book! What an achievement. 

Follow your dreams, strive for your goals, relish in the euphoria of success!

I have loved getting my dream to this point! My book is for sale world wide as of today in 51 countries. Amazing. I made it happen and it spurs me on to write forever. The paperback version is still a work in progress but the electronic version is now out there for my readers. I am very very proud today. Please share my blog and help to spread the word for me. Thank you. Jayne. 

Download the eversion to iPad, iMac and MacBooks. The iPhones version is apparently a work in progress and news and links to follow. 

I will keep you posted re the paperback release date. Jayne. 

Update: The iPhone version is now active. 

Out in cyberspace at last

I feel the irony of asking the universe to help me when I needed it the most. When I was dead inside of me, numb, had nothing to give and wanted nothing from anybody else. I was reduced to nothing. I prayed to the universe to help me. It was my very last resort and on one particular day when I believed it was impossible to be kicked any lower I had the inspiration to write a novel. Why? I had never done anything like that before. I had written for children. I had written legal document for my job. Why an adult novel? I had no idea but I do know the the CREATIVE ideas enveloped me and within days I was sat at my desk taking notes, researching, compiling plot ideas, character lists, chapter titles and on 31/12/2014 I began and on the 18/2/2015 I finished. As you are aware there were re-writes, edits, re-edits, proof-reading, spell checking, etc etc etc. Then there was the typesetting, re-typesetting and file sharing in various formats. There was the art work to organise and the permissions to seek for product placements and then research and more research for publishing options which is very very difficult in a minefield of unknown territory without the support of agents and publishing houses. I have made huge huge mistakes along the way.I have made dozens of phone calls to Apple and eventually I have finally uploaded my book that I created in ipages, converted to ibooks author and uploaded via iTunes producer to the ibooks store. It is currently being approved by the powers that be and will be available for pre order on 22/06/2015 and available on ibooks from 26/06/2015 (54 years to the day since my mum died!) I had to honour her on that day. She would be so proud and despite the nature of her death she too was an incredibly strong woman. I am in awe of her and I thank her for my strength of character genes. I have dedicated my book to all women and I will soon be asking all my blog, Facebook and Twitter, Instagram and Twitter followers to be my book shop window and help me to sell my book to the world. I plan to spend the next few weeks concentrating on the paperback version, launching and marketing and taking a well deserved holiday but mark my words. There will be many more words when book two begins in September. Anybody out there thinking of writing and feeling apprehensive. Do it, pick up your pen, type away, dictate your words, however you chose to write. Do it. 

If anybody has any interesting tales they would like to share on the topic of kissing and believe me it is a wide ranging topic, then please comment below or email me on jaynelouisehiggins@gmail.com

Word of the day: Thankful. 

I am so very thankful I have been blessed with a love and passion for writing. I thank the universe for helping me when I needed it most and the thing I love the most, my writing, is now making it's way in the universe to be shared with you all. Yes I am very very thankful indeed. 

I was wrong! Okay.

I told you all a couple of weeks ago that I was done with the book and ready to upload it. I did upload it to ibooks author and stumbled across a proofreading tool in there! So I switched it on and there were lots of green markers on page 1 and page 2 and in fact every page and so I set about responding to these green markers in order to improve my book even more! I was astounded just how many times I used the following:
Actually
As soon as
Once again
In fact
In order to
Nice
In relation to
As to how
Once more
In regards to

as well as incorrect ?!,.:""''. Oh dear. What a chore that turned out to be but I did it. Then I did it again and guess what I missed stuff the first time. That just left a final spell check and in the main it was the American versus English spelling dilemma! However, there was the odd green mark still in there that I had missed AGAIN! So I spell checked again and I am now finally satisfied that the text flows beautifully and I can't wait for you to judge that as my readers. 

I await the art work for the cover to be finalised and then it can be loaded to ibooks and I have chosen an amazing company called Completelynovel.com for my print on demand POD paperbacks. 

I have also begun to check out venues for my book launch and I have started to compile my invitations list.

I am in the early stages of the marketing phase and busy researching that on a daily basis and will update my blog when I have significant information to share with you all. 

So to re-cap. I wrote the book, I re-wrote the book, I edited the book, my editor edited the book twice, my co editor read the book and then re-read it as a co-editor, I uploaded the book and discovered proofreading software and I proofread the book, then I proof read it again and then I spellchecked it not once but twice for a final sweep. Phew! You think it's an easy job being a writer. Think again. Brain taxing and back breaking. Will I do it again after this one is published? You bet! I have the bug! 

Word of the day: Exhausted:Yes I know I have already used it but I really am Exhausted!

It is exhilarating to be at this stage, so close to publishing and contemplating having MY book, that I have written, launched but I am truly truly exhausted.Happy but exhausted.  

Who has the final word?

Who has the final word? Well today I completed my line edit and so I really have had the final word!

It has been a mammoth task going through my 100,000 word, 17 chapter novel line by line. A I have said before I am a perfectionist and it will only be good enough to send out to you, my fans when I and my editors are completely satisfied that there is not a grammatical or plot stone unturned! I, as the author feel I can personally do no more to improve this, my first novel. That feels like a huge achievement because as you write, re-write, read and re-read your work you can see the mistakes jumping at you to be corrected. I actually feel I am at the end of this books 'writing' journey and I am now ready to send it on it's publishing and marketing journeys. That feels good. I am itching to get to the same state of 'I can do no more' within those phases too. I really get that getting a book published is a third writing, a third publishing and a third marketing. 

I had a vision and I turned that into a reality and I look forward to what my readers have to say about this, my first novel. It has been a journey in itself. My late nights and early mornings, my liquid lunches as I couldn't bear to prise myself away from my desk, my research, my laughter as I voiced my typing through the software  and watched my laptop type, my tears as I did so, my conversations with my reviewers and my editing team, my changes of plot, my losing the plot! It has been incredible and if I never write another word then I can say that I have written a novel. Is there a possibility that I will not write again. Not a chance!! Books two and three are simmering in the research department of my mind! To all who have shared this amazing journey of words. Thank you.

Word of the day: Dream:

Follow your dream. Just do it. You really can do anything you want to. If your belief in yourself is allowed to grow then you can do it. Nuture that belief in yourself. Whatever it is, grab hold of it and never ever let go until you are satisfied, like I am today that you are ready to share your dream. I knew I could write a novel, I knew I could write a very good novel and I know that my novel will be loved by everybody who reads it. It is sad, it is hilarious, it is relatable and it gives us all faith in finding trust and love.    

Too many too's!

I have spent many hours of late just completing repetitive editing work line by line, re-reading and then re-editing again. It is pains taking work and would normally be the role of an editor but with the fee for this work standing at £1,000 I cannot afford that. Being a perfectionist this has to be write right? I know, just testing, it has to be right! There were far too many too's!!

I have also been looking at print on demand options which for those of you who don't know is a system whereby books are printed to order and delivered to your reader directly, similar to a system amazon have! I will therefore being doing the online version for Apple ibooks and then providing a link for print on demand. 

I have also been doing some notes for a further two books and I advice that you always have a note book nearby. I woke with a start the other day at 5:30am and was scrabbling for a pen and paper to scribble quickly as the back cover of my book, which I have struggled to write suddenly came to me. If I hadn't found a pen then I would not have remembered the next day, so yes, note books at the ready always. You never know when either inspiration for new work or amendments to current work will pop into your head. 

Word of the day: Perfectionist: I have a perfectionistic attitude to my work and I am glad I do, I am happy to work through the repetitive line by line to get to the perfectly fine. It has to write, right! 

Weird and weary

What a weird few days. I have been finalising my product placement requests and once again the bigger the company the harder they are to contact and/or get a reply from. In my frustration and sheer annoyance with some of these larger companies, I have re-written some of my text and removed the companies names and/or products from my novel. At the end of the day they are getting free advertising and why should I bother chasing them? The small local companies as usual, reply almost instantly and show a great deal of gratitude and good wishes for the books success. I repeat to any new authors reading my blog, minimise the product placement!

I have also been researching whether to publish with ibooks or via other epub platforms and discovered that I could have written the book directly onto the ibooks author app, if I had known!!!!. 
So again to new authors,I advise that if you have NOT yet started your book then research how you are going to self publish and if you?, like me, decide upon the ibooks route (which incidentally pays 70% commission as opposed to 35% on Amazon), then use your macbook, imac or ipad to write your book on a template, within ibooks author. You can then create an account in itunes connect and upload fairly easily to the ibooks store! Apple have invested billions into the ibooks side of their business and why?, you may ask? Well, because they see the growth potential of e-reading and you only have to check out the tutorial on ibooks author to see the potential of the rich interactive experiences available within some of the books on offer to realise that it is a huge developing market. Also Amazon restrict you to their platform only! and we need as much flexibility as possible for the saleability of our creativity do we not? 

The actual process of re loading my work onto ibooks author has been  like a first day at school for me. Nerve wracking and exciting in equal measures. I am literally teaching myself as I go along. My phone call to Apple today, proved frustrating, in that, I was constantly directed to check out this, that and the other guideline instead of them just remote accessing my laptop and assisting me. Kind of bothered me, seeing as how they will be getting 30% of my sales for the minutest input into this process but they are better than Amazon in terms of looking after authors, so my research keeps telling me!

Word of the day Implode: My long term goal is to be able to write, write and write some more and pay companies to upload and download on my behalf before I implode! I am weary of the weirdness of it all. 

Gruelling final shift

I completed my final 'writers' edit today in a mammoth, 13 hour shift peppered with many many breaks! It really is down to my editor now. 

As I read the final word I had written, re-written, re-written and finally re-written again over the course of the last four months I felt proud. I have cried, laughed and cried some more followed by hysterical laughing as I have written my book. Not at the process of the actual typing as I have voice activated software but at the content of my work. It was sad, funny, cathartic and downright hilarious, in varying degrees and I hope you will all love it too and spread the word about my words. 

The publishing journey draws near and the marketing journey is about to begin. I agree with the once wise words I read, that self publishing a novel is one third writing, one third publishing and one third marketing and I have relished all the challenges so far.

It feels really strange to say that my one third writing phase is now finally finished. It is like that 'first baby' feeling and I am so proud of my first literary baby. As I have done my thirteen hour shift to complete MY final edit today, I know in my heart that it is my best work. I AM sending it out to you all, my readers, as the best piece of writing it can be, within the knowledge base I currently have as a new author and I am far from complacent, in recognising that my work will be critiqued and lessons can be learnt by me, as I hone my writing skills for the rest of my life. I will continue to update you regarding the self publishing process and the marketing strategies and tools I will use to get the book out there to you all. 

Word of the day: Exhausted. I am exhausted but deliriously happy to know that any creativity from here on in will be in relation to new projects. Now that is such a fabulous notion. My ideas are brewing in readiness for the next project but in the meantime, I am a perfectionist and I will not be happy until the book can be delivered to you PERFECTLY. Nothing else will do. 

Editing deadline set.

My editing deadline is now set and I have spent the day finalising the last of the requests for product placement. Not surprisingly, the bigger the company, the harder to get a named person to take responsibility or to even get a reply. I am chasing my tail with some of these companies and again, 'note to self', avoid product placement as much as possible in your writing as it is very frustrating trying to get permissions. I have actually deleted a few companies from my draft due to these frustrations. 

I continue to get positive feedback from existing and new re-viewers and feel like the clock is on countdown now. I have an ISBN number and a publishing code for Amazon publishing and the excitement is building in readiness to upload my work. I am actually itching to start my next piece of work and can appreciate the bliss of having publishers to handle all of this peripheral stuff and allowing me to be creative, however, not having that luxury means I need to plod on and to be frank, it's a good base for increasing my knowledge of the publishing process, be that self publishing or via a publishing house. 

I have watched an interesting webinar today too and I enclose the link for people to view if you are an aspiring writer and wish to aim to get your work published.  https://www.bigmarker.com/janefriedman/How-to-Get-a-Book-Published

My word of the day is Efficient:I find other peoples inefficiency so frustrating and such a waste of my precious creative time, some companies have been contacted 4 times!, other companies say yes over the phone, some companies want so much more information than others and some companies don't know what they are doing at all and as I said previously the bigger the company the worse they can be! 

Their inefficiencies are having a knock on effect of preventing me being efficient. Arrrrgghhh!! 

Cover Girl

Well at last, I made it onto a front cover. A dream achievement for any girl I reckon, however, my cover girl image is so much better than your average cover girl, magazine shoot. I actually now have in my possession my own cover girl for my first novel, '23 days'. She shows intense pain in her eyes but she also shows determination and steeliness and she is so elegant and stylish in her fashion choices and beauty regimes. There is no baring of flesh, there is no provocative clothing and/or lingerie trying to sell her image, there is no sign of air brushing, cosmetic surgery or un-natural caked on make up. It is a perfect image with her only imperfections being those etched upon her heart and soul that she successfully hides from the world. She is truly beautiful and she is a true role model for survival against gargantuan repeated life lessons that are harsh. Just one of those lessons is beyond comprehension and survival for most people. She is a perfect beauty gala winner, she lives her life simply based upon kindness, happiness and laughter and her Karma finally delivered her a gift of calmer. 

The cover girl image was delivered by a young artist with great talent. Her work came to me by accident and screamed at me from her Facebook page and I had no hesitation in commissioning her for my first book cover and to be honest I hope it is a collaboration for life. She read my book and transferred it all into that cover girl image. There are many layers to the plot and the main character and Sarah said she used many layers in her creation. I am truly honoured that somebody paid such attention to detail to my writing, that she the took the time and care to transfer that into such a beautiful piece of art. I will be proud of both my writing and her interpretation of Fiora Burton for ever. 
As a writer I was stuck for words when I first viewed my cover girl image, it literally made me gasp. 

Visit Sarah Ollis's website and Facebook page by clicking on the link here: https://www.facebook.com/sarahollisillustration 

Word of the day Gargantuan: Life is a journey from birth to death and for some the journey is smooth and some the journey is a little rough, for others it is littered with heavy boulders to shift in order to progress and for others it is a continuous struggle from birth to death. Count your blessings whichever route your journey takes you, try and be grateful for the lessons each wrong turning provides and trust that each gargantuan boulder that you have to juggle or struggle with has been sent to you for a reason. Keep believing in your journey. Trust it. You are on it for a reason.       

With the click of a button. If only!

Happy Easter Sunday. 

I have spent today researching Amazon Kindle Publishing (better known as Amazon KDP)and attempting to complete American tax forms, sorting out bank details to upload and attempting to upload my book to my kindle account. How surreal to see page 1 of my book as a kindle page, as my readers would see it. Thank goodness for previews  though, because the layout of the book was very poor (obviously my lack of experience in data formats and uploading criteria) and so I deleted the book to ensure that it will be a perfect piece of work for my readers but it was a very rewarding experience and a proud moment. I will consult with my allocated worker at Amazon next week to ensure the glitches are ironed out but all going according to plan I would say. 

My illustrator emailed yesterday to let me know that she has already spent 8 hours on my book cover and I am so excited to see her creations. 

I have also formatted the contents page today and created a final page which depicts my own personal message to all women, to affirm the message of the book, which is basically that recovery is possible, no matter how insurmountable you feel your circumstances are. Grit, determination, sweat and tears will all be involved in your journey but you can do it. Absolutely you can. Lets hold each others hands sisters. 

Word of the day: Taxes. 

I hope that the taxes I pay, from the royalties I earn from this book reflect the strength required from me to face the taxing ordeal, when I commenced this journey of recovery.  

I will now use my strengths in the kitchen to prepare lunch with the added rewards of sparkling wine and chocolate! It is after all Easter Sunday. 

Writing, re-writing, editing, re-editing and a final edit!

I once read a quote by the late Sir Terry Pratchett, "The first draft is just you telling yourself the story," he said. I have always 're-written' everything I have written for as long as I can remember and I completely agree with Sir Terry. As I read my work during the process of a re-write, it always feels to me as if I am observing my work from above, as the mistakes jump off the page at me. It is both frustrating and embarrassing to an extent, to see such silly mistakes but also very satisfying to have the chance to correct them as yet another finished draft of my novel '23 days', to be presented to my editor and my team of reviewers. My editor has already edited it once and returned each chapter to me and he will now complete a final edit ready for publishing. He is a first time editor and has thus far done a sterling job very efficiently and in a very timely manner which is most impressive given he has a demanding day job too. That, in effect, means there will have been 5   re writes. 

My dilemma now is, do I need to send it for a professional edit which is a very costly business in the region of £10 per 1,000 words and so a 100,000 word book is going to be very expensive. What will I get for that money, can they improve on what I am already very happy with? My motivation is to absolutely get the best possible piece of work out there to my readers. It cannot and will not be an "oh, that will do," piece of work. It can only be perfect. 
This is the first time people will read, hear and see me and this is a really big deal for me. You never get a second chance to make a first impression and I will never get another chance to 're-tell you all' this story once it has gone for publishing. I need to research some more I think and within all of that the answer I need will come to me.


Word of the day: Edit:  to correct, check, copy-edit, improve, revise, amend, polish, modify, adapt, rewrite, reword, rework, rescript, redraft, rephrase, assemble, prepare for publication, shorten, condense, cut, abridge, approve, censor, redact, informal clean up, iron out. 

In the process of editing my novel '23 days' I will ask myself a question relating to all the descriptions contained above, in order to ensure that I (via my editor and/or professional editor) have met all the criteria that ensures that I have gone beyond, not only telling myself the story but that I deliver to you, my readers, the best piece of literature that I can. The devil is in the detail, so they say. Thank god for voice activated software.  

Dear Author,

Well today I finished the product placement requests.

Note to self: Dear Author, do NOT include too many products in future writing!

On a positive note, lots of yes's coming in. 

It's exciting to be getting shopping malls, fashion houses, small businesses, bars, pubs and restaurants, jewellers, perfume houses etc etc that are all familiar to me, agreeing to being a part of the text in my book and to have some of them commenting positively on the book too is very flattering. 

I have also had my first rejection today from an agent. Was I disappointed? Sure? but not for long. It is after all, somebody's opinion and I appreciate that they took the time to consider my work and if rejections were part of JK Rowling's early career and spurred her on with her self belief, then they will certainly be a part of mine!! because I do believe in myself and my work and I will be a successful author. I will make sure of that.

I feel like stage two of this process is almost complete and that is very exciting with the final aspect being the publishing stage.

Word of the day: Rejection. Never be afraid to try and fulfil your dreams out of fear of rejection. I had my work rejected today but I won't reject my dream. I will make it happen.   

Surreal Sunday

Today I have completed the back cover for my book which reads as follows:

After the realisation that her marriage was based solely upon a foundation of lies and the subsequent descent into a spiral of despair are seemingly too much for Fiora Burton to bear. 

Can she ever recover from the trauma? 

The climb out of the vortex seems impossible but Fi has a determination to heal without medical intervention. Her tenacity, sense of fun, positive outlook and her strategy to rebuild herself, result in a transformation both emotionally and physically. She even tests the waters of dating again, via the world of the internet and finds the man of 'everyone's' dreams, it would seem. 

Filled with trauma, angst, despair, emotional turmoil and physical decline Fi uses her love of music, good food and her gym regime to rebuild her body and slowly lift her spirit. With the support of her exceptional circle of girl friends, where belly laughing until she cries, is an almost daily occurrence, she finds a new purpose in life and a new life with a purpose.

"Wow, this book is amazing. Well written and the story is touching.

I found myself tearing up at points, especially the beginning, which is very relatable." (female 20’s)

"Really really enjoyed it, it's a really good read!" (female 40’s)

"I haven’t read a book for 28 years, since it was compulsory to do so at school. 

I couldn’t put it down, needing to get to the end which has some great twists." (Male 40’s)

"I can really see this as a movie." (Male 50’s)

Would you buy my book based upon that description?

I have then spent several hours sending out more product placement requests and it seems so surreal to be getting phone calls and emails back from companies such as Apple, discussing loading my book onto ibooks,the National Trust in relation to quoting one of their properties in the novel, Hermes who are considering permission to allow me to use one of their perfumes in the novel, to name a few. What an extraordinary Sunday but I feel it really is all coming together nicely. Only another 56 permissions to go!! I think I probably made a lot of work for myself as a new novelist but this is all part of the education to becoming a successful author! Maybe not so many products next time! 

Oh yes there is a next time, I already have notes for my second book. 

Word of the day: Relatable. 

I wanted people to be able to relate to the emotions Fi feels as she discovers the story unfolding before her is getting worse and worse. I also wanted her recovery to be relatable and for women to realise that there absolutely is a way forward out of such trauma and angst and so to have two reviewers tell me in different conversations that they find my book 'relatable' is a huge compliment to me. If I can help one woman to recover successfully from a similar experience then the novel has served it's purpose. 

Happy Woman! I'll take that compliment... for sure.

Lazy start to the day today as it's a Saturday. 

My days usually have a set routine with minor chores and pets being first on my agenda and ALWAYS to the accompaniment of music on my iPad. I chose a playlist depending on my mood. If I need to bat crazy thoughts out of my mind it will be a loud happy playlist that I can sing along to as I do my chores or that I can imagine dancing to like I have never danced before, usually!! My cat Leia, however, scarpers when the music comes on! I guess it's too loud and also she just wants food and has no patience to sit and wait for the disco to be over.

Next is emails and my first drinks of the day. Again a specific routine of lemon and hot water, decaf tea and skimmed milk and half a litre of a combo of fruit and vegetable juice and today it was pear and golden beetroot with ginger and I have to say, it was delicious! I had a wonderful email to view this morning. It was from my commissioned artist who is designing my book cover and I will share it with you now because I am a happy woman today. Actually I'm a happy woman everyday but theres nothing like a bit of positive feedback to kick start your happy day!

Here is what Sarah has to say as she reads my book in readiness to put her design ideas into her art form and I cannot wait to see what she creates for me and I hope my words on the page do her designs on the cover justice, because I just know it will be amazing. I just know it: 

"Wow, your book is amazing. Well written and the story is touching (thus far!). I found myself tearing up at points, especially the beginning which is very relatable."

Yes, I'll take that compliment.... for sure.

Todays focus for work is concentrating on research for uploading my work to Amazon, Barnes and Noble for nook, ibooks, Sony ereader etc and website creation inc domain names. In fact I am going to set a competition here for my fans to come up with a creative name for a website to link in with my love of writing! The winner gets a signed copy of my book when it is published! So get thinking please. I am excited to see the ideas emerging. 

Could I also ask you all a favour?, please share this blog. 
This is the start of the web traffic journey between my fans and myself. Thank you. 

Todays word of the day is: Votary. 

I am hoping as my web traffic increases at a steady pace in time people will say I am a votary of Jayne Higgins. 

Have a great Saturday everyone. 
   

Diary to a book launch

I have decided that as I am new to publishing, I am going to keep you up to date with the exact process I go through in order to achieve either represented or self publication.

Starting today I will blog my process on a regular basis so that you can all follow and/or be a part of my journey to being a published author. 

20/03/2015

• Re formatted my novel following a 90 minute personal tuition session with an Apple employee yesterday. That is why I love Apple products, they have never failed to provide customer service that is second to none. 
• Completed my personal introductory email to agents and the film company, introducing myself as a writer. Why, when and how I became a writer and what prompted the creation of this novel. Keep it succinct. No need for waffling on.
• Sent email with a synopsis and the first three chapters of my book to my chosen agents. Just two at this stage.
• Researched how to contact a particular film director. I have been very fortunate to have been told by three of my 12 reviewers that they can see my book as a movie! I take that from each of them as a huge compliment but I have a particular director in mind and if I don't ask I don't get. I searched and searched and searched some more and eventually found his agents and yes, I sent him my synopsis and first three chapters too! 
• Researched successful self publishers and started a to do list to follow their advice including creating this blog!
• Sent an email to my chosen artist re book trim sizing. Too technical for me to understand yet but all to do with the word length of your book!

I will also post a word of the day each time I blog, as I am after all a wordsmith and explain my choice in detail. 

Todays word is: 

Vortex: 

I used the word in my first blog post describing the spiral into which the main character Fi descends, following the discovery of the foundation of lies upon which her marriage was built. The force of the continuing revelations ensured that she remained in the never ending uncontrollable crazy making tailspin with seemingly impossible means of escaping the traumatic events that just kept coming her way. 

However, if you have ever been fortunate enough to see a vortex of water, it is one of the most mesmerising experiences to watch, but the speed and velocity confirm the almost impossible task of being able to climb out of such a phenomena. How did Fi do it?  

Firstly.

Welcome to my blog. 

I am Jayne, a 54 year old writer who has just completed my first novel and I have today sent it out to agents and a film company for consideration for publishing. I have a team of 12 re-viewers who have all given positive reviews upon their experiences of reading this, my first piece of adult fiction. 23 days is a novel about recovery from the trauma of realising that the main characters relationship was founded solely upon the foundations of lies and the spiral of despair into which she then descends. 

Can she ever recover? 

The climb out of the vortex seems impossible but Fi manages it, with a determination not to involve any medical interventions. Her tenacity, sense of fun, positive outlook and her strategy to rebuild herself, result in a transformation both emotionally and physically. She even tests the waters of dating again via the world of the internet and finds the man of 'everyone's' dreams, it would seem. 

Filled with trauma, angst, despair, emotional turmoil and physical decline Fiora Burton uses her love of music, her strategy for good food and her gym regime to rebuild her body and slowly lift her spirit. With the support of her exceptional circle of friends, where belly laughing until she cries, is an almost daily occurrence, she finds a new purpose in life and a new life with a purpose.