I’m getting excited, now.
My novel, ‘Making Friends with the Crocodile’ is hopefully ready for its final edit.
This part of the journey seems to be taking a great deal of time, but this might be because it is my first foray into publishing. I know that there is still much to do – formatting, advertising, proof-reading, the publishing itself, amongst a plethora of smaller but no less important tasks – but I am finally beginning to feel that I am getting there.
Curiously, after what I wrote in my last post, I never found any of the characters threatening to hijack the plot in any way. Although I never planned it out in any detail, I had a rough plan in my head, which, remarkably, I kept to. Perhaps it is because the subject matter is strong. I don’t know.
And I think that I have settled upon the cover (the artwork is my own).
I may play around with the wording, slightly, for example I might take out the words ‘A Novel’.
For some background; the story is set in a village in Northern India, some fifteen odd years ago. It is about the deteriorating relationship between two women in a family: the mother and her daughter in law. Like this relationship frequently is, it is a strained, fractious one, not helped by that society’s attitudes towards women and their roles in general. And when one of them gets caught up in events beyond her control, these attitudes become dreadfully destructive.
As always, your thoughts would be very much appreciated.
When will it be published and will it be available as an ebook?
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Hi Martin. Good to see you here! It will be published as an ebook, almost certainly Kindle (although nothing is finalised yet), but as for when – I hope it won’t take longer than a couple of months, but all of these other little tasks seem to take me forever!
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Looks good, Mick. Just one thought about the cover. I’d centre your name below and make it much bigger (and yes, drop the term ‘A novel’). Perhaps the title could be slightly bigger as well? You have to consider how it will look when miniaturized to a postage stamp on Kindle.
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Thanks, John. Yes, I’ve done the postage stamp test, and I’m sure you’re right. Admittedly, when I did so, I was more focused on what the image looked like at that size..
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Best wishes Mick. Looking forward to reading it.
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Thank you!
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I’d leave the ‘a novel by’ in. The title could be mistaken for non fiction. Let me know when you’re closer to release and we can do an interview and release publicity on my blog 🙂
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That’s a thought, yes. Although a non-fiction book of that title might be more interesting than my novel!
As for the interview and publicity, that would be very kind, Christoph. Thank you!
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It looks great! And a big congratulations on all that hard work. People don’t always appreciate how much goes into a novel. Very much looking forward to the release.
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Thanks, Lucy. I hope it won’t disappoint!
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I am sure it will not, dear chap!
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Great art work on the cover. And best of luck …
Is it making friend with the crocodile or crocodiles..?
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Thanks, Akhila. It’s crocodile. The title was inspired by the Indian proverb ‘if you live on the bank of the river, you should make friends with the crocodile’.
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Okay okay..I understand. .
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Congratulations for being so far along the way. I think the last 10% of effort on any project is always the toughest. I love the cover picture, BTW.
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Thanks, Denise. It does seem somehow to have become more difficult at the end. And I’m glad you liked the picture – one of my India paintings.
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Best of Luck in these latter stages Mick. You”ll really start wanting them to be over soon. I think the cover art is very good giving just a flavour of India but perhaps the lettering could be slightly larger of both title and name. I personally think it’s quite nice to have ‘A novel by’ there.
When you start your publicity I’ll be glad to copy tweets for you and I’ll reblog your interview with Christoph too.
Hugs
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Thanks, David. That’s very much appreciated.
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This all looks good Mick. I think the title is intriguing and the cover painting is great. I don’t know enough about ebooks to comment on them, but if this is coming out as a hard back or paperback I’d buy it. Good Luck with everything.
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Thanks, Colin. I fear I would have to be far more successful with the ebook than I expect to be before I could contemplate a print run!
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I shall definitely have to buy it on kindle when it comes out! It does seem very exciting for me to get a better understanding for others cultures in a family unit! I think it looks great how it is. The art work is good!
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Thank you, Kieran. I hope it will live up (or down!) to expectations!
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The layout of the title may seem a little unbalanced perhaps, Mick? Two words centred, then below three words centred, might work?
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I’ll try that. Thanks, Hariod. I’m getting a lot of food for thought here, which is exactly what I wanted.
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Probably far too much well-intentioned advice coming your way! It is critically important to get the cover spot on though.
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No, I’m happy to get as much advice as possible. It’s my first time, and there are plenty of published authors out there who have found out what works and what doesn’t. I’m grateful to be the recipient of all that advice!
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Pedant!
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Cheeky sod!
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That comment should have been moderated. Not approved . Also doesnt a sod refer to either a bloke or a clod of earth. You probably haven’t noticed but I am neither……. 😤
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The Moderator is watching from afar. Biding his time…
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Cheeky bitch? 😮
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*drums fingers on table*
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*sits silently in dread, awaiting to be visited by some wild Sussex wrath*
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Be very afraid…
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Mick! Quick! What can I appease her with?
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Oh, Lord! I dunno! Chocolate? Wine? It would work for me!
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Ruddy hell – that’s two lots then! And she’ll want Fortnum and bloody Mason choccies not doubt. Tsk. An expensive error on my part – ah well.
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Ho Ho Gentlemen.. ( I use the term loosely, very loosely with regards to one of your males!) I sadly missed this exchange due to something pressing called Work. You know me, Captain of Industry, beating the workers and draining them dry – offering morsels of bread and nothing else. So back to the story, well I like Mikes…I don’t know about the other one!
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*Wipes chocolate from mouth quickly with back of hand, shoves wineglass and bottle hastily behind pile of books* Eh, what?
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Mick… I’m suitably impressed you are drinking at this hour. No excuse for me now not to join in…. hic hic
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Mick, I will be the first one to put my hands on it! Love the storyline. And I love the cover. I think you should keep “a novel by”. Cannot wait! Congratulations in advance.
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Thank you!
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Good luck with the book. Keep us posted.
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Thank you. I’ll make sure that every twist and turn is posted up until everyone is fed up with the sight of it!
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I like the cover, Mike, and the artwork is beautiful. On top of that, the story sounds intriguing. Good hook. Congrats on nearing the end of the journey with this one.
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Thank you. the end still feels a remarkably long way away, though!
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I know. And then you’re marketing, etc. and writing the next one. It never really ends 🙂 A good thing!
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Definitely. Hope it never ends!
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How exciting! I love your artwork, though I hate to think how my Kindle Paperwhite might muddy it up. I’m sure it will look beautiful on the Kindle Fire. Good luck on the last leg of the editing/revision journey.
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Thanks, Monica. It feels like a remarkably long leg at the moment. And…Kindle Paperwhite / Kindle Fire…I suppose that’s something else I need to make myself aware of?
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I don’t know much about how the publishing end of it works, but I know here in the States, Kindle readers are what many use to read e-books.
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Yes, same here. I don’t know anything about different types of Kindle readers, though, or why you might want one over the other.
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Well, I like my Kindle Paperwhite because the screen sort of mimics paper (low glare) and it’s easier on the eyeballs. 🙂 But it’s black and off-white only. No color.
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I think I’ll just have to nod sagely at this point and make a mental note to look these up later.
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You will feel like a freed bird – when its finished. Very exciting days ahead.
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I hope so! Thank you!
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Congratulations!
BTW where can I read your book once it is published?
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Thank you! I’m intending to publish it on Kindle, although I suspect it will be a couple of months before everything is ready.
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Okk.
Btw the Android app of WordPress ain’t that good. I’m using it now. And I can’t like or post properly 😥
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Oh blimey, I’ve no idea what that is! For what it’s worth, both your comments and your likes are showing up clearly here.
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Congratulations Mick. For your novel, you have chosen a topic that is very popular on the TV soaps. Most of the television serials in India are based on the MIL- DIL theme. 🙂
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Do you know, I’d completely forgotten about that? I’ve caught a few episodes here and there on TV when I’ve been in India.
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Ha ha …the squabbles dominate Indian TV , but it could be a novelty for the western audience.
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Maybe we could introduce it to them! Perhaps Star or Zee might sell a couple of series to the BBC!
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Wow , congratulation.
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Thank you!
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Interesting cover…
Even more interesting plot. Daughter in law and mother in law is very popular plot in India. in fact, majority of soap on television run on this theme. Unlike USA,where they centre around two ladies trying to control/influence a man out here, man in question is sandwiched between mother and wife. Anything similar in your novel Mick? 😉
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Not quite, Arv. I have seen one or two of those episodes whilst in India, and in fact another blogger reminded me of this just now, but the plot of my book is focused more on the relationship between the women, and the way that females are treated in society in general.
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I guess that would be an interesting read, Mick! 🙂
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Ooh – exciting!
I’d agree with Hariod on balancing the title, and that would allow you to slightly enlarge the font as well. I like the painting and the placing of “A Novel by Mick Canning”.
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Thanks, Dave. I think the general opinion certainly appears to be that I should tweak the writing a bit.
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Mike – It sounds great and I am sure it will be a stonkingly good read
Come to our WordFest and do a Read/Interview
We have lots of ladies so the token man will be more than welcome
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Sounds a little scary, but I’ll take a look. I assume I can find a link on your blog (I’ve probably seen it and forgotten about it!). And thank you.
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No link on my blog. It’s a properly organised event
Shoreham word fest
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Okay, I looked it up. *tentatively* sounds interesting…
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Hello Mick
Congratulations and all the best. I hope it goes into print as a book though as I am looking forward to persuading the libraries to supply copies for the two reading groups I run. Also the cover is superb and deserves to be seen in colour. I hope it goes to other e readers too as mine’s a Kobo, also, sadly, black and white so I need a book to savour the cover as well as the contents which sound just my cup of coffee.. .
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Hi Brenda. Thanks for visiting and commenting. I suppose there is no reason why it might not go onto other readers, although I’m still trying to get my head around the whys and wherefores of all this. Print is another matter, since that requires finance upfront, and I’d be surprised if I could get enough people interested. But…we’ll see.
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Congratulations! Nothing quite like the feeling of (finally!) getting your book out into the world. If you’re collecting opinions, I’d go ahead and strike the “A Novel,” unless you get really attached. Your cover doesn’t look at all like nonfiction, so I don’t think you need to be concerned that people will know it’s a novel. 🙂
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Thanks, Cathleen. The general opinion here seems to echoe that.
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Very cool!
I’d be attracted if it said “A Novel of India” but that is a very biased view from someone who would be fascinated by such a novel 🙂 Cheers!
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Thank you. That’s one more thing for me to consider. It would attract me, as a reader, too.
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Ahhh sounds like an interesting read…a very catchy title too..love the cover page art…👍👍👍
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Thanks, Neethu.
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Ooo great! Congratulations! 😊
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Thank you!
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Congratulations! The cover art is very good, and the plot sounds interesting. I think your book will do very well!
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Thanks, Ann. Everyone is being very kind!
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Congratulations, Mick. I had a book published some years ago now and I know that’s not an easy undertaking. I didn’t making many pennies (but that’s not why I wrote it) but got much more satisfaction out of getting it all together although I know it’s incredibly complicated.
As for your book – I love the title and the artwork … brilliant … I think I agree with one of your followers above that leaving the words ‘A Novel …’ in as it’s probably a good idea to distinguish that it is a novel as opposed non-fiction. The ideas are great, though! Good luck, Mick! x 🙂
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Thanks, Ellie. It’s all very exciting. Still not sure about ‘a novel’ – lots of different opinions. But lots still to do.
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Mick interesting story line. Wanna read it when u have published. Do keep all of us informed on this. And don’t worry if this is your first attempt then it will definitely be taking sometime but from there on you would be doing it faster. All the best on all your ventures. Keep publishing. Interesting to know you like India so much and your novel is based on an Indian story. Am impressed. 👍🏼👍🏼
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Thank you. I shall post regularly, of course.
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Congratulations on getting so far with your novel, Mick. I know it must have involved a huge amount of work to get it to this stage. Not long now, eh?
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Thanks, Bun. No, not too long, I hope. I do fear a sting in the tail, though. Something I’ve completely overlooked.
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I know from the posts you’ve written before, Mick, that you’ve thought about this project long and hard. I can’t see anything major going awry now.
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*chews fingernails* I hope that’s not tempting fate, Bun!
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When the ebook will be available? R u putting it in amazon?
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I am hoping it will be out in approximately 2 months, but that is rather a ‘best guess’ since I haven’t done this before, and I don’t know how long each stage of the process will take (and that is without having to do other things…like ‘life’, for example…). And yes, planning to put in on Kindle, and hence Amazon.
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Take yr time. ‘ Life’ is also very important.
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Agreed.
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Cover looks great, Mick, but I agree with the comments about increasing the size of the font.
You’ve garnered a lot of interest here; it might be wise to use the advance order scheme: that way, all these people who want to read the book will raise the ranking on Amazon as soon as the book’s released. I’ll be one of them.
Obviously, I’ll tweet stuff as soon as it’s available.
Good luck.
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Thanks, Stuart. I’ve taken those thoughts on board and re-hashed the cover, which I’ll post again in a couple of weeks with an update. I like the sound of the advance order scheme; I’ll have to take a look at that.
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I know I’m a bit late to the comments, but I just wanted to say that I love the look of the cover! The artwork is wonderful.
Hope the process is still going along well, this is often the most drawn out part of it, to be honest. Good luck!
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Thanks, Helen. It is a bit drawn out, but I think the final edit is almost there, anyway. I’m now at the stage where I just want to get it out there, but have to be careful not to just press the button before everything is ready.
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Yes, definitely. Even though it’s tedious, it’s worth taking the extra time to make sure everything’s right.
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I shall!
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Congratulations.May I know why you chose to base it in India?Impressive art work.You are quite accomplished.
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Thank you. I based it in India because I feel strongly about the poor way that women are still treated throughout the world, and, unfortunately, India is still a bad example of this. I have also travelled in India a lot, and I frequently base my stories there. You might be interested to read this post on the subject that I put up last year: https://mickcanning.co/2015/09/14/the-treatment-of-women/
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Thanks.Will look it up.
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