Small and independent publishers

Although I don’t take the magazine, I’m on the emailing list of Mslexia (‘The magazine for women who write’) and a couple of weeks ago I received a message from them about a new edition of their guide to small and independent book publishers (available from both Mslexia and Amazon). It was just the spur I needed to pick up my novel again.

I had to abandon the novel four years ago when I took over as editor of a local magazine but I resigned that post this time last year, about the same time as my mother died. Having taken a year off from everything and with the passing of the anniversary of my mother’s death, I began to think it was time to stretch my creative wings. The email arrived at just the right time, as things always do.

I can cope with a small independent publisher, I thought. Neither I nor my writing is ready for big international publishers and pushy agents. I’ll just zip through the novel and sharpen it up and then send it off.

That, of course, has not turned out to be the case. As I get into the novel I find that it needs more than a sharpen and is going to take me at least a month or two to pull into shape. It isn’t half fun though!

Because I’m not very clever I may not be able to work on this blog at the same time as working on the novel. The blog has however been a lifeline over the last year and I shall do my best to keep it up. Thank you for being there.