Here's where the hard work comes back in with a bang.

So here it is, the part of the process in which I need to buckled down, stop waiting for the publishing fairy to arrive and wave a wand over this process and turn me into the Canadian answer to Maeve Binchy overnight. (Oh, and by the way, my writing was TOTALLY compared to hers once and I nearly peed myself with excitement).

So, what am I doing about it? Okay, here it is. I contacted the great and powerful Charlene, once sole proprietor of Crackjaw Publishing, the first publishing house that gave me a foot into the door of the industry. I asked her some questions and found out that Crackjaw still has a vendor account open with Chapters! Yay! And, with a little luck and a lot of hard pursuing of the Chapters/Indigo people, I am going to have that account turned over to me and be able to finally get the books available in and through the Canadian chain of stores. I might, hold your breath, even get to do an appearance or two in-house again!

That was so much fun last time.

AND, following the advice of one Jennifer Weiner…yes the bestseller…I am going to go and spend most of an entire day in the bookstore soon doing some major research. Check out the covers of my competition, check out inside the covers and see who their agents are. Grab an updated copy of the writer’s market and maybe even Steven King’s book “On Writing”, which she says is essential.

As much as I love doing this on my own, there comes a point when I really feel like I am missing out on something. And okay, I’m not doing this completely on my own, my husband has been the greatest support that I could ever ask for. But I do miss having that publisher in my corner to do all the technical stuff that I find difficult. It’s nice to have help and people who have your back.

So, as I keep on with promoting the new book Spring Daisies and keeping a dialogue going about Winter Jasmine and Autumn Violets as well as working on part two of Summer Poppies, which is rapidly turning into one of my favourite things I have ever written, I will be stopping, taking a deep breath, re-grouping and finding a way to start over in the search for an agent/publisher.

It sounds like a lot, but don’t worry, I have two weeks of holidays coming up soon and I plan on using them for just that…holidays.

Also, again I would love to ask anyone who has read any of the books so far for any feedback. Or questions. Or whatever. It all goes to a good cause…I’m considering having another freebie weekend for Kindle users.

Stay tuned.