So I've taken the first steps towards self-publishing my first novel. "Tintian and the King's Claw" has so far gathered the requisite number of rejections from agents and big publishers (around 30), and while I got some incredible feedback and three requests for the full manuscript, no takers yet.
That's okay. I love the story, and I think it deserves to be released onto the world... so time to do that myself. The trouble is of course, that I have no idea how to do that! Thankfully I have a lot of friends in publishing and editing, and they've been an enormous help.
The first step was to nail down a cover. There are a tonne of good cover artists, but I found one I like* and you can see some of the results of his work already on my "Books" page. He also did a full set of 5 "Episode" covers for the serialization of the work, which was awesome, and the banner I used for Patreon!
Next step was to hire a professional editor. I've already done this and sent the book off to her. The incredible Anna Albo** has my novel in her hands already, and I feel a huge weight lifted as a result.
In the meantime, I've been researching the publishing process itself. I really want to get this as "right" as I can for my first effort. Which means a tonne of research, but (as a scientist) I'm used to that.
Anyway, thanks for reading! I'll keep everyone appraised of the process as it continues. I suspect next will be writing the "Last time on Tintian..." and "Next time you can expect..." at the start and end of each serialized portion. Self-publishing isn't easy, but it is pretty damn interesting!
*My cover artist's website is http://www.goonwrite.com/
**Anna Albo can be reached on Twitter (@AnnamariaAlbo), or through her website (http://www.annaalbo.com/)