I made myself a promise in 2008 that took less than two years to break. The night I got home from the London launch of my first book I sat on a sofa with a copy of BoardFree on my lap, and quietly told myself that now I had one, I could have more. I decided there and then to try and publish at least one book a year for the remainder of my days.
Of course, now it's closing in on 2012 and I still haven't published another one. There are no excuses, I've just been lazy.
But now it's time for a change. I've slotted together most of the other pieces of my unconventional jigsaw and now have a decent idea of what shapes will squeeze into the remaining holes.
A few months after BoardFree came out in March 2008 I embarked on a challenge which I hoped would result in a new book. Finally, it has. Ironically, my self-set book-a-year goal was bang on target as I completed draft one of Manuscript Two by February 2009, but then the very crux of the book's content matter led me to shelve it indefinitely.
So consumed I was by my ridiculous quest to find someone to love (and perhaps someone to love me back, too) that once I thought I'd found what I was looking for I didn't feel quite right completing the book. Then, earlier this year, I picked up those dusty sheets of paper and had a read-through, and to my surprise remembered that I'd written a book that didn't make me vomit in my coffee.
With the supportive and pressing urgency of a friend who loved the book even more than I did, I finished it off during a three-week paragliding trip to Nepal and set about finding a publisher, because that's what you're supposed to do when you write a book, right?
I was made a couple of offers, but they didn't sit right. I believed in the story and for all the opportunity of having a company professionally edit and distribute a book on my behalf, I felt that they didn't really believe in it as much as I did. My previous publisher gave me massive confidence by simply putting my first book on the market, it was all I'd ever wanted. But then they refused to re-publish in Australia despite speedy sales, and even now they won't allow me the rights to make BoardFree into an e-book. It's a horrible feeling when you've invested so much in something and it ends up suffocating beyond your control.
This blog was going to be focused on why I've decided to self-publish my second book, but Al Humphreys has recently written a similar post far more eloquently than I could manage, so if you're interested in the now very real competition between self and traditional publishing do go and read Al's thoughts.
I want to give the next one some life. Financially I might be taking a risk by turning down offers and going solo, but the freedom to sell and promote and then recreate this hapless tale into new formats (next step is to take it to the stage!) is starting to give me the butterflies that I was searching for when I first embarked on the project four years ago. I've sold more copies of BoardFree through my talks than I have through shops, so although it's a shame that this time around I won't experience that wonderful rush of blood when seeing my book on the shelves, at least it'll save my friends some time because I won't be rushing into to every book shop to see whether they're stocking me!
So, with 8 days to go before the digital copy launches (and a couple of weeks before paperbacks are available), I'd like to introduce DATE. It's the tale of a man trying to find a girlfriend by rather foolish means: by attempting to date 100 women in 100 days. I did it so you don't have to. I mean it, you really shouldn't try this at home! It was a brilliantly colourful yet utterly confusing three months, and the book will hopefully make you laugh, sob and go 'ahhhh, he's a loser!'
Here's to everyone who has written a book without an advance. We've all got a little story in us somewhere, and sometimes it's good to get it out.
> Visit the DATE website for some samples and a place to register your interest.
> Buy a copy of BoardFree
> Like the DATE Facebook page
> Follow DATE on Twitter
