Falling for your own hype and flirting with publishers!

It’s really, really easy to start believing your own hype – and to fall for the positive things that people say about you. It’s easy to get an inflated sense of your own importance and abilities.

I know I have to guard against it whenever I have a victory; it’s being able to find that balance between celebrating your successes and still keeping a level head that allows you to continue to learn, realise you don’t know everything (although of course I do!!!) and remain open to the feedback and suggestions of others.

I don’t think anyone is above that. Some people just don’t realise it. Anyway, enough of that…

Today I’ve had a chat with a small publisher in New York – very exciting but nerve-wracking and I actually thought my heart was going to pump itself out of my chest at one point whilst I was waiting for the phone to ring!

It went well though – he’s waiting for my paperback to arrive and will have a skim – but is definitely interested in the topic and thinks it would do well.

I also then had an email conversation with another small UK publishing house – they’re also interested in discussing something but he was a bit more cagey. He said that his first impressions having scanned through my book were that it was “well written, logically structured and gave good, practical information” – which was obviously nice to hear.

It’s a very interesting process this whole publishing/book thing…

I’m also helping J and a writer he’s working with on a joint project to create an epic graphic novel (adult version of a comic!!!).

What impresses me about the writer is that he works full time in some “noddy” day job (which also requires him to commute for 2 hours a day) but then spends all of his spare time writing 200+ page novels (which are actually pretty good and very creative), pays for illustrators to illustrate them out of his own pocket and also finds time to make contacts in the publishing industry and speak to entrepreneurs to see if he can get some investment.

That’s what I call passion and motivation…and he certainly deserves to be successful for it.