Two months as a published author

Today is the 12th of November, which means it's been two calendar months since my debut novel, A RELUCTANT SPY, came out.

That's an extremely weird thing to write. Somehow, it feels both like it's been out forever, and like it's been five minutes. It's that same kind of telescoping time effect that I remember from the start of the pandemic. Like a Hitchcockian dolly zoom, where you're simultaneously moving away and getting closer.

So this is a check-in post, to answer a few of the questions I've had from friends, family, colleagues and readers.

I'm not going to do a review like this every month until the next book comes out, don't worry, but I will probably do another one at six months and another when the paperback comes out.

Onward.

What have I been up to?

A lot! Launch day, obviously. Plus Bloody Scotland the same weekend, which was absolutely incredible. The Goldsboro Books 25th anniversary party, the Write and Wrong Podcast, Page One Podcast, my first school visit, plus a ton more that I'm probably forgetting about.

Obviously the pace has gently slowed over these first two months, but I'm still doing a podcast every couple of weeks and having the lovely experience of periodically hearing from readers, seeing a steady trickle of new reviews and working on the pitch for the next book. In fact, just last night I found out that the book has been shortlisted by the website Crime Fiction Lover in their 2024 'Best Debut' award. New readers are finding it all the time and that's really, really cool.

Plus, this evening I'm off to do my first ever in-person book club visit, which I'm really looking forward to!

How's the book doing?

Everything in trade publishing works on a delay, because it's a sale-or-return business. So final numbers really only come through when publishers tot up all the copies shipped to retailers, then the number actually sold, then the number returned, then do various clever things to apply all the various discounts and bulk buys and margins. That can take months, so you only really find out 'how the book is doing' for sure when you get your six-monthly royalty statements (and even then there's normally a rolling 'reserve against returns', so it's actually more like a year).

I have seen some initial numbers, and I'm happy with them, and I think everyone else is too. Beyond that, I can't really tell you, because I don't really know (yet).

How am I feeling?

Ehhh? Okay? The promised post-launch emotional crash did indeed materialise, about a week after I thought 'hey I don't feel so bad, maybe it's not going to happen to me', but it snuck up on me and stuck the knife in like a particularly neurotic assassin.

But time waits for no man, and as it often does, the work is what pulled me out of my funk. I've spent most of October and a bit of November alternating between a couple of projects (see my daynotes for more) and even though there's occasional moments of spinny self-doubt, it's kind of amazing how quickly 'I have a book out' has gone from gobsmacking thing I can't quite believe to still marvellous but accepted part of my life. I'm not even checking Gardners every day anymore to see if the number of warehoused copies has changed.

Where and in what format should I get it that's best for you?

This is a very kind and hearteningly common question from all kinds of people, including readers I've never met who just want to support my work as a writer (in the emotional doldrums of the first month or so after release, it was always a nice question to get). The answer is that you should get the book from the retailer that you prefer, in the format you prefer. Once you factor in varying platform fees, retailer cuts, royalty rate differences, production costs and a million other factors, it's kind of a wash whether a hardback or an audiobook or an ebook ends up being better for me, personally, as the author.

That said - if you have the choice and the inclination, I'll always suggest you buy it from your local independent bookshop. We're very lucky in Edinburgh to have a thriving bookshop scene, and money that goes into these small businesses directly benefits your local community, in both the general sense and the literary sense. More money going into local bookshops means more events, more options for readers, more opportunities for local authors and a warm fuzzy feeling when you shop there. If you don't have a good indie bookshop near you, don't feel bad for even a hot second - I appreciate every single reader. But if you have the choice, I appreciate it and so will the bookshops.

When can I get the paperback?

A question I can give you a definitive answer to! It's coming out on Thursday 5th of June in the UK. You can pre-order it with the smart link on my Linktree.

When's the TV show going to be out?

I'm getting this one a lot recently, mostly because if you're not a creative industries nerd like me then you've probably not come across the film and TV optioning process before. The option means that Carnival Films have essentially reserved the right to make a TV show based on my book, but options don't always result in a production - there's development, scriptwriting and pitching to do before that. Options typically run for eighteen months, so it'll probably be a while before we hear anything. This Hugh Howey thread is the best explanation of the odds and the process that I've read.

When are you quitting your day job?

Sometimes I get this in a sort of nervous haha way from colleagues convinced I'm about to disappear (I'm not, I like my job, and I'm exceptionally risk-averse) or from friends who are wishing good things for me. In both cases, they are reflections of extremely common misconceptions about the speed, volume, predictability and proportions of the money authors receive from their books. If I'm ever going to go full time with writing work, it won't be instant and it won't be from my first ever published book. It does happen to some very fortunate debut authors, but the odds are literally lower than getting struck by lightning.

What's next?

I just finished a rewrite on a pitch and sample for my publisher and I'm working on agent edits for an SF novel. But mostly, just like any other day, I'm getting up each morning, doing my regular chunk of writing time and trying not to worry too much about things I can't control, count or influence.

Two months isn't that long, but a lot has happened. And I think it's really important to occasionally take a wee look back, just to see how far you've come and how quickly. I wonder how things will look at the six month mark? We shall see.