The Hell Ride To Get Books On The Shelves

I got there!

Probably one of the hardest parts of distributing my book has been achieved.

It was a hell of a ride, but well worth it.

Last week I felt like I crossed yet another finishing line.

There seem to be so many of them on the publishing journey.

This time Loreless began gracing the shelves of brick and mortar bookshops.

At the very beginning in the publishing process I had started with getting the ebook out into the world.

That was a relatively painless exercise and returned almost instant gratification. The results for your efforts are quickly apparent, but then I guess that goes for anything digital.

For the reader an ebook is easy to access and for a publisher, it’s easy to produce. Once, that is, you and the reader are able to get your head around the technology.

Producing a paperback is a completely different beast, but for my book, a necessary evil.

I knew most of my readers wanted a physical book. I think the book lends itself more to that format anyway.

It follows the journey of a man coming to terms with himself and his roots. A journey is a tangible thing. Holding a physical book in your hands in a similar thing, it adds weight to a story.

Also, it’s a lot easier to flip to the last page you were reading.

In order to get Loreless beyond the digital world, incidentally the paperback is also available online, I had to hit the streets.

This was a big step for me. I had to go out and actually talk to people. I had to sell my book in person.

As an author I prefer permanent hibernation. It’s much safer and less daunting if I can stay in my cave.

Okay, I guess I’m a coward at heart.

Once I was out there, it proved fairly painless and actually quite an uplifting experience.

People who work in bookshops are very enthusiastic and supportive. Talking to them about my book also left me with a kind of warm, fuzzy feeling.

In most cases I only had to admit I was an author and the stores would ask me if I wanted them to stock my book. Curiously, I didn’t have to sell the book, I had to sell myself.

Then the book sold itself.

The physical bookstore is something which is a world apart from the lonely and isolated clinical, digital world.

Online you are looking at numbers, trying to stay in the rankings and move up the charts. Your book is one of millions among all the other ones and zeros.

I’m an author and numbers don’t hold my interest the same as words do. Although, I do seem to have developed an addiction to line graphs.

Two days ago I was staring a table full of new releases and Loreless was there.

Nudging shoulders with J. K. Rowling, a book possibly about nothing considering its title – The Nix – and The Underground Railroad it didn’t look at all out of place.

I’m glad I took a photo as now I can stop and consider what I’ve done. At the time I was rushing in and out of one store after another.

I have taken a big step out into the real world.

The next day I returned to my cave and started working on my next book.