The process of self-publishing is an interesting one. Unless you’re writing with someone else, you have no deadlines. (Well, you can give yourself deadlines, but chances are, that if you miss them, you will not penalise yourself very heavily.)
From “I’ve got an idea for a book” to “you can buy my book on Amazon” is a long journey. I start the journey in my head quite a few times a year, but only some ideas become something you can hold in your hands.
Usually I take about a year to complete a book: from the moment I’ve decided that the idea is meaty enough to turn into a paperback (albeit a slim one, my books tend to be around 100 pages long) to the complete, edited version.
However, “Hi, I’m Here for a Recording. The ordinary life of a voiceover artist” will have a shorter gestation period. The main reason is that I have so much fun writing it, and it’s so easy to get the pre-first draft down, that I need to get it out of the way before I tackle anything else. So, in a way, I’m writing it to make head space for other projects that require a lot more effort.
As the book is my personal story through the world of voicovers (through London, Edinburgh, a bit of Amsterdam and other stories around my freelance life) every now and then I do doubt whether I will finish it. After all, who would want to read it? Is it interesting enough? And my main current block: what structure should it follow???
But now, there’s no turning back because I HAVE THE BOOK COVER!
And that is the moment when you know you have to complete the book.
Someone else has spent time on your project and that means this is no longer just about you, which, for me, is a great way of making me step up a gear.
So here it is, the new book cover, by the wonderful Silvina. If you like the cover, have a look at her blog, www.pencilory.com. The blog is full of colourful illustrations in a very distinctive style, most of them inspired by what’s going on in Silvina’s life (or head!). If you look at the right-hand bar on this blog, you will see that I have worked with her before, mainly on illustrations for the blog Virtual, not Distant.
So, all going well, the book will be available in March for e-readers and in the summer as a paperback. Wish me luck! #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */
If you would like to know when “Hi, I’m Here for a Recording, the ordinary life of a voiceover artist” is released, enter your email address in the box below.
var fnames = new Array();var ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]=’EMAIL’;ftypes[0]=’email’; try { var jqueryLoaded=jQuery; jqueryLoaded=true; } catch(err) { var jqueryLoaded=false; } var head= document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)[0]; if (!jqueryLoaded) { var script = document.createElement(‘script’); script.type = ‘text/javascript’; script.src = ‘//ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.4.4/jquery.min.js’; head.appendChild(script); if (script.readyState && script.onload!==null){ script.onreadystatechange= function () { if (this.readyState == ‘complete’) mce_preload_check(); } } } var err_style = ”; try{ err_style = mc_custom_error_style; } catch(e){ err_style = ‘#mc_embed_signup input.mce_inline_error{border-color:#6B0505;} #mc_embed_signup div.mce_inline_error{margin: 0 0 1em 0; padding: 5px 10px; background-color:#6B0505; font-weight: bold; z-index: 1; color:#fff;}’; } var head= document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)[0]; var style= document.createElement(‘style’); style.type= ‘text/css’; if (style.styleSheet) { style.styleSheet.cssText = err_style; } else { style.appendChild(document.createTextNode(err_style)); } head.appendChild(style); setTimeout(‘mce_preload_check();’, 250); var mce_preload_checks = 0; function mce_preload_check(){ if (mce_preload_checks>40) return; mce_preload_checks++; try { var jqueryLoaded=jQuery; } catch(err) { setTimeout(‘mce_preload_check();’, 250); return; } var script = document.createElement(‘script’); script.type = ‘text/javascript’; script.src = ‘http://downloads.mailchimp.com/js/jquery.form-n-validate.js’; head.appendChild(script); try { var validatorLoaded=jQuery(“#fake-form”).validate({}); } catch(err) { setTimeout(‘mce_preload_check();’, 250); return; } mce_init_form(); } function mce_init_form(){ jQuery(document).ready( function($) { var options = { errorClass: ‘mce_inline_error’, errorElement: ‘div’, onkeyup: function(){}, onfocusout:function(){}, onblur:function(){} }; var mce_validator = $(“#mc-embedded-subscribe-form”).validate(options); $(“#mc-embedded-subscribe-form”).unbind(‘submit’);//remove the validator so we can get into beforeSubmit on the ajaxform, which then calls the validator options = { url: ‘http://unusualconnections.us2.list-manage.com/subscribe/post-json?u=1c604ee59f671db1c825d9b81&id=12385ce4d6&c=?’, type: ‘GET’, dataType: ‘json’, contentType: “application/json; charset=utf-8″, beforeSubmit: function(){ $(‘#mce_tmp_error_msg’).remove(); $(‘.datefield’,’#mc_embed_signup’).each( function(){ var txt = ‘filled’; var fields = new Array(); var i = 0; $(‘:text’, this).each( function(){ fields[i] = this; i++; }); $(‘:hidden’, this).each( function(){ var bday = false; if (fields.length == 2){ bday = true; fields[2] = {‘value’:1970};//trick birthdays into having years } if ( fields[0].value==’MM’ && fields[1].value==’DD’ && (fields[2].value==’YYYY’ || (bday && fields[2].value==1970) ) ){ this.value = ”; } else if ( fields[0].value==” && fields[1].value==” && (fields[2].value==” || (bday && fields[2].value==1970) ) ){ this.value = ”; } else { if (/\[day\]/.test(fields[0].name)){ this.value = fields[1].value+’/’+fields[0].value+’/’+fields[2].value; } else { this.value = fields[0].value+’/’+fields[1].value+’/’+fields[2].value; } } }); }); $(‘.phonefield-us’,’#mc_embed_signup’).each( function(){ var fields = new Array(); var i = 0; $(‘:text’, this).each( function(){ fields[i] = this; i++; }); $(‘:hidden’, this).each( function(){ if ( fields[0].value.length != 3 || fields[1].value.length!=3 || fields[2].value.length!=4 ){ this.value = ”; } else { this.value = ‘filled’; } }); }); return mce_validator.form(); }, success: mce_success_cb }; $(‘#mc-embedded-subscribe-form’).ajaxForm(options); }); } function mce_success_cb(resp){ $(‘#mce-success-response’).hide(); $(‘#mce-error-response’).hide(); if (resp.result==”success”){ $(‘#mce-‘+resp.result+’-response’).show(); $(‘#mce-‘+resp.result+’-response’).html(resp.msg); $(‘#mc-embedded-subscribe-form’).each(function(){ this.reset(); }); } else { var index = -1; var msg; try { var parts = resp.msg.split(‘ – ‘,2); if (parts[1]==undefined){ msg = resp.msg; } else { i = parseInt(parts[0]); if (i.toString() == parts[0]){ index = parts[0]; msg = parts[1]; } else { index = -1; msg = resp.msg; } } } catch(e){ index = -1; msg = resp.msg; } try{ if (index== -1){ $(‘#mce-‘+resp.result+’-response’).show(); $(‘#mce-‘+resp.result+’-response’).html(msg); } else { err_id = ‘mce_tmp_error_msg’; html = ‘
‘; var input_id = ‘#mc_embed_signup’; var f = $(input_id); if (ftypes[index]==’address’){ input_id = ‘#mce-‘+fnames[index]+’-addr1′; f = $(input_id).parent().parent().get(0); } else if (ftypes[index]==’date’){ input_id = ‘#mce-‘+fnames[index]+’-month’; f = $(input_id).parent().parent().get(0); } else { input_id = ‘#mce-‘+fnames[index]; f = $().parent(input_id).get(0); } if (f){ $(f).append(html); $(input_id).focus(); } else { $(‘#mce-‘+resp.result+’-response’).show(); $(‘#mce-‘+resp.result+’-response’).html(msg); } } } catch(e){ $(‘#mce-‘+resp.result+’-response’).show(); $(‘#mce-‘+resp.result+’-response’).html(msg); } } }