My Debut Novel – What I Know Now That I Wish I’d Known Before Publication

My first book, Empire of Dust, a space opera, came out in October 2014. I was excited, pleased and nervous all at the same time. A week or so before publication my author copies arrived, all packed up is a big shipping box. I can’t begin to tell you how delighted I was to get them – so delighted I gave them their very own bookshelf.

The book slipped out without a launch. For one month went into the Locus best sellers list of February 2015, based on the figures from November 2024. Then it disappeared from there, never to be seen again. It got some good reviews, especially in Publishers’ Weekly (and I’m pleased to say, no real stinkers even on Amazon).

“Bedford builds a taut story around the dangers of a new world…. Readers who crave high adventure and tense plots will enjoy this voyage into the future.“- Publishers’ Weekly

“The skill of this book lies in Bedford’s ability to seamlessly combine intrigue-heavy, multi-viewpoint plotting with human stories featuring characters you care about – a rare feat in this genre.” – Jaine Fenn (Tales from the Garrett)

There were things I wish I’d known in advance.

Even if you’re published by a major traditional publisher you still need to work like hell to push your book.

It was only when my second book, Crossways, came out and DAW put me in contact with my publicist at PenguinRandomHouse, that I realised I must have had a publicist for Empire of Dust, but I’d never been introduced, and I hadn’t known to ask. A publicist sends out review copies, arranges interviews and possible guest blogs – mostly before publication day. A marketing person largely sees to promotion after publication. Sad to say, few publishing houses will spend a lot on advertising (magazines and online) unless you’re Mercedes Lackey or Patrick Rothfuss. In fact, advertising seems to increase with your sales figures. Does advertising improve your visibility, or does your visibility encourage your publisher to advertise? Those of us with books slithering out into the world almost unannounced and unadvertised are convinced that advertising would increase our sales figures if only there was a budget for it. Sadly, after seven books unadvertised, I still don’t know the answer to that one.

I was a bit slow on the uptake when my first book came out, but subsequently I’ve used the following to get word out of new books

• Website – check
• Mailing list – check
• Blog – check
• Blog-swaps with other authors – check
• Twitter – check
• Facebook – check
• Instagram – check

I avoid posting things which only say ‘buy my book’. I add value to my posts – writing tips, interest pieces, news of other people’s books, books I’ve enjoyed reading, writing news. I promote my own books alongside other people’s, of course, but I try to do it subtly.

Note: TikTok didn’t exist when my first book came out and I confess that I still haven’t used it, but I’m getting better at Instagram, though I’ve now dropped X – formerly known as Twitter.

Though DAW has always given me a say in my cover illustrations, I haven’t had any input into the cover design. I bitterly regret not saying something when my second psi-tech novel (Crossways) looked nothing like the first in cover design, even though the cover illustrations were by the same artist (Stephan Martiniere) and the cover designs for all three were by G-Force Design. The third book (Nimbus) looked as though it was part of the same trilogy as Crossways, but sadly Empire of Dust looks as if it has been orphaned by the unified design of the other two. Also, with hindsight, I would have given the first book in the trilogy a one-word title – probably Psi-Tech. What do you think?

My Rowankind fantasy trilogy is much better coordinated, though the typeface has been changed between the first book and the other two. The illustrator is Larry Rostant and the cover design for all three books is once again by G-Force Design. I love the cover illustrations.

I enjoyed writing the trilogies, but I decided my next project would be a standalone. It’s a historical fantasy set in an analogue of the Baltic States. It came out in January 2022.

All these things are not rocket science, but things you learn by experience. I’m still learning. And while i’m learning, I’m working on two very different projects. More soon.

I’ll leave you with a quote from Oscar Wilde ‘Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.’