The time has come. After 45 years of being in print, I am now embarking on a kind of publication I could never have dreamed of all those years ago: e-books.
Mind you, all my Lilian Harry books have been in e-format and available on devices all across the board for some time now. But I didn't have anything to do with that - I just signed a contract and those nice people at Orion did it. As far as I was concerned, it 'just happened'. And very nice too.
But, like a lot of us long-serving authors, I have quite a few books published by other houses (Headline, Severn House, Scholastic etc) which are now out of print. And it seemed to me and to my agent, Caroline Sheldon, that it was time they saw the light of day again. The light of cyber-space, anyway.
So, starting with my first venture into historical novels, The Glassmakers Trilogy, written nearly 25 years ago and under a different name*, we're embarking on our first Journey Into Space (who else remembers that?). And it's pretty nearly as exciting and breathtaking as the real thing. Well, for me, anyway.
There are three books (you guessed that, didn't you) and they were published, along with five others, by Headline. (Hopefully, if these do well, the others will follow them on to an e-reader near you.) Starting with CRYSTAL, they follow the fortunes of the Henzel and Compson families from mid-nineteenth century Stourbridge in England's Black Country, through the glittering colour of Paris at the time of the Great Exhibition and the subsequent desperation of the Siege (in BLACK CAMEO), to the burgeoning 'Crystal City' of Corning, New York State,USA,, where the story is completed in CHALICE.
I had not read these books since they were published (you don't, do you? Or maybe you do...) so to read them all again, in quick succession, was an eye-opener. Had I really written these absorbing stories? Done all that research? Created these colourful characters? Had I ever really known all that about making glass?
Well, I suppose I must have done. And I feel rather proud of them now, and not at all unhappy about seeing them go out to a wider world than they ever found in print, and - I hope - find a lot more readers.
So how is it done? Well, I reckon I am still on ther lower slopes of a fairly steep learning curve. I've had to master Dropbox - easy enough, and a wonderful way to manage proofs, which arrive magically on my screen, can be read and corrected there and seen immediately by the publisher. Surely all publishers will use this method before long?
I'm now tackling the art of metadata, a word which had not been in my vocabulary until now. That means making it possible for people to find (or stumble across) your books before they even know they exist. You know the kind of thing - you google, say, tulips, and before you know it you're reading the history of Amsterdam, booking a river cruise and ordering a copy of a novel to read along the way.
Or you look up your favourite author and notice someone else who writes the same kind of book and think, hm, I'll try that. Or.... but you get the picture, I'm sure.
Metadata is making sure this happens. Giving my publisher, who is a lot more clever than I am over all this, as much information as possible so that they can work their magic and attract the attention of web-crawlers which trawl about looking for words, phrases or quotes and getting them up there where you might look.. (Goodness knows how authors who don't have someone to do this get along. They too must be a lot more clever than I am.)
Then there's cover design to attract the eye. I was entertained to find my e-publisher (Acorn, by the way) recommending the designer who had been responsible for my Lilian Harry jackets, not knowing that I was LH! I am hoping she will be the one to design new jackets for these too. Not that they'll actually wear jackets, like a print book, but there will be a nice picture to look at when you buy.
As I said, I am only part of the way up the learning curve but my new e-publisher has been helpfulness itself. I had to pay a bit upfront (that felt a bit funny!) but remarkably little, and I have a proper contract, negotiated by my agent. And I get a decent share if/WHEN the books sell. By the way, we have to set the price - I have no idea what readers will be prepared to pay. But again, Acorn will help and advise.
So for those who enjoy Lilian Harry books and don't like the wait in between, here is the good news. More books will be arriving, of a different kind but - I hope - equally enjoyable. Hurry along to your e-reader and snap them up. And please do let me know what you think - either by email to my website www.lilianharry.co.uk or on Twitter @LilianHarry
I'll let you know what happens during my climb up this new learning curve.
Oh - nearly forgot. The name to look out for is Donna Baker. OK? And the three books of the Glassmakers Trilogy should be available soon - just in time for Christmas. I'll try to make sure you know.
Cheers!
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