Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve gone back and forth with the publisher deciding on an appropriate cover for All That Glitters. Arriving at this stage takes a lot of work. I thought I would give you a brief rundown of my journey.
The book rattled around in my head for about five years before I put a single word on paper. Partly because I procrastinated and partly because I never thought I would finish the manuscript – judging by the multitude of unfinished projects lying around my house. As the kids were leaving the nest, I decided to get serious and began writing. I still didn’t set any schedule for myself and wrote in stops and starts. Within two years, I finished the novel up to 52,000 words and then worked with a well-known editor out of the US to improve glaring grammar errors and to work out plot issues. She encouraged me to lengthen the novel so it would be considered full length and not a novella; however, I chose not to listen.
In 2012, I submitted the novella to a couple of publishers and it thrilled my heart to have a complete manuscript requested by a Canadian publisher from Ontario. It could have been the end of my journey; but it wasn’t. The publisher has not contacted me since.
I realized I needed to learn more about the writing process. I read books on writing, entered writing competitions, and attended writer’s conferences which were huge factors in developing my writing ability, and I still have much to learn.
2014 brought the year of the rewrite; I buckled down to a schedule and added another 20,000 words to the manuscript. In early 2015, I submitted the new and improved version to quite a few publishers and Ambassador International offered me a contract.
Edits, edits, and more edits followed and we are now at the fun stage of choosing some of the creative elements. The publisher developed several cover concepts and we decided together on the best one. Attached you will find a cut and paste mock-up of the cover for All That Glitters set to release in February 2016.
PS Please keep it our secret. We wouldn’t want the concept stolen.