The journey begins ...
... or, to be more accurate, the next stage of the journey begins.
A publishing contract has been signed and so the first leg, writing the thing, is over. I now must treat it as though hewn from stone, rather than the waters of creativity. No more tweaking, time to move on. It's been with me so long that it might be hard to let go ... but let go I must!
So what are my hopes and fears for ‘Grosse Fugue’? Should I reveal my innermost thoughts? Perhaps not yet. As any author knows, the greatest hunger is for an audience, preferably one as large as possible. Of course, there's a revenue attraction to that. But for many, it's just the notion of our work being read by many hearts and minds.
A few may love it, many may loathe it. A handful might be moved, others offended. With any luck, no-one will be indifferent, the true mark of failure. But I hope that some may be tempted for the first time to delve into the music that permeates the novel - Bach, Beethoven, Schubert - and then perhaps relish the consolation, inspiration and transportation that I have sought to communicate. And if one or two are stimulated to think about the Holocaust, its meaning and legacy, then I might just begin to think that the journey was worthwhile.
There, the context is set. The purpose of this blog series is to share the experience of writing a novel and seeking a publisher, and to explain the process of getting the work out there in print and digitally. It will be a serial of excitement and frustration, bloody-mindedness and compromise, highs and lows, hopes and fears.
My next post will return to the very beginning.
Ian Phillips is a freelance writer for businesses whose first novel, Grosse Fugue, will be published by Alliance Publishing Press this Spring
As a keen violinist as well as an aspiring author this sounds intriguing and it's good to hear that a fellow newbie has crossed the barrier of publishing, congrats!
Morning Tony.
Thanks for the enthusiastic response!. I will certainly be covering all those points.
Publishing is a bit like education at the moment, it seems to me. I chair the governing body of a sixth-form college and it rather resembles the wild west. A plethora of new players, new approaches, many challenges, significant opportunities and, yup, severe threats.
The explosion of digital products and services is similarly tearing up the rule book in publishing and how it has impacted on my journey will be a major leitmotif of the blog series.
Thursday will go back to the beginning but I will accelerate to the parts posters thus far are clearly interested in reasonably rapidly.
Hi Ian,
I'm looking forward to Thursday now as I'm intrigued to know more about your experience and views on the role of the agent and the potential for cutting out the 'middle man' and going straight to publishing. Also interested in your experience of the digital rights for your book and whether an author can keep these rights nowadays, or whether the publishers have got this sown up in the contract.
Roll on Thursday!