My book, Ring Around Rosie, is being launched at Waterstones… I never
thought I’d say those words out loud. It seemed like an impossible outcome at
the start of all this, and now that it’s happening I’m not sure how I got this
far.
Admittedly, when I
finished my book and was ignorant to the ways of the publishing world, I was
sure it would be snapped up and I would be swept along on the journey to fame
and fortune. But further down the track I’ve learnt that it just doesn’t happen
like that anymore. Incessant self-promotion – tirelessly tweeting and blogging
and face-booking – that is where I’ve languished for months, feeling no better
than a street-seller as I watched my ebook fluctuate up and down the Kindle
chart. It’s degrading and desperate, and oddly, at no point during this time
have I uttered the words ‘I’m an author’; it hasn’t seemed appropriate, despite
the fact that I have written a book, which is for sale on Amazon, that people
read! But why is that?
There was me, thinking
I was being so modern publishing an ebook. But the truth is there is something
so much more ‘real’ about an actual, physical book. The image I held in my mind
from the start – the end goal – was receiving hard copies of my book in the
post. Holding in my hands something I had created, smelling the newness of the
ink, knowing that its pages held a part of me. And I just can’t seem to get
that satisfaction with an ebook; despite getting to number 3 on Amazon’s
bestseller list for Action & Adventure, and Teenage Mysteries &
Thrillers. Because no matter how well my ‘virtual’ book is doing, it’s all led
to this moment: my ‘real’ book being launched at Waterstones.
Exclusive evening at Waterstones to celebrate the launch of Ring Around
Rosie
Emily Pattullo is an editor and writer, with
expertise in the global crime of child trafficking and prostitution. She is the
author of Ring Around Rosie, and writes for various publications, as well as being
a regular contributor for Brit Writers.
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