A Month of Firsts or With a Lot of Help From My Friends

Two days ago I uploaded my new Valentine’s Day story to Amazon. This is my first foray into self-publishing, but publishing the book was also the last in a long line of firsts. To say I’ve been on a very steep learning curve for the past three weeks would be the understatement of the century, and if it hadn’t been for the people I’ll mention below, Valentine’s Love would never have seen the light of day.

Adira, Tanja, Dermot, Elin, Paul, and Lily are not only worth their weight in gold when it comes to their beta reading powers, they also proved to be speed readers extraordinaire. Sally Hopkinson managed to pull off what I deemed impossible when she edited the full story over the course of a few days. And without Theo Fenraven my book wouldn’t have had its gorgeous cover.

Let’s just say that there’s nothing like trying to get my own story ready for publication to make me appreciate all the work my publishers have done for me in the past. If I ever wondered why I had to split my royalties, I know fully understand.

I’m immensely grateful for and in awe of the patience displayed by Isobel Starling, K.C. Wells, Posy Roberts and Brigham Vaughn. They helped me with formatting the Word document, creating an Instafreebie account, setting up a newsletter, and publishing the book on Amazon without ever losing their patience or telling me how very useless I am when it comes to all matters IT.

If I needed proof that the writing/reading community I’m part of is a very supportive and loving place, my journey to producing this book provided it in spades. I can’t begin to express how incredibly grateful I am for all the help and hand-holding I received.

As for the book: It will always hold a special place in my heart. Not only is it the first title I self-published, it is also the story that proved once and for all that I’m a very lucky writer to have found so many invaluable friends.

Blurb

Ty O’Malley loves Spoilt for Choice, his gift shop. He enjoys nothing more than helping his customers find the perfect present. The only exception is Valentine’s Day. Ever since his partner left him, three years previously, Ty hasn’t been able to enjoy the love-themed holiday, and goes out of his way to avoid dealing with it. This year will be no different — until his assistant interferes.

When Ben Cronin walks into his premises, looking for presents for a man he doesn’t know but has been admiring from afar, Ty can’t deny Ben is everything he would look for in a man — if he happened to be looking, which he isn’t. Besides, Ben has obviously set his sights on someone else.

As Ty instructs Ben in the art of finding the perfect gift, the two men grow closer. But there are only four weeks until Valentine’s Day. After February fourteenth, Ty will probably never see Ben again … Or will he?

Valentine’s Love can be found on Amazon for $.99/£.99/€.99 or through KU.

Universal link: http://mybook.to/ValentinesLove