Now that I had a publisher every one of my friends got to hear that I was about to become a published author of a children’s book, which did come as a surprise to them as I didn’t have any kids…but they still believed me anyway.
The publisher came down from JHB and after a few beers we both decided that we liked and trusted each other and the contracts were signed. Their one concern was that they thought the story was a bit thin and they requested a few more chapters. I wrote 4 more.
I briefed a friend of mine who did the fantastic illustrations and just as the final manuscript and illustrations were going to be sent up to JHB the publisher phoned me to tell me that they were going out of business and that they couldn’t publish my book.
NOt only did I feel depressed, despondant, pissed off, sorry for myself etc etc etc but now I had to tell all my friends that I wasn’t actually going to become a published author..! They still loved me anyway.
The decision was mine to make; shelve the whole idea and tell everyone that I was almost an author, look for another publisher, or go down the road of self publishing.
I had the final edited manuscript and illustrations so it seem like a viable option, except…I knew absoultely nothing about publishing a book…