Wednesday, 11 July 2012

Discover Cornwall for sale now!

First of all, my walks book, Discover Cornwall has arrived from the printers! And it’s for sale online – link here. Unfortunately, at the time of writing this, the description on Amazon is actually about a book of Welsh walks but don’t be deterred – Discover Cornwall is really about Cornwall. Just a small error which should be sorted by the time you read this.

The past week has been fraught with nerves and excitement. At last my copies arrived from the publisher on Saturday morning – I grabbed the cardboard package, tried to rip it apart and couldn’t because of the heavy duty gaffa tape, and tackled it with the scissors instead.

Out fell the first copy – and I saw Sue Jackson on the front. Reading the spine, I saw Sue Kittow. On the back it says Sue Kittow. Inside it says Sue Kittow.

I shan’t repeat what I said, but I’m sure you get the drift. Glossing over that, I flicked through the book but all I felt was an anticlimax. All that hard work and it’s written by two Sues. As a friend said, most people know who I am, but that’s not quite the point. Later, I showed it to a friend who’s an ex-journalist. She struggled to sound positive and I agreed with her. But in the pub with friends later, they all seemed so enthusiastic, my spirits rose a little.

Then one of my best friends saw it later. “It looks really good, Sue,” he said, giving me a big hug, and I could see pride in his eyes. Real pride. He turned the pages over carefully, as if it was something special, and as he did, my spirits rose even higher.

On Monday I had a profuse apology from the publisher. Last night some writing friends came round and the book was passed from hand to hand. They all enthused over it, said they’d come to the book launch and buy copies there. And Emma said, “Just think, when you’re famous this’ll be worth a fortune on ebay!”

It’s amazing how easily a simple mistake can become a disaster. And how a disaster is really just a little mistake.


12 comments:

Dc said...

Well, congratulations all the same. Wow, having a book published, how exciting for you.

Flowerpot said...

It is exciting - or will be - it doesn't feel real yet!

Chris Stovell said...

Here's raising a virtual glass to you, Sue, and to the success of 'Discover Cornwall'. You've achieved so much in what's been a tumultuous time so don't dwell on a tiny glitch. Congratulations to you!

Talli Roland said...

Massive congrats, Sue(s)! :)

I hope you're very proud. And that you've been doing lots of celebrating!

Akelamalu said...

Congratulations!

The publishers will be putting the mistake right won't they?

Flowerpot said...

Ak - they will on second print run.

Flowerpot said...

Talli - thanks! Yes did have a celebration last night - bit tired this morning.....!

Flowerpot said...

Thanks so much Chris!

Carol White said...

I will definately be buying your book Sue. I already have many books on Cornwall, but I'm always ready for another one! I thought there was something strange about the book when I searched for 'Sue Jackson' on Amazon as I could see that was the name on the front cover when your SIL put it on Facebook. I then searched for 'Sue Kittow' and the book came up!
Congratulations. I hope you have much sucess with it.

Flowerpot said...

Carol - oh many thanks! Yes that's why I wrote a post about it, as Iknew otherwise people would be emailing me telling me about the mistake!

Liane Spicer said...

Congratulations, FP. It looks lovely! I have a friend who had the same problem with the names on his book. It eventually got sorted and I don't think many people noticed.

Love the photo on this post too. What's the purple flower? My mom is crazy for purple and lilac blooms. (On the subject of blooms, she entered an arrangement in the local flower show for the first time last week - at age 76 - and it ran off with four prizes! We're very proud of her.)

Flowerpot said...

Thanks Liane that's good to know! The purple flowers are foxgloves - tehy grow wild here but are huge this year cos of all teh rain. Well done on your mum that's great!