Q.E.D. = Proofed

Sorry, I had to sling that title out just to take the mick out of all the months the school spent beating me over the head over with quadratic equations, only for me to never use them ever again the moment the mathematics exams finished.

In actual fact, the proof copies for my books arrived yesterday so we are all good to go for publication on Thursday on 2nd of April.

This is amazing!

I actually have a proof copy of the hardback of my book in my house!  Big excited moment!

Alright, now calm down and start working on how I'm going to advertise my work.  Well I think I'm ticking most of the boxes on doing Internet advertising, so I guess my next step is to start looking around for writers' circles and book clubs to contact.  I also need to work on finding out about the local craft fairs more than two days before they are going to happen.

I know that the book launch at Deceni isn't until the 3rd of May but the more I've prepared the better.  I have to admit that this is the part of book publication that I have looked forward to the least.

I am going to have to stand in front of whole groups of strangers, sometimes for days at a time and keep the smile on my face and my voice level and the whole panic of being surrounded by people I don't know at bay.  This is where being an Autistic is a total pain, because other people cannot see the struggle I under go or hear the screaming in my head the threatens to blot out all rational thought.  It is times like these were I am so jealously of people who are in wheelchairs or who are missing limbs or who have big facial scars or something like that.

Because people can see their disabilities they make allowances for it, where as me, when my autism gets the better of me, they just think that I am so misbehaving freak.  Some days I wish I had bright blue skin or a third eye in the middle of my forehead, something physical to mark me apart as an autistic.  It would make my life so much easier.

Still it is only four days now until my books are published so I must not get myself down.

Final Countdown!

Hello folks.

As of tomorrow there will be only one week to go before 'The Return of a Nagus', the work of nearly sixteen years, goes on sale.  After so many years of hard work and the drama of the last month trying to get the files validated and passed for printing, my mind is struggling to realise that this is IT!

That after so much hard slog the time for the reward has finally come.  So what to do to celebrate?

Well I've never liked champagne and the idea of getting blotto as a way of celebrating something has never been understandable as far as I'm concerned.  Why go out, blow a lot of money and wake up feeling pig sick the day?  Doesn't strike me as much of a celebration.  That and I'm a writer, I need as many of my grey cells in functioning order as possible.

So, in view of that, I celebrated by giving 'The Elchilda's Chronicles' its very own facebook page.  Hopefully in the up coming months I'll be able to add to it any notifications and maybe even some artwork and photos from the upcoming events.  Of course that does mean me having time in between writing and my other artwork.  (please check out my Sales pages for links to examples, no purchase necessary.)

So as of now, The Elchilda's Chronicles facebook page is available to like and follow.  Please visit and let me know what you think:

https://www.facebook.com/elchilda

8 Days to Go!

Eureka! And a Huge Sigh of Relief

Eureka!

As you can probably guess I have finally had some good news on my book.  As of yesterday the cover files were finally validated and the pre-media process finished so that I'm back on track to publish on the 2nd of April.

I think my boyfriend is looking to invest in a set of ear plugs as I have been squeaking at random moments, when I'm not hugging him hard enough to make his spine pop.  The reason for that being that he was the one who tracked down the issue in the root data in the 'title setup'.  Why the rejection notice couldn't say the root data had an issue, instead of barking on about 'metadata' and confusing the lot of us, goodness only knows?  Computers, they are meant to make our lives easier but I swear they don't.  Someone really ought to invest in a gremlin detector and anti-spray.  Maybe then the random hiccups that cost everybody so much time and effort and money won't happen.

No I'm just waiting on the proof copies and after looking through them I'll be able to sit down and do the incredibly difficult job of waiting for the publication date.  Oh my goodness but that is going to be difficult.  I wonder if Stephen King ever feels like this, when he is waiting for his newest book to hit the shelves?

It is wonderful and scary and I'm riding a total high right now.  Why do people waste their money and health on drugs when you just need to publish a book?  Oh I can guess, they don't have the patience to work nearly sixteen years to get it to this stage.  Well, their loss.

This is awesome!

However, this just marks the beginning of the next step as I now need to do the advertising work.  That of course is starting with my posts on my website and posting links on Facebook and Twitter.  However, the bigger one than that is the book launch at Decini at The Forum in Norwich on the 3rd of May.  For those that come along to see not only my stall but also those of all the traders there on the day, please no flames, this is the first time I have ever done a book launch so all the mistakes are my own.  I promise to learn.

I will also have examples of my artwork for sale.  As a heads up my artwork is more fantasy as it gives my an outlet for that side of my imagination while I'm writing science fiction.  I may one day switch the two roles but that won't be for many years yet as there is at least for books in the Elchilda's Chronicles and maybe as many as eight, it depends on how long that set of characters continue to provide me with stories to write.

Title launching on Drivethrufiction on April the 2nd.  Check out the link on my sales page on that date.  See you there!

Waiting And Counting Up My Fingers

Hello folks, again sorry for leaving the post later than planned but it has been a rough week.  My mother's dog is dying of a crumbling spine and I had to spend Saturday digging the grave.  Is it wrong that I could find it in myself to make jokes, however poor taste they where, while I dug?  Or is it just the black humour that I learnt from my parents being in the armed services?  Yes, I'm a sprog and have had that held against me in the past, when I was five years old in fact, by a teacher.

Added to that is the fact that, having run out of fingernails, I'm now starting on my fingers.  Reason for this?  I still can't get my cover files approved by the printer.  This is beginning to getting to the point of being more than worrying and towards the point of out right terrifying as I now only have seventeen days before my publicised publication date.

Does anyone have any idea what 'Metadata' is?  Because that apparently is what my book covers are getting hung up on.  Apparently my bought and paid for ISBN is conflicting with the 'Metadata' ISBN.  I wish that someone in the 'Help' department would explain to me what Metadata is and accept my e-mails confirming which ISBN is correct.  I keep sending them but they are not replying.

Don't you just hate it when you send work off and nobody even slides you a note saying 'we received your work but it wasn't up to standard'?  It is rather like applying for a job and the employers not bothering to get back to you but just reissuing the advertisement with the added note 'previous applicants need not apply'.  Talk about rude!

So I must sit and hope that this batch of uploaded files pass the inspection and go through.  If not then I have one more idea to try before I admit defeat, remove the ISBNs from the covers and swallow the fact that it will probably mean that I won't be able to send copies to the libraries or the Independent Book stores (don't bother trying to get your self published book into the chain book stores or the supermarkets, you'll never be able to afford the fees as we are talking hundreds of thousands.)

Here's hoping that this time I have it right.

Help! I'm Losing My Fingernails!

Well hello folks.  Apologises for not posting for a week but I had a rather busy weekend, what with going to a twenty four hour event for the first time in my life, I really didn't have the time, or the energy.

Now that I have managed to scrounge back some of my missing sleep I have been able to hop back on my computer and catch up with some of my work.

Almost immediately my fingernails started jumping off my hands and fleeing for their lives.  Having checked how the book files are progressing with the printers I received the news that both book covers have now been rejected.  The content files are fine, cover files are not.  Considering I had those book covers done by someone who makes their living at this stuff, I am not impressed.  I'm also beginning to wonder if the odd roiling sensation I have in my stomach right now is the start of an ulcer.

Having finally set a publication date for April the Second to have this thrown up is not a good thing.  Yeah you could say that I have over three weeks but believe me three weeks has a habit of running away like a frightened jack rabbit in this business, along with my fingernails.  To say that I am some what stressed would be fair.  To say that I'm fighting to control a growing sense of panic would be better.  Panic would definitely be better!  The autistic child in my head has just crawled into a corner and started screaming at the top of her voice, threatening to drag the rest of me down there with her.

My only hope is that my contact at the printers can get her Director of Printing/Digital to have a look over the files and tell me what is wrong so that I can get it sorted in less than two weeks time so I can be safe knowing that there is enough time to upload the files and get them approved for printing (I'm leaving a week for that process just in case because the first time round it took nearly three weeks for them to reject the hardback cover).  Here's hoping that this bump in the road doesn't become a land mine.

April 2nd 2015

Alright, as of yesterday I have sent the revised files for both versions of my book off to the printer so I now feel it is safe to do something I have been waiting to do for nearly sixteen years.

On April the second 2015 'The Return of a Nagus' will go on sale at http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/browse/pub/7428/V-J-Bartlett!

After all nearly sixteen years of hard graft, I can finally say that I am down to the last month before publication!

It has been one hell of a ride but it seems that Vicereine Raquel and the crew are, at last, making their way down off the shelf and off to the printers!

However, knowing what the laws of burgery are like I will keep the publication date on the page of 'Up Coming Events' and if any changes have to be made because of technical difficulties I will plant a notice up (possibly with a hammer through the screen of my computer).

Please keep watch for further notice and blurb releases!