Natalie

Moving up the charts…where’s the bubbly?

May 26, 2014October 17, 2015by NatalieLeave a Comment

So, I haven’t been making too much of a song and dance about it because I didn’t want to be annoying, but on the last check, Together Apart was sitting at number 76 in the Amazon.co.uk Romance chart, and number 53 in New Adult.

O.M.G

The last few days have seen it really start to sell, and it just occurred to me, sitting here, that it’s a huge achievement – one which I’m very, very proud of. The idea of all those people reading it is exhilarating, and also, bloody petrifying. Knee-shaking, stomach–turningly terrifying. And, shortly, it’ll be available to readers on non-Kindle devices too. Gulp.

I’ve had some bad reviews, of course. I always knew I would – unfortunately there’s no such thing as a book that everyone loves, but they’ve been few and far between.

When Together Apart got through to the Authonomy Editor’s Desk, a fellow writer friend gave me a bottle of bubbly to celebrate. I still haven’t opened it, as I was waiting for a more tangible achievement – something that felt more real.

This is. It does.

So, it’s champers time! And I am absolutely, positively not going to sit here refreshing my screen every hour to check my sales and rank.

p.s. that might have been a tiny, white lie

Self-publishing, Writing

SOS from the depths of formatting hell

May 26, 2014May 23, 2014by NatalieLeave a Comment

I love writing. It’s not always easy, though. I’m not someone who wakes up in the middle of the night with a eureka storyline, oh no. More likely, an idea pops into my head at the most random of times, like buying tomatoes. I love creating scenarios where people can do whatever I want them to do (control freak? moi?). I love the endless possibilities of it all. What I don’t love, is formatting.

I mean, honestly. Who ever heard of using ‘styles’ in Word to format a document? Seemingly everyone else apart from me – that’s who. It was a right royal pain in the backside, but it wasn’t too tricky in the end. I almost had a celebratory glass of wine – until it came to paperback formatting.

I honestly don’t think there’s a better form of torture. For 3 days, I stayed up until way, way past my bed-time, trying to figure it all out. Page breaks, section breaks, blank pages, and page numbering…God, the page numbering.

Is it just me? Did anyone else find this insanely difficult? Maybe its because I break out in hives whenever I have to use footers in Word, but I just couldn’t get my head around it at all. Well, okay, I couldn’t get my head around it until I realised I was doing it wrong.

Facepalm.

What made it worse, was that I was following instructions written in a way that anyone could understand. Maybe I just have a penchant for overthinking things to the point of them making no sense at all, whatsoever.

There is one consolation though. At least when it comes to my next book, I’ll be a dab hand. Or at least, I hope so, otherwise I’ll have no hair left. Maybe there’s some kind of support group for formatting-scarred writers. If there isn’t one, there should be.

But, I guess it’s not all bad. I’m a step closer to my goal of getting it out in paperback. It’ll all be worth it in the end.

Right?

Books

It’s my 3 month bookversary! #flashsale #kindle

May 23, 2014May 23, 2014by NatalieLeave a Comment

So, as I posted about earlier this week, my book, Together Apart has been out for just over 3 months – my bookversary (see what I did there?). If this were a relationship. I’d mark the day somehow – even if only mentally. 3 months. Things are starting to get serious. Maybe Facebook statuses have been changed and there’s a toothbrush sitting in a different bathroom (I feel I’m giving far too much away about myself here). But while I poured my blood, sweat and tears into my book, I won’t be rustling up a cosy dinner for it because that would just be weird, and would look desperate. And we all know the saying ‘Desperation is so sexy, said no person. Ever.’

What I am doing though, is letting you all know that for today, you can download it for the princely sum of 99c. Not bad eh?

You can read more about Together Apart here or buy it here.

Happy weekend all!

Music, Writing

Midweek Meltdown – George Ezra, Coat of Armour

May 21, 2014June 16, 2014by NatalieLeave a Comment

Artist: George Ezra

Track: Coat of Armour

I can’t write without music. Well, I can but it has to be a particular circumstance, like the zombie apocalypse or something equally drastic. Anyway, I was watching Later…with Jools Holland at the weekend and my ears melted when I heard George Ezra sing. This isn’t the song he played, it’s another that I’ve found and can I just say, it’s bee-yoo-tiful. I want to wrap it around myself like a blanket.

If you’ve got any music recommendations, please send them my way! You can also check out my previous weeks’ tracks by going to the Midweek Meltdown tab above, follow the playlist on YouTube or follow me on Spotify

Enjoy!

Travel, Writing

Sab Kuch Milega – Anything is Possible #travel #writing #goa #india

May 19, 2014May 17, 2014by Natalie9 Comments

Sab Kuch Milega – Hindi. Translates to English as ‘Anything is possible.’

When I decided to publish Together Apart, I had a little fantasy of having a glass of bubbly substitute (because I don’t like the real thing) with a friend or two in a bar somewhere to celebrate. It didn’t quite work out like that in reality. What happened was, I pressed the big, yellow publish button from a cafe in Arambol, Goa in my own company with a latte and a slice of almond buckwheat cake at 7am while waiting for my friend to arrive from London. Rock and Roll.

It was just one of many things that have come to sum up the process of self-publishing that I’ve seen so far. Always expect the unexpected because anything is possible.

I did have some reservations before I left England. I really wasn’t sure what the internet situation would be like over there so I was pleasantly surprised to find that wifi was literally everywhere. Except, it always seemed to crash when I needed it the most. Like the very day I was to push the button after having announced the released date to my family and friends. Even still, it was a small price to pay for being here.

Photo taken by me on Arambol Beach

Photo sourced on Google

I should say, I’m not a travel writer. I made two diary entries in the 4 months I was away and they were on occassions where it was write or cry. I must admit, I do regret not spending a little time each day writing in my notepad but hey ho. In any case, I am a writer, and I chose to publish my book while travelling. And this meant trying to sort out all the technical stuff, liaising with my editor and cover designer, tweeting, Facebooking etc etc etc while also trying to experience one of the the most diverse, crazy places on earth. I’ll get round to blogging about those in the near future.

My book has been out for 3 months now. There were times when I said I would never publish a book while travelling again. Which is funny, because I said the same thing after being in India for 3 months. Never again.

And yet…

I know I’ll go back. I feel I have to. I want to. I barely scratched the surface of Goa and Rajasthan, let alone India as a whole and as cliched as it sounds, it really is a special place. And the same goes for my book (not the special bit, although to me it is. Obvs.) I think – no, I know – that I’ll be somewhere else when Book 2 comes out next year. I don’t know where yet, but I will. I’ve always loved writing and now I’ve had a dalliance with travelling, I’ve decided I love that too. It can be done. There are a great many people doing all kinds of things as they travel – I don’t see why I shouldn’t be one of them.

Is anyone else a travel writer or a writer who travels? I’d love to hear how others found the process!