Diary of a Debut Novelist: Publication

Welcome to my Diary of a Debut, documenting the ins and outs of my journey on the road to publication. This week: publication.

The night before publication was like Author Christmas Eve. I was fortunate enough to have an in-person launch at the lovely bookshop Lutyens and Rubinstein. We had an engaging panel discussion and Q&A between myself, my publisher Archna at Neem Tree Press, and Francesca from the young people’s health and wellbeing charity Brook. (You can listen to the panel discussion here). It was really special to celebrate the journey with my friends and family, as well as sign their copies!

When I woke up the next day, I was officially a published author. The hard work was done, the years had passed, and the day I’d thought might never come was here. Yippee!

Except the hard work wasn’t done. As author Marty Ambrose told me, you have to solemnly promote your work - for, like, the rest of time. So maintaining a social media presence, keeping an eye on things you can get involved in, and organising events has to be kept up. And, of course, get on with the next book.

But now I’ve done it once, the second time doesn’t feel as daunting, or as searching-in-the-dark. I know roughly what I’m doing. And I’m excited to get back to it - after all, writing is the fun part.

The biggest lesson I got from publication was just how much of it is a team effort. Years of typing away alone in your room gets you to a Word document; it takes many people to make that a real life book. I’m so grateful to my publishers Neem Tree Press for taking on Can I Stray and making it a reality. Aaaaaand on to the next!

The Diary of a Debut is written by Jenna Adams whose debut novel was published in October 2022 by Neem Tree Press. You can follow Jenna at @jennaadamsbooks and Neem Tree Press at @neemtreepress.