Showing posts with label Maxine Hitchcock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Maxine Hitchcock. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

CONTINUUM

Well, the verdict on my third book's title came back to me recently, and I'm delighted to say that the team at Simon & Schuster love it! CONTINUUM is now under way with the first few chapters written, and the synopsis for the story was given a huge thumbs up by my editor Maxine Hitchcock.

Currently, I'm working on the edits for book 2, ELIXIR. They're not too extensive, mostly involving character development and some general tidying up. I'm aiming to have them complete by early July, at which point I'll focus on finishing the first draft of CONTINUUM. I've also been informed that a meeting at the S&S offices with my agent, Luigi Bonomi, is on the cards around the end of August, which will involve the planning for launch publicity. I'm not sure what this will entail, although I have already heard that adverts on the CBS Action channel are confirmed ( as per a previous post ). Other news is that S&S are already working on the cover artwork for ELIXIR. The publisher generally gets to work on such things around ten months in advance of publication, and with ELIXIR due out in May 2012 this means that they're on the case already.

For my part, after much graft I'm ahead of schedule by a few weeks at the moment, giving me the opportunity to take my time with the current editorials. It's a great relief, as we're house hunting right now and everything that entails. Fingers crossed for the perfect home!!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

The publicity drive begins!

I've had a hell of a week, with so much happening that it could take a few posts to fit it all in!

Firstly, my agent Luigi Bonomi loved my manuscript for ELIXIR. He had just a handful of minor suggestions to individual pages, and one or two scene improvements. The work has been done and the MSS is now with my wonderful editor Maxine Hitchcock at Simon & Schuster.

Secondly, I was hugely honoured to be invited to the Simon & Schuster 2011 conference at the Paramount Hotel in London. This was a major event for the publisher, with many celebs invited, and I learned a huge amount about what's happening behind the scenes with COVENANT. Probably the biggest news is that it will be getting not just national print publicity in the USA and UK / Commonwealth but that it will be advertised on television, on Sky's CBS Action channel in October, with ads running for a month around major crime and drama shows. Add to that the first hints that the MSS is doing the round with production studios and things are looking very bright for my debut launch. The novel is also to be a lead title in Australia, another major breakthrough market if things go well.

It was fantastic to be invited to such an event, which involved a lot of work as well as fun. I had to talk to dozens of booksellers, buyers, representatives of major chains and supermarkets and so on, trying to do my bit to help the team at S&S reassure potential stockists that I'm a long term bet with more novels on their way. As far as I can tell it went well, and I finally got back to my superb hotel at 4am after a few after-party sherbets with the S&S team! I had a great night, and if every publicity event is as much fun, I'm signing up for them all!