Tobey Alexander's Blog, page 11
January 23, 2016
Getting it out “there”
Where is this proverbial “there” that so many people talk about? I’ve immersed myself in Facebook, Twitter and this site as well as launching myself on various Book related websites to pretty much say “Hello all of you” to those who exist in that place called “there”.
It’s funny, there’s a modicum of pride that three people have purchased my book (yes I know, three people aren’t I an amazing top selling author!) I’ve obviously got to wait for the Kindle to go live on the 26th January due to my over-complicating a simple program/selection but you live and learn.
I’ve tried implementing myself as best I can as a new boy on the scene (hopefully not so new that other more established authors in their gang will flush my head down the toilet like big school!!!) I’m gaining a few followers, getting a few visits but I’m just happy to see where everything goes from here. The fact it is there in the first place is quite an achievement and it may not go stellar in the literary world it’s still more than I had a few weeks ago.
It is a funny feeling though, filling in endless author bios, book listings and such like on the multitude of websites that aim to let you be seen by the people from “there”. I can’t count how many times I’ve filled it in over the last 48 hours but hopefully every little helps and it may get enough interest to keep me going in this strange world of publishing, authors and books.
I’m of no illusion that this whole world is for me to create as I’ve gone into it totally on my own. I haven’t enlisted one of the numerous social media promotion services or some of the mortgage requiring PR agencies that offer bright lights and fancy websites to say…..come here, pay me lots and we will do……something for your book. Hell I even saw one with Sylvester Stallone featured in a photo. If they are guaranteed to get him to read it and pass it onto some screenwriters than I could think about forking out some massive amount of cash but until then I’ll stay small thank you and go as much off my own back as I can.
Hell you can even pay for the service of someone reading your book to then write you a review you can use. Doesn’t that sound lovely? But then I’d always be plagued by the idea that they only wrote something positive so they can make their money and make me as the author feel better. No thanks, I’ll take the rough with the smooth. I’m no idiot, I know some people will not like what I’ve done and there will be those that think they should and hopefully some who genuinely do like it. But you know what, for me that’s life, peaks and troughs ups and downs.
In reality though this is an entirely new world to me. No matter how much you research, read and think you know the actual process of going it alone is quite a daunting place.
Still it’s fun to say “I’m published don’t you know” (in some lah-de-dah voice just to make it feel all the more important). In fairness though it’s never been about that, it’s always been about sharing the fact that I did this, I created a story and characters from the depths of my own head and if you want to read it then now you can. There is inherently an immense amount of pride with all of this knowing that without me and my mad mind that I wouldn’t even be on this blog spouting what it is that I made from scratch.
That aside though I still have my day (afters and nights shift) job that fills my time, a wife and three amazing little ones to keep me busy and entertained. Speaking to a friend about this whole Footprint On The Other Side affair she asked how I could have written a book with everything I already have on. You now what I have no idea, I’m sure my wife would say I’ve spent many hours being a “grunting gargoyle” on the sofa staring into the depths of Word as I try to pour my mixed mashings of ideas into something coherent on the screen.
To be fair I have every intention to keep this up and to even share the process I went through from start to finish to get this all ready. For those who want to know I’m going to share how I created Dinymour, Jack James and the whole saga that goes to make the story what it is.
Stick with me, this will be a long ride and hopefully together we will get Footprints into the mainstream and expose this elusive “there” that everyone seems to talk about.
January 22, 2016
It’s available!
Well far quicker than expected Footprints On The Other Side is now available to purchase, all details can be found by clicking the “Get Your Copy” link below. Please be aware some of the Amazon listings will be updating over the next 24-48 hours.
GET YOUR COPY
January 21, 2016
I’ve hit the “first” button!
MONDAY FEBRUARY 01st 2016 (Kindle Edition)
UK LINK US LINK ITALIAN LINK AUS LINK
BEFORE MONDAY FEBRUARY 01st 2016 (Paperback)
Well I have decided on a date for the release of Footprints On The Other Side – Monday 01st February 2016. I have been told there shouldn’t be any issues with my business interest declaration at work so I have decided to stop beating around the bush and get it all sorted!
The Kindle release is set now and I have to time my “approval” of the Paperback copy so it ties in as closely as possible with the Kindle.
As for the paperback version I am waiting for the ironclad “yes you’re fine” from work and from there I will press the dreaded approve button which will mean within 3-5 days it’ll be live to buy. Scary times but I’ve skirted and danced around the idea of this for long enough so now is the time. I know it isn’t some ultimate blockbuster, the next in the amazing series of Game Of Thrones or Harry Potter but this is my creation, something I have personally poured myself into so no matter what it is a big deal to me.
As soon as everything is concrete I will launch a page on the main site with all the relevant links so if you do want to enter my murky world then you’ll know exactly where to go.
From the bottom of my heart and my imagination Id like to say thank you!
January 20, 2016
Exciting times
Well from nothing to something very quickly as they say. Two weeks ago Footprints was an old dusty file in my laptop, now I’m preparing to release it on the world. I’ve gone through so many minor alterations and tweaks these last few days that it’s become an obsession of perfection. Not only from a pride point of view but you could also say that it’s a natural nervous delay tactic!
I am amazed at home many people have followed the Facebook Page I have created, admittedly mostly friends and family but there are people there who are entering through curiosity. There are people coming to both this site and the Facebook one that aren’t people I know and that fills me with a sense of pride and excitement that there are people who are interested in my work.
I’m now having to wait for a final decision from work (from the standpoint that I have to declare there being no conflict of interest between what I’ve written and what I work). Obviously this has what has spurned me on to use a pen-name as opposed to publish under my true identity. It all seems to be progressing well and I’m hoping to get the book fully ready for publishing for the start of February. I know my wife will be glad when I have finally released Footprints so I can stop staring thoughtfully at the screen on the laptop deciding on fonts, sizes, covers, designs and all the other factors. I can’t wait to finally release it but there are so many factors I want to be just right to reflect the work I have poured into this for so long now.
From an author’s point of view there is nothing more encouraging than seeing an interest in what you’ve done and pulled together. I have for so long considered what I will do with my writing, I’m even starting my next project Origins Of The Magdon, which is still only in its infancy. How often I’ve sat there and though “should I bother?” or prioritising other things ahead of pouring my addled imagination onto the laptop. By gaining such momentum that people want to read this makes it seem a lot more worthwhile and makes me want to do it all the more.
As for getting the word out I’ve enlisted the help of Social Media so far, posting images and updates on formats including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and of course I’ve opened this blog but I’m hoping word of mouth and the occasional posts on feeds will get more than just my circle of friends to know that this exists and pique their interest in reading it in its entirety.
January 18, 2016
Self-Publishing
It has been a very lengthy and interesting journey that started way back in late 2010, early 2011 with a simple idea. At that time I saw the old Kimberley Hardy & Hanson’s Brewery every day. The tower and architecture of the building always caught my attention and one day I imagined what if there was more to it than met the eye. I was lucky enough when the building got vacated to have an all access tour and open-day through family connections. With the decades of machinery and work long gone the empty building did so much to feed my idea of what other uses it could have.
Around the same time I had decided that I would try my hand again at writing having always had a very active imagination. With my first son at the time wanting bedtime stories that I made up it soon became inevitable that these two little light bulbs would meet up in my over-active imagination.
And so Footprints On The Other Side was born and moved from a passing fancy to a massive time consuming project. Days and nights spent pouring ideas into little notebooks and then trying to put the piles of whims and ideas into a cohesive and interesting story. Jack James was born (named so after the middle names for my two sons) and a story I thought was both entertaining and interesting began to fall onto the pages. My poor wife watched as I became so absorbed in the story for months on end, editing, re-editing, re-writing and growling at writer’s block day in day out.
Eventually after two years of graft and more edits than I actually care to count and remember I had something I was proud of and thought was the best representation of what I had created. So I edited it again and passed it around some friends who enjoyed it.
I then went about trying to get an Agent…that fell to nothing and frustration set in. It was then I decided to focus my attention on something completely different (changing roles at work and re-training) which swallowed my attention completely.
And so Footprints On The Other Side fell to the digital dusty depths of my Dropbox account. Thankfully I backed it up there and didn’t let it disappear when my old laptop passed into oblivion.
Back in 2013 I toyed with the idea of self-publishing but didn’t follow through with it. I came up with little ideas to put out on the internet to generate interest but by then the disappointment of Agents knocking me back had taken its toll and the dusty depths remained just that, dusty and undisturbed.
Roll on to November 2015 when people I know start telling me that I should write a story version of an adventure I have created for my (now three) children. It makes sense, I remember how much fun it was t write something so start to jot some ideas down again and very soon I remember what I once wrote and blow off the dust. For fun I offered some Christmas Poems to a friend (playing the Elf On A Shelf tradition but adding some probably poorly written poems that seemed to catch her attention). And so I was encouraged to resurrect Footprints.
As I read through it again I remember how fun it was to write and how proud I was of what I had done. I shared it out and I started to have an interested audience who encouraged me to try and get it out there.
And so this is where I am. I’ve gone with CreateSpace and Kindle Direct Publishing to get my work out there. The process is going well so far and I’m hoping to share what I poured my life into with the world and hopefully enough people will enjoy it.
Front Cover Design
After numerous edits, re-edits and new designs the final cover have been decided and submitted for consideration. The image consists primarily of the very building that implanted the initial idea when developing the story of Footprints On The Other Side. Without taking too much away from the story it also helping readers picture what Dinymour Asylum was based aims to draw them in to a similar mental image. The design is simple but vibrant enough to catch attention whilst feeling in itself different from others on the market without falling to standard expectations.
Hopefully as readers the cover grabs you enough to want to pass through into the shadowy depths of the story within.
January 17, 2016
About the author…
Footprints was born from a single idea, a simple building in the town where Tobey Alexander lives. The air of mystery as the building became recently abandoned and began to fall to rack and ruin tickled an idea which soon flourished. From that simple brick structure that has stood there for more than 100 years came something that quickly became an obsession. An empty shell of a building soon became an enjoyable journey to flesh out an intricate and intriguing story that will draw you in and leave you wanting more. Sharing the developing ideas with his oldest children the hunger and enjoyment in their eyes was always that fuel to carry on.
