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I’ve heard from various authors that it can be months from proofread to holding a copy of your book. But self-publishing had a momentum that measured goals in days rather than months or years.

Having an edited version of the manuscript I was happy with, the next step was finding a company to print it. I was recommended CPI UK as they would ‘Print on Demand’, an option that meant I didn’t have to buy a stockpile of books and store them in my living room; they would print each copy once a customer ordered it. This increased the delivery time, but only by a couple of days, and it was the only realistic way the book was going to get published. I set up an account with them in days, Zoomed a meeting, and I was done.

Very straight forward.

Next, I had to have an ISBN number for the book. A google search told me this was acquired through Nielsen UK, and the cost: £93 for one, or £174 for ten. One seemed expensive, but why would I need ten? More research. It turns out each format of a book – paperback, hardback, ebook, extra additions – needs its own ISBN. Barcodes are optional, as they are merely a way for booksellers to control stock within a physical store. ISBNs are not. Therefore, it seemed prudent to get ten.

Easy enough.

At this point, CPI emailed a template for the front cover, with the dimensions for the artwork, and samples of paper to choose from. Now, in my house, I paint walls, but I have nothing to do with colour schemes. However, there weren’t too many paper options, and I asked for advice and went with it. The front cover, though… I had an image in my head of what I believed the cover would be, but getting that out of my head… I’d need help.

In stepped the amazing Carl Knapper (https://carlknapper.com).

I’d met Carl years earlier. He’d been commissioned to paint a mural on a wall at the school I worked in, and he’d done a brilliant job. Since then, I’d followed him on Instagram, and seen he’d worked on book covers, producing stunning results. I reached out to him, hoping he’d have time to work with me. It kick-started the fastest week of the project, where the book truly came to being, and I believed it might one day be on a shelf somewhere.

This was his brief: a sketch, a description of an alien creature in the book called an Arachnoid, and total trust for him to take it wherever he wanted.

Within a day, somehow, Carl took that information and, as if he’d invaded my imagination, produced a perfect depiction of the creature I’d spent months with.

He then visited a comic shop, as his vision was for the front cover to be like a retro sci-fi comic, and he wanted it to be authentic. I would never have thought of that, and I’d been brewing this concept for the best part of a year!

Fast forward two days, with emails back and forth where my input was mainly to awe at his talent and say yes a lot, and he produced the cover. In four days. Including font selection, layout, and being hampered by my re-drafting of the blurb. What a legend!

Everyone aspiring to produce a book needs a Carl. Hopefully, you have one. If not, you can message him on Instagram (carl.knapper) or visit his website and share mine.

Now that’s complete, CPI has everything they need, and the book may be in my hands before the month is done. From final proofread to published in a few weeks. Might my challenge, to go from Zero to Published, actually be nearing a finish line?