One Month to Go!

Somehow, we’ve reached one month to the day of when my debut novel is in bookshops. I thought I’d be nervous, but it’s taken so many years to get here that I’m more relieved than anything. Soon, I’ll be able to call myself a published author, something I’ve dreamt about since childhood. Through everything, during my lowest moments and darkest days, writing has been with me. I’m so glad I lived to hold my book in my hands.  

I did a proof drop with Aoifke (my publicist) on the 4th June and we had lots of fun. We trawled around the city, yapped about bookish news and drama, and got a bit nostalgic over the books we loved as teenagers. It was a nice break before the final push to release day - and I got a hot chocolate along the way. I do believe there’s a hot chocolate fund in my marketing budget because at this point I can’t meet anyone from Penguin without asking for one.

A taxi picked me up from my house and whisked me away to central London. We went to Foyles Bookshop and Waterstones Gower Street, Tottenham Court Road, Covent Garden, and Trafalgar Square. I chatted to the sci-fi and fantasy booksellers, pitched THE REAPER, and Aoifke gave them some arcs and a Jamaican ginger cake as a treat! I’m sure they have so many books to get through, but hopefully they’ll be able to give it a read and order in some copies! The book is so London-focused, I imagine a few of them would enjoy spotting all the easter eggs of the city I included in the story.  

I did a reddit AMA the day after and got some lovely questions. Thanks to everyone who popped in to ask (I know a few of you who follow me on IG and Threads came in to support after I advertised it on my socials!).

My interview with SFX has been printed and will be in the July edition, so be sure to look out for it! And I (and the book!) will be in a few places this summer, like Waterstones Bookfest.   

The other day I told my work colleagues about the proof drop and their faces all lit up. They were so excited, and it really got to me. Once you crossover from “aspiring writer who doesn’t have a clue how anything works” to “anxious debut contending with the politics and woes of trad pub”, you lose sight of the bigger picture. It’s like everything - from publishing itself to the many jaded, experienced authors you meet on the way - tells you that this industry is where dreams go to die. It can be quite depressing, and I think I spent more time focusing on all the things that could go wrong than taking a moment to realise I was seeing my lifelong dream come true. It’s nice to get some perspective.  

I hope this blog has been a space of honesty: raw honesty, candid, and real, but I also want it to be a place of hope for anyone who needs it. When I look back at my earlier posts, where I lament the woes of the slush pile and document the many dead ends of getting an agent, and finally celebrate the WriteNow win, I’m amazed at how far I’ve come. It hasn’t always been a pretty journey, but I want people to see everything so that when they enter this industry, they’re armed with proper knowledge of how things work. Trad pub is hard, ridiculously so, and from the outside it seems like everyone is living it up like Leigh Bardugo and Rebecca Yarros. But their stories are rare, and even they weren’t overnight successes; they had to endure their own rejections and setbacks along the way.  

I started this blog in 2018. Seven years ago. Who knows what will happen in another seven years’ time? Will I be uploading posts from my yacht? Will I be homeless (again?) part of the excitement lies in the unknown, which is something trad pub knows very well.