Hot Cross Mum

This is a Book Week guest post by Hazel Gaynor of Hot Cross Mum. She tells us about her new eBook that she’s recently published – a perfect Mother’s Day gift, perhaps?

Why did you decide to self-publish your ebook?

Two years ago, I didn’t know what an ebook was, or a blog for that matter! I started my blog ‘Hot Cross Mum’ as a platform for developing a writing career after I was made redundant and decided to become a Stay At Home Mum. I started blogging just at the point when the ‘mummy blogging’ community was exploding in the UK and Ireland and I quickly became part of an influential community of blogging parents. I loved it! The phenomena of blogging and my part in that attracted the interest of Irish press and TV and after being interviewed for The Sunday Times Magazine in January 2010 about the transition from corporate to domestic life, the blog was noticed by a literary agent. She enquired whether I’d considered developing a book based on the blog. I hadn’t, but I started to work on it the very next day!

When it was submitted, the book received praise from publishers in Ireland and the UK and was very nearly commissioned for publication by a UK publisher; but unfortunately didn’t make the final hurdle. Having got so close, I was obviously very disappointed, but dusted myself off and continued to write the blog for my personal pleasure and turned my hand to fiction writing and my freelance career.

That book has sat on my PC ever since; nagging at me! As ebooks became more and more popular, I started to think about putting Hot Cross Mum: bitesize slices of motherhood out in an ebook format. A friend of mine, Catherine Howard, was starting to see phenomenal success with her ebook MouseTrapped and encouraged me to go for it!

It’s probably important to point out that rather than being just a straightforward copy of the blog, the ebook charts the first twelve months of my journey from leaving my corporate career and adjusting to life at home with the children. Obviously, some of my published blog posts are used (it is, after all, those posts which brought readers to my blog in the first place) but I have also added new material and brought it all together into a much more meaningful package with a beginning, middle and hopefully a happy ending! So there’s something in the ebook for existing readers of my Hot Cross Mum blog, as well as for people who have never seen the blog and discover the ebook first.

What was the process?

Initially, I planned to do everything myself; sourcing a cover designer, formatting the book for the various ebook distribution channels and managing all the uploading. Other writers who have gone down the ebook route have done everything themselves and it has worked for them. But with two young children to look after and a part-time freelance writing job to hold down, I just simply didn’t have the time – or probably the technical capacity if I’m honest – to do this. Having finally decided to do the ebook at the start of 2011, I just wanted to get on with it. So, I decided to use the expertise of a self-publishing company, Original Writing. They created the cover (using my carefully crafted spaghetti letters image!), formatted the text and have managed all the technical aspects of uploading etc. It still took a lot longer, and more work, than I’d anticipated – to get the cover looking right and to proof the formatted PDF for errors, pagination etc. But it certainly got the job done and I can guarantee the book would be floundering somewhere in cyberspace without that external input.

What has been the most daunting part of the process?

I think the most daunting part of the process is just about to happen. Having put so much time and energy into writing the book, I feel extremely protective of it. Also, this isn’t fiction. This is real, honest stuff about my life and my family – I think that makes it all the more important to me. Now it is out there and available for public consumption I just hope that it is well received. I guess that’s the leap of faith any writer takes when their carefully crafted words are let loose on the general public!

What are you doing to promote the book – has that been a difficult task?

Promoting a book is hugely important – especially for an unpublished author who is self-publishing. Fortunately, through my blog and social media such as Twitter, I am connected into a great network of other bloggers and writers who I have been in contact with. A number of people who have seen a preview of the book are kindly doing reviews and guest posts on their sites. I also approached a number of successful, international established authors, and parenting magazine and website editors who have given me some lovely review comments to include with my promotional material. Having their endorsement was really important to me. I’m also working closely with Irish-based site Direct eBooks to generate a publicity campaign for the book. This will include the book being featured on their blog and being promoted as their recommended read. I will also be running a competition, sponsored by Direct eBooks, to win a Sony e-Reader and credit for their ebookstore.

I assume you’ve researched the ebook world extensively – what do you think are the keys to creating a successful ebook?

The ebook market expands on a daily basis. 2011 certainly seems to be the year when, as predicted by publishers and those in the industry, ebooks will firmly establish themselves in the global marketplace – so it’s a really exciting time to be launching myself into all of that!

I think that the key to creating a successful ebook is probably the same as creating a successful book in any format: it has to be the writing which ultimately engages the reader and wants them to keep turning the page – or sliding their finger across the screen in this case! From seeing other writer’s experience of publishing an ebook, it seems to take a period of about 12 months for the word to get out there, for reviews to start coming in and for the sales to really start to increase. I am at the very start of my ebook journey. It’s a daunting but exciting prospect; who knows where I might be in 12 months’ time. As they say, watch this space!

You can buy a copy of Hot Cross Mum on Amazon.com.

You can find Hot Cross Mum at her blog and on Twitter.