As lovely as it would be to have had Penguin or Picador fighting over the rights to Charity Woolf, there is definitely something to be said for self-publishing through Amazon Kindle.
Firstly, it's free, so you've nothing to lose (except your dignity, your dreams and your general sense of self-worth).
Secondly, you have total control, so nobody can foist uncongenial editing advice or hideous cover designs on you. You are at liberty to indulge your deepest, darkest literary whims, so if, like me, you want to publish a story set in a make-believe place where Narnia meets St. Petersburg meets Haworth Parsonage, and accompany it with a series of faux-Victorian line drawings, there's nothing to stop you. (Whether that's a good thing, from the unsuspecting reader's point of view is not for me to say, but from an authorial p.o.v it is pure joy - the literary equivalent of flying at the prow of the Titanic like Kate Winslet.)
The self-publishing process wasn't even that difficult. I am something of a technophobe, but even I accomplished it without too many sleepless nights and only a couple of headachey moments. It's true, I was lucky to have help from a member of my writing group who's already a dab hand at the ins and outs of e-publishing, but even without her I think I would have managed in the end. Amazon itself has a pretty comprehensive and simple guide of its own, and there are loads of online videos and blogs with helpful bits of advice, if you get stuck.
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Charity Woolf is the sequel to Montefiore's Goddaughter, which was published by MP Publishing in 2010. It's not a stand alone novel, and won't make a lot of sense unless you've read Montefiore's Goddaughter first (which sounds like a shameless marketing ploy for volume one, but isn't altogether meant to be). Both books are aimed at the Young Adult market, or anyone interested in imaginary worlds, mystery, magic and ghosts (think C.S. Lewis, Charlotte Bronte, Philip Pullman and Joan Aiken, to name but a few much-loved influences.)Charity Woolf follows the story of Georgia Wellington-Grub. In her Waking World life she is a downtrodden and bookish only child; in Traumund she is a master spy, intent on solving the series of abductions and murders that plague her imaginary world, the snowy city of Mazurka. The two worlds collide when Georgia uncovers the handwritten manuscript of Montefiore's Goddaughter and makes her way to Boughwinds Abbey in the author's footsteps. Here she meets the mysterious Charity Woolf, a fellow runaway who has also taken refuge at the abbey. But what is Charity running away from? What is her fascination with Georgia's imaginary land of Mazurka? And what does she have to do with the sinister Mr. Montefiore who is...or ought to be...dead and buried?
If anyone is interested in buying Montefiore's Goddaughter and/or Charity Woolf, here are the relevant links:
Montefiore's Goddaughter: http://amzn.to/1I1MP9X
Charity Woolf: http://amzn.to/1FmcyTu
Thank you!
