Made it to publication

I don’t wish to appear full of myself, but I am finally learning to celebrate my successes and I am really proud of what I have achieved with the publication of my first book Found.

4 years ago I was working as a sales administrator for a signage company, having spent my previous working years in retail, hospitality and a call centre. The company did not support my needs when it came to my depression and anxiety, in fact they exacerbated it*.

So I decided to take some time to fall back and regroup, to decide what I really wanted to do. I had been playing with the idea of being an author for over 20 years, making half-arsed attempts to write something. Everyone has a book in them they say, so I decided to try and get mine out on to the page. I find writing incredibly cathartic and I do use a lot of my own experiences in my stories. A lot of my inspiration though, is based on dreams that I have. Found is no exception. The idea of a man on a desert island washing in a waterfall and being seen by another was a very nice dream to wake up from and it didn’t take much to start the story off. I also had a collection of other stories that had been started, but not completed at the time, but when I did leave my job and decide to write it was Found that had the most content already and so it seemed to make sense to fill it out and finesse it with a view to publication.

I wouldn’t say that I was disciplined in any way to get it written to a timetable or that I was very focused on its completion, but slowly and steadily I worked away at the story and added a few more chapters until I thought it was nearly ready.

At this point I joined a local writing group with a lovely lady called Melanie Crump leading the sessions. She became my biggest fan and advocate and praised everything I did, so if you don’t like my work, you can blame her. Sadly, after also becoming a great friend, she passed away before my book reached completion. She was instrumental in its completion and subsequent application for publishing and really made me feel that it was time to go ahead.

I opted to work with Austin Macauley, who were very professional and answered all the queries I had regarding their work with other LGBTQ+ authors and let me see testimonials from others that they have worked with. It did come at a cost, as I was an unknown entity, but I had great support from my family and friends to raise the funds needed to afford the publication. I believed it to be the right choice for me at the time as I wanted the support of a publisher who would tell me one way or the other if my book was worthy of release. I also wanted it to be edited and proof read by someone else to ensure the least amount of mistakes possible.

I knew that other people had opted to self publish and I wished them all well. I can appreciate the choice to be fully in charge of the release of your work and not to have the influence of others, but it wasn’t something I was confident enough to do then and I needed the support of Austin Macauley to help with all the bits I didn’t understand or even know about. I also appreciated the fact that they would help with distribution and promotion, so in the long run it was worth all the car boot sales and eBay post office trips to raise the money alongside the crowdfunder page.

My mental health has improved greatly since leaving the world of customer facing jobs. Thanks in part to medication and in part to the healing process of writing and also to a book by Matt Haig called ‘Reasons To Stay Alive’ without which I might not be. Many thanks go out to my friend Catherine for sending it to me when I needed it the most.

And now my book is out there! It is available to buy. Anyone, anywhere in the world can get a copy online or order it from a shop and read it at their leisure. I achieved that. I got it done and it wasn’t easy.

I have a second book ready and waiting for a publishing agent and I’m storming through a third whilst also pursuing work in another creative field. Leaving that job with the signage place was the best decision I have ever made and I wish I’d attempted to follow my dream sooner. I no longer have targets or a contractual obligation to be at the same place at the same time five days a week and my new boss is really understanding when I turn up late or don’t turn up at all, because I don’t have to explain myself to anybody except me.

*The majority of the staff were lovely.

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