"Miss Mousey" meets her public

L-R: Angela, Lynn, Heather, Sue

When I met Lynn Taylor through a women's walking group last autumn, I could not have imagined that barely a year later, we would be standing together at the launch of her first children's picture book, "The Adventures of Miss Mousey", held at Urmston Library. Retirement has enabled Lynn to put her energy into creating, and what energy that is!

Having already taught myself how to publish a book, I was delighted to help Lynn in making Miss Mousey 'print ready'. The speed with which Heather Dickinson produced the delightful illustrations was breathtaking. I spent almost a week formatting the book and putting it together, and a fortnight later, we held the proof copy in our hands. Lynn also has narrated the story onto CD and composed a number of songs of songs to go with it, co-sung by another friend, Sue who she met through her choir.

More of Lynn's energy went into the organisation of a wonderful book launch. The library was thrilled to be packed out with families and children. More friends had been recruited to serve drinks and to sell books and other merchandise. Lynn was kept busy signing her autography, reading exerpts, singing songs - and Miss Mousey and the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress all put in an appearance.

It was a very exciting event for all of us that were involved in making Lynn's dream of producing a book reality. It was lovely to see so many children going away with a copy in their hand. For me, it was also an opportunity to make some new contacts who will hopefully help me get my books into schools and my stories better known. I've discovered though that too much excitement can make you very sleepy!

Finding the right audience - one hit and miss experience!

As writers, when we start out in drafting a book, we should have a clear idea of the age group and audience we are writing for, and tailor the language and content accordingly. Our marketing efforts are also targeted according to the ideal customer that we have in mind. However, I found that this can go completely awry when accepting invitations to read!

I was thrilled to be invited to do a reading at my local library during half term. It is close to Platt Fields park, where my character Mrs Mallard and her family live and I hoped therefore, that the audience would known and identify with many of the characters. I arrived early (only to find myself locked out along with the rest of the public, as it was lunchtime), armed with a box of autographed books and badges and bookmarks that I had made.

My story is aimed at a readership of 6-8 years old. Alas, the time came to do my reading and I was surrounded on the mat by a crowd of 3-5 year olds. The mothers all listened attentively with fixed smiles on their faces, cooing and ahhing at the pictures, whilst their youngsters wriggled and squirmed about on the mat, refusing to so much as look at me. And as for engaging them in conversation... forget it!

I was just starting to clear away to leave, when I was approached by another family with a couple of older children who asked if they were too late to hear the story. The mother told me that they breed ducks. Having little else to do on such a wet afternoon, I thought 'what the hell?' and sat down once more, the oldest daughter right beside me. For the next half hour, I told my story whilst the girl asked me numerous questions about ducks and other birds she sees in the park, and we both went away much richer for the experience.

Trying to Conquer the World - How to get your book out there

Once you've published your book, you face the problem of how to get it out there to the customer. We all know the stereotypical image of the author with boxes of their own books under the bed gathering dust. Distributing your book yourself takes a considerable amount of time and effort (time which I would prefer to spend illustrating) and you also need a lot of nerve. One of my friends recently bought 300 copies of her own book. She's retired so has the time to do the footwork around bookshops and libraries, and she has had some success. It seems that my grandma's mantra of "if you don't ask, you don't get" is really true, but much of the time I don't have the nerve to ask.

The problem of distribution is largely solved by using a 'self-publishing' company but unless you have a magic porridge pot of money, these vanity presses are best avoided.

When it comes to true self-publishing and print on demand, Lulu, CafePress and CreateSpace are making it more and more viable for authors to publish their own books. It is worth looking at all of these, comparing costs and considering how they fit in with your needs. If all you want is to produce a few copies of your book for friends, family or your community group, then they may well be your best bet. Both Lulu and CreateSpace now offer a free ISBN and selling via Amazon.com, great if you are US based.

As a UK writer and illustrator though, it was important to me that my books were readily available in the UK and through the UK Amazon. By chance, I learnt that many POD books in the UK are produced by Lighting Source, who also have branches in the States and in Europe. I contacted them and they confirmed that they would be willing to work with me, providing I could create print-ready files to their very specific requirements (what a learning curve that was!). Lightning Source has set-up fees which can make it more expensive if you only want a few copies of your book, but if you are aiming high and UK sales are important, then it comes into its own, printing costs are very low and the quality high. Your books will be sold not just through Amazon, but Ingrams, Barnes and Noble and many more. I'm often surprised just where my books appear! You never need to worry about handling stock or shipping charges, will receive royalties on a monthly basis, and best of all it frees you up to concentrate on promoting your book and on creating more.

Normal service will be resumed shortly, folks

Apologies to all following my blog that it has been taking a back burner during the last two weeks. My oldest two cats (almost 18) went quickly into decline together and had to be put to sleep last weekend. To lose two of my feline models in one blow has taken some getting my head around!

Then one of my younger cats began moping and refusing to get out of bed and a visit to the vet revealed a sky-high temperature. Thankfully after a few injections, he's back out terrorising the neighbourhood, but all in all it hasn't been a good week for cats.

My home is now under invasion from various opportunists who realise there is a couple of vacancies, and I'm photographing them all on the lookout for a star in the making.

A Week of Challenges

When I first started self-publishing, it was more a means of getting my books into print without the fear of being cheated or disappointed again. I never really saw myself as s publisher, so I surprised myself late last year by agreeing to publish a children's book for a retired woman who I met through my women's walking group.

It is impossible not to get carried away by Lynn Taylor's enthusiasm. She has a wealth of ideas and great stories for children. In addition to penning the charming tales of her character "Miss Mousey", Lynn has also narrated the story to CD and composed songs to go with it. The book has been whimsically and delightfully illustrated by Heather Dickinson. It fits perfectly into the 'Tabby Cat Press' camp.

I've spent many hours over the past few weeks formatting and designing the book. It is well documented that I got so stressed out by trying to get the cover right for my first book, "The Adventures of Sailor Sam", that I gave myself shingles. It's a wonder that I haven't done the same again. When I went to download a cover template from my distributor, LightningSource, I discovered that they are no longer available in Indesign CS2 (the software that I use). Unable to afford to upgrade at the moment, I've wasted hours and hours in forums and engaging in all sorts of diggery-pokery before hopefully creating a cover in the format required. I will now be on tenterhooks for the next few days waiting to see whether it is accepted. Each revision is a costly mistake.

As if this wasn't enough, I've completely revamped my book website and added a fantastic widget for each book so that potential readers can look inside. You can get your own book widget for free from Bookbuzzr. I am also having to start building a new website from scratch for my artwork as my current host is closing down next month.

Tomorrow, I will escape the computer screen. I shall be rising before 6.00am to travel down to Birmingham to deliver a painting to the RBSA Gallery, before later going to the private view of the 8th International UK Coloured Pencil Society exhibition.

The Essential Barcode - where to get one for nothing

You’ve now got your ISBNs, now you need their inseparable companion, the barcode.

Beware of barcode generating software that you buy cheap on Ebay. I fell prey to one of these, which I bought in good faith believing it to be bonafide full software. I produced a beautiful barcode only to discover that I couldn’t save or copy it unless I registered for the full software at a further cost of around £50. No thank you, Mr Con-Artist!

A genuine free barcode generator can be found at http://www.tux.org/~milgram/bookland/ - best of luck understanding the instructions!

To date my attempts at producing my own barcode have failed miserably, but luckily for me, my printer/distributor can provide a generic, if rather unsexy, barcode for the back cover. Alternatively, google for an expert. Barcodes should cost you no more than £10-£15 and you should make sure that they are provided in a format that you can work with and that is compatible with your software.

ISBNs - Establishing Identity

Having chosen your publishing name, the next thing you will probably need to consider is purchasing a batch of ISBN numbers. Look on the back of any current book and you will see, in the right hand corner, a barcode with a 13 digit ISBN number embedded in it. ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number and it uniquely identifies books and similar products such as CDs, DVDs, etc.

Each ISBN is unique to a specific publisher, title, edition and format, and makes it easier for everyone in the distribution chain, including book stores and libraries a consistent way to identify your particular book. If you publish your book in more than one format, eg paperback and hardback, you will need to identify each version separately so will use a different ISBN for each.

In the US, ISBN numbers a issued by RR Bowker. As a UK self-publisher, I purchased mine from the Nielsen UK ISBN Agency (http://www.isbn.nielsenbook.co.uk/). An ISBN number establishes you as a publisher. If you choose to publish your book for a fee through a so-called ‘self-publishing’ company, it is they that own the ISBN and the barcode and therefore, they, not you are the publisher of your book.

ISBNs are issued in blocks of 10, 100, 1000 and 10,000. It is not possible to buy lesser quantities from Nielsen, and if you really get bitten by the self-publishing bug, you’ll find you use ten much quicker than you think. At present, a batch of ten ISBN numbers costs just £107.18 each – less than £10.75 each! Some 'self-publishing companies' will charge you a small fortune for an ISBN and make it sound as if they spend lots of time submitting it to Barnes & Noble, Amazon, etc on your behalf. I will write about how to submit your new title in a future blog and how this one submission will do all the listings for you.

Within 10 days of purchasing your ISBNs, you will receive a list of numbers, both by email in Excel format and in hard form. The ISBN is divided into five parts which are separated by hyphens. The parts following the prefix (978 or 979-) are made up of:

Registration Group Element : Identifies a national, geographic or language grouping of publishers. It tells you where in the world the Publisher is physically based. Registrant (Publisher) Element : Identifies a specific publisher or imprint .Publication Element : Identifies a specific edition of a specific title in a specific format. Check Digit : This is always and only the final digit which mathematically validates the rest of the number which is calculated using a Modulus 10 system with alternate weights of 1 and 3.

The ISBN should be printed in text form, such as ISBN 1-2345-678-9X on the verso page (the back of the title page, where the copyright information is also typically printed) and also a long with a bar code should appear on the back cover of the book or dust jacket.
There is actually no formal legal requirement in the UK or Republic of Ireland for your book to carry a ISBN number, it is simply a product identification number. However, if you wish to sell your publication through major bookselling chains, or internet booksellers, they will require you to have an ISBN to assist their internal processing and ordering systems. The ISBN also provides access to Bibliographic Databases such as BookData Online, which are organised using ISBNs as references. (Sign up at www.bowkerlink.com to list your books). These databases are used by booksellers and libraries to provide detailed information about your book for customers, giving you an additional marketing tool which could help promote sales.

Choosing a Publishing Name

Having made the bold/ reckless/ stupid* (delete according to your opinion) decision to self-publish, one of the first things I needed to consider was a publishing name. One thing to keep in mind when choosing a name for a publishing company is the type of books you will publish. Tinkerbelle Books might be a great name for a publisher of children’s books, but it would not be a good name if you were publishing self-help manuals.

As my first children's book starred my tabby Samson, who was already something of a local celebrity, it seemed natural to name my 'company' (a grand term for one person and a cat!) after him. I googled both "Samson Publishing" and "Samson Press" and found that the names were already taken. A little more googling and Samson found himself the proud President of 'Tabby Cat Press.' The logo followed later and is cut from one of the last photos ever taken of him before the cancer made him sick.

My Road to Self-Publishing

It is almost 5 years now since Canadian author, Giovanna Lagana, first contacted me and asked whether I would be interested in illustrating a couple of educational children's books. Would I! - it had been an ambition since schooldays. Just 10 weeks later, and lots of to-ing and fro-ing with a e-book publisher, signing contracts, etc, the illustrations were complete. There followed a year long wait before we saw the final ebook and it went live. Then, nothing, zilch, nada.

We enquired after sales figures a few times but were told that there had been none. We knew this couldn't be right as we had both purchased the ebook ourselves under different names. Another year went by and still nothing so we pulled the ebook off the site and continued looking for publishers with the dream of one day seeing the story in print. This year, we discovered several sites where the ebook was offered in its entirety, free of charge. This proved beyond any shadow of a doubt that sales had been made and where we could, we contacted the sites to notify them that they were breaching our copyright. Lesson one.

Meanwhile, I had got a taste for book illustration and was eager for another project. "The Adventures of Sailor Sam" pretty much wrote itself. My handsome tabby, Samson (already a local celebrity) was only too happy to model for me and I drafted in family and friends to play the human characters. The story was rejected by several publishers. I was thrilled to receive a letter from Dorrance Publishing accepting the story but the jubilation was short-lived as the letter went on to say that it would be illustrated in black and white by their in-house illustrators and I would be charged around $4,000 for the privilege. Strange I didn't see any figures like that when I answered the call for submissions! Lesson two.

So, I decided to self-publish and after much internet-browsing, chose a 'self-publisher' which seemed affordable and certainly much cheaper than most. I know now that these 'self-publishers' are actually vanity-presses and on the whole are best avoided. I learnt the hard way and don't wish to recount all the hurt and stress caused. I chose to draw a line under the whole incident, walk away and start afresh. Lesson three.

The following year, my 40th birthday, I decided to turn things around. I purchased a batch of 10 ISBN numbers (I'll talk about them in a later blog), researched 'Print on Demand,' spent months trying to get to grips with Adobe Indesign, and preparing a book for print. It was a steep learning curve but at the end, I was proud to be able to say, "I did it all myself." The Adventures of Sailor Sam was republished in October 2007. Since then, I have published three other books, including a print version of the original Rickie the Raccoon story.

Finally Making Some Headway

http://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/weblog/2009/07/rickie-the-raccoon-learns-about-recycling-giovanna-lagana.html

Giovanna sent me this link to a great review of "Rickie the Raccoon Learns about Recycling". She has also received some lovely comments from Canadian authors Robert Munsch and David Bouchard. After almost four years of being disappointed or cheated by various publishers, it is really gratifying to at last be receiving some kind of recognition for our work. I was really thrilled when I received my first copy of the completed book. It looked so much better than I had imagined and just goes to show what you can achieve with a lot of hard-work and a willingness to learn. I certainly have no regrets about choosing the self-publishing route.

Not another set-back!!!

Having amended the small typos in A Perfect Nest for Mrs Mallard, I was looking forward to receiving a set of flawless copies. I was therefore horrified to notice that two of the photos towards the rear of the book had become pixelated. How that could possibly happen when no changes were made to the pictures is a mystery unsolved. I have had to submit another revision and everything is now on hold until a further proof has been approved. Meanwhile, I have been invited to sell and sign my books at a festival in the park this weekend and all I have is 30 copies with a typo and 8 copies with faulty photos. Obviously I was not born under a lucky star.

Samson's legacy lives on

My brother recently told me that one of his friends gave in to his son's demands for a kitten so they went to the local RSPCA shelter to choose one. However, when the young boy saw a 3 year old tabby cat, he just had to have him. The cat now has a new home and is named "Sailor Sam". I'm sure Samson would have got a kick out of having a new generation of cats growing up named after his picture book character. Annecdotes like this are what makes writing and illustrating children's books so worthwhile.

Why do you never notice your own mistakes?

I was devastated today to have two small typos pointed out to me in my new book. This is after it has been proof-read by 4 colleagues/friends and almost two dozen copies sold in the past few days at work with nobody noticing. Once you actually know that a mistake is there, you see nothing else. I will be submitting a revision to the printer this evening but it has really put a big downer on my day and on my pleasure at see my book finally in print.

At last - welcome to the world!

On a day when it is certainly weather for ducks, Mrs Mallard has finally left the nest accompanied by a record-breaking 16 ducklings.

Beautiful but deadly

I started the morning with a walk round Platt Fields, trying to dodge the showers. The young birds seem to be hatching late this year, and there is still no sign of Mrs Mallard! One Canada goose was out with her new family who look like they probably only hatched yesterday. Alas, their arrival has prompted the swan's annual killing spree. During just my short walk, he killed one gosling and injured another. It was rescued by one of the fishermen and taken home by a local woman. But once abandoned by their parents, the poor things don't stand a chance. The geese seem to be the worst parents and tend to flee, leaving their babies to face their fate.

The weather is encouraging me to stay indoors today and paint. I am attempting my first portrait of Freddie and his amazing polydactyl paws!

Come on, Mrs Mallard!

There is still no sign of our school duck, Mrs Mallard's ducklings hatching out - in fact until they hatch, there is never even any sign of Mrs Mallard! We are checking the courtyard several times daily but as yet, nothing. Mr Mallard has been seen sat on the roof of the music house most days, surveying the site.

Last year, Mrs Mallard was the first duck from Platt Fields to hatch her eggs and she and her 13 babies made the trek to the lake on 30th April. Already this Spring, another duck has beaten her to it and produced 5 ducklings (one of which already seems to have been lost).

A Tabby Cat Press hat-trick

I received my proof copy of 'A Perfect Nest for Mrs Mallard' a few days ago and was thrilled with it. I am just tweaking the title on the front cover slightly but otherwise, it is perfect. It shows how patience and practice pays off.

Giovanna is awaiting the proof of 'Rickie the Raccoon Learns about Recycling' and will undoubtedly be just as nervous as I was. After so many years of being let down, cheated and disappointed by other publishers, it will be quite something to finally hold a copy of this book in our hands.

Another step forward

I received an email yesterday from Lightning Source letting me know that my proof copy had been generated, which is greatly encouraging as I must have got the formatting right!

I can't wait to hold my new creation in my hands and see how it looks as a whole, rather than as individual paintings.

The first time I ever formatted my own book, I got the cover wrong three times and got so stressed that I gave myself shingles. Then one morning, I somehow saw the template in a completely different way, and bingo! - I'd got it.

Relief and apprehension

At last my work on "A Perfect Nest for Mrs Mallard" is complete - or at least the writing, illustration and set-up. Marketing (for me the most difficult part) is never done. I was up with the dawn yesterday morning, trying to get in a hour's painting before I went to work and last night saw me chained to my computer until nearly midnight, trying to get the PDF just right before submitting it to the printer. How many times did I go through the process only to notice a small typo that a spell checker would not pick up or a thin black line at the edge of an image?

Having ordered a proof copy, I will be on tenterhooks until it arrives. That first thrill of holding your creation in your hands can be immediately dashed by turning the page and seeing a typo staring back at you. Why didn't you spot it during the hundreds of times you viewed the file prior to submission? The proof of my first children's book literally made my blood run cold! My illustrations were cut in half and paired with the wrong half of other pictures, and worse still - I had nobody to blame but myself for page-numbering the book wrongly (although I had read the guidelines so many times...you seldom notice your own mistakes).

Hopefully, experience will make this proof a more of a pleasure to receive.

So close but so far!

I am really hoping that this weekend, I will be able to complete "A Perfect Nest for Mrs Mallard" but the last illustration is proving a devil. The school caretaker provides Mrs Mallard and her ducklings with an escort safely across the carpark and to the lake. I decide against a portrait of the caretaker (sorry, Terry - I know you were looking forward to your 15 minutes of fame), as scale-wise it would have made Mrs Mallard and her babies too tiny. So, I have them marching across the page in front of a halted car. This causes a further problem, as I don't want to show a real number plate and can't think of a good fictional one. I've tried masking the plate with the legs of watching schoolgirls (rather manga style) or having the truncated legs of the caretaker walking past but as yet, nothing is pleasing me. Think I need to give it a rest for today and come back to it refreshed tomorrow (although I've tried the same tactic for the past 3 nights and still no breakthrough!)

Love is in the Air

As I begin my final illustration for my new book, "The Adventures of Mrs Mallard", nesting season is certainly now in full swing at Platt Fields Park (Manchester, UK). I went for my early morning walk before work and was almost deafened by the noise of the Canada geese. The coots have evicted the moorhens from the small floating island that had been created for them and are busy building a nest decorated with crisp wrappers.

Every time I pass the school's courtyard, I look into the ivy under the magnolia tree, trying to spy 'Mrs Mallard', the real live duck upon whom my story is based. I saw her and Mr Mallard sat on the roof of the bungalow yesterday but she is never seen amongst the ivy until her eggs have actually hatched and she is ready to lead her ducklings to their permanent home on Platt Fields lake. Thank goodness she can always rely on one of the school's caretakers to help her lead her brood from the secure courtyard, safely across the carpark and to water.