Not many things shut me up.

In fact, it’s pretty hard to recall a time when I was ever lost for words (well, coherent words anyway).

I guess I’ve had a couple of jaw-dropping moments over the last two years; like when we first started out on this insane writer/publisher-thingy journey and we hit treble figures for the first time on Amazon (in a month) and when we saw our first five star review, or the Sunday we sat watching KDP and hitting refresh every five seconds to see our digital book sales for ONE DAY creep up to 857 in 24 hours.

Yeah, there’s been a few, but the whole ‘I guess I’m a real writer now’ realisation kinda crept up on me gradually, so much so, that it didn’t happen over night. I just morphed into it.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s been many a time over the last twenty four months when I have had to pinch myself and shake the craziness outta my skull because not in my wildest dreams did I envisage the bumper-car ride that we have been on, but press and blog interviews, celebrity followers on twitter and seeing our book in the Sunday magazine charts kinda became part of every day life after a while. Awesome, but I sort of got used to it; gradually.

Until yesterday.

When I saw this:

That really was a sucker-punch (in the nicest possible way of course) moment.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, I knew it was coming, but all the same, seeing our book up there, for pre-order, in all its glory, really did finally smash the ball out of the park.

I guess it’ll be a pretty similar experience when I hold the hardback in my hands for the very first time at the end of this month.

A real book.

A proper, printed, shiny, glossy (wiv pages and words and everyfink) goddang book!

Wow! 🙂

It’s an amazing (and totally surreal) feeling and one that I know, I will never tire of. I still feel like it is happening to someone else every time I see our books out there.

What has amazed (and delighted) me about this whole publication process with the fabulous MA Editions, is their professionalism. I have read more horror stories about ‘traditional publishers’ than I have read Dean Koontz books and that is going some, believe me! Unfathomable contracts with hidden pitfalls at every turn, unpaid or pitiful advances, lack of control over editing or covers and the interminable wait from contract to publication.

Uh-huh. No way, No siree, not on my watch. Didn’t happen.

It’s been a breeze and a pleasure and has restored my faith in publishing (well, French publishing at any rate).

Simple, clear contract signed in a matter of days.

More than respectable advance paid just as quickly, with favourable royalties agreed.

Efficient, swift and friendly translation services.

Regular contact.

Title and cover design a JOINT process and, the best bit:

Slightly shy of seven months from contract to print.

MA have organised everything from a whistle-stop promotional tour of Paris and Brussels, press interviews, blog videos and marketing, plus additional deals with other outlets. Advance review copies and digital pre-orders? Check.

They’ve done the lot. Absolutely can’t fault it.

But do you know what the best bit is? They TRUST in the book and in US. They DARED to believe in it. They took a chance. They are not scared to take that step. Oh and they’re European!

If I had a pound/dollar/Euro for every rejection email/letter that we have had in the last two years for Sugar & Spice that said something similar to this:

We LOVED this book, loved the pace, the short chapters, the characters. Read it in one whole sitting, was gripped from the start, appauled by its content blah, blah,blah, BUT, we’re sorry, we do not feel it is right for our ********** imprint at this time. I know we are going to be kicking ourselves and the sales figures they have achieved on their own are astounding, BUT…

I would be able to retire right now and write at my leisure.

MA Editions have seen past the controversy, the stigma attached to the books content (hell, they even used it to their advantage in the title!) and opted to let the reader decide.

What more, as writers could we ask for? After all, that’s what happened 18 months and 155,000 sales ago when we put it on Amazon.

Paraphilia is available for pre-order (released digitally on 6th June 2012) here. Of course, it would help if you can read French! 😉

We are thrilled to be on this journey with our publisher and eternally grateful to them for taking us this far.

Who knows what will happen in the future? I mean, so many of my dreams about writing a successful book have already come true, so I guess I have used all my wishes up. Right? 😉

Saffi

PS. I will be blogging about my time in Paris & Brussels in the first week of June. Look out for ‘Lost in France’, coming soon!