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.