When I last wrote on my blog, which was back in April, I mentioned I was putting another Alfie Doodle story together. I wasn’t sure if I was going to produce a third book out of this, but I am pleased to say I have decided to go for it! Here’s how I am getting on…
Drafting out Book Number 3
It is time to put pen to paper in order to draft out how the story and illustrations will marry up. I find hand writing my story at this stage is a lot more inspiring than typing it up. I am still at the early stages of the creative process and have a ‘To Do’ list which currently looks a little something like this:
- Handwrite the story onto my new pad – thank you Marj for gifting me such a beautiful notepad to write down all my ideas
- Attempt to draw what I imagine to be the pictures alongside my words
- Use my (laughable!) drawings to describe my vision for each page to the Illustrator
- Finalise the wording for the story
- Read and re-read the story aloud to make sure it flows, Alfie Doodle is always a good listener for this part!
- Think of a title, this bit is most definitely work in progress
- Work out the pagination of the book
- Involve my Graphic Designer to piece the story and pictures together to create the basis of Book Number 3
- Write an ‘introductory note’ and a ‘why I wrote this book’ bit
- Sign off the design of the book with my Graphic Designer
- Send a copy to my Printers for them to prepare
- Print a small quantity of books to check for mistakes – I printed an initial run of 12 of my first book ‘A Dog Lover’s Dream’ and it was a good job as my good friend Alix spotted a typo!
- Get lots of lovely friends and family to proof the book with me…
- And then publish it!
The Creative Process
Crikey, seeing it all written down like this makes me realise I have a fair way to go yet. But, I absolutely love the creative process and working with other people to bring the book to life. I’m super excited that I have decided to create a third book as I get such pleasure from it all. It offers a nice contrast to my day job of managing a motorcycle dealership! In addition, I will continue to donate a percentage of all book sales revenue to the Dogs Trust. My current total donations are just under £5,700 so a big thank you for continuing to support me and for buying a book and/or one of the gift sets I created alongside Clogau.
Coming Soon…
I’m not sure Book Number 3 (really must think of a title!) will be out in time for Summer so please watch this space for more updates. I will of course be putting information on my social media pages as I progress so if you don’t already follow Alfie Doodle and I, here are the links you need…
Facebook and Instagram – @adogloversdream
Find out more ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING
Lots of people I meet have asked about self-publishing a book as they too have been keen to share their stories. I really didn’t have a clue when I published my first book and spent lots of time on google looking for how, what, where, when etc. If you have any questions about self-publishing, I will do my best to try and help so feel free to Contact Me.