{"id":63,"date":"2024-11-23T11:45:49","date_gmt":"2024-11-23T11:45:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/surplustorequirements.org.uk\/strblog\/?p=63"},"modified":"2024-11-23T11:48:27","modified_gmt":"2024-11-23T11:48:27","slug":"pressing-the-button","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/surplustorequirements.org.uk\/strblog\/2024\/11\/23\/pressing-the-button\/","title":{"rendered":"Pressing the button"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Yesterday was a most exciting day. I sent the files for my book to the publisher. I\u2019m so excited. It will be a few days before I hear more but meanwhile I\u2019ll revisit some of what happened before I pressed the button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve written quite a lot of stuff, most recently my book about the End to End<\/a>. I even wrote a PhD, but this is my first novel. It\u2019s better than the PhD as I\u2019ve given more attention to the details. Even so, I know it will not be perfect. I\u2019m not a perfectionist. But it will do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The road to publishing fiction is full of pot holes \u2013 or perhaps even plot holes. Any would be novelist is well advised to have a robust support network for the ups and downs, twists and turns of the process. In the traditional method there\u2019s a whole load of bits I, having chosen the self-publishing route, have missed out. I don\u2019t have an agent except myself. Longdendale Press is my own imprint. I have had the help of many people: editors, proof readers, cover designer, readers. I\u2019m thankful to all these people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m also grateful to the software developers who do make self-publishing a possible way forward. Thirty-five years ago I wrote my MPhil thesis on the first computer I owned and thought I\u2019d never need another. Even so, without my techie husband I\u2019d probably still be searching for goose quills in the valley. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are several reasons why I went with self-publishing: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. It\u2019s quite cheap, so even a woman denied her state pension for six years can just about afford it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. I can do it from my own home, so it fits in between other activities like making soup and playing the organ or walking in the valley.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. I wanted to get the book out. As the \u2018right to die\u2019 debate has escalated I\u2019ve been aware I need to get the book done. Conversations with friends confirmed this. The traditional process could take many more years: query letters, working with agents and editors and so on. Self-publishing is quicker.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. The book is quirky: a near-future dystopia set in the North of England that follows the life of a seventy-nine year old woman who is \u2018surplus to requirements\u2019 through the ups and downs of a journey that involves the lives of many saints and uses the remembered bible. I\u2019m not aware of a literary niche like it and I thought it unlikely I\u2019d find one that fitted. Ever a square peg in a round hole, as a self appointed daughter of dissent it seemed better to just go for it, a strategy I\u2019ve used in many aspects of my life.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. I\u2019m impatient. Can\u2019t wait to see it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    I hope you are too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Janet Lees, 23.11.2024, Longdendale.<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Yesterday was a most exciting day. I sent the files for my book to the publisher. I\u2019m so excited. It will be a few days before I hear more but meanwhile I\u2019ll revisit some of what happened before I pressed the button. I\u2019ve written quite a lot of stuff, most recently my book about the… Continue reading Pressing the button<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-self-publishing","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/surplustorequirements.org.uk\/strblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/surplustorequirements.org.uk\/strblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/surplustorequirements.org.uk\/strblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surplustorequirements.org.uk\/strblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surplustorequirements.org.uk\/strblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/surplustorequirements.org.uk\/strblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70,"href":"https:\/\/surplustorequirements.org.uk\/strblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63\/revisions\/70"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/surplustorequirements.org.uk\/strblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surplustorequirements.org.uk\/strblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surplustorequirements.org.uk\/strblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}