First asked Sabine Cassar Alpert who has just pubished her first book to send her random diary of how it all happened.
Writing a book… the idea had been at the back of my head for a very long time. Over the years numerous people heard me proclaiming, “One day I’ll write a book!” – mostly in a jokingly threatening sort of way, when things went awry at my various places of work. And it was always a vague “Fawlty Towers”-like story I had in mind, which is really a far cry from what it turned out to be.
Angelina’s Ghost tells the story of Laura, born and grown up in a metropolitan city, meeting Brian, who has never left the island of Gozo. Giving up her city life for a future together with Brian in Gozo, Laura soon learns that an every-day life in a holiday resort differs widely from spending a couple of weeks’ vacation in that same place. Under mysterious circumstances, Laura finds a friend for life, although she takes her time to realise it.
Here is the account of my book’s gestation period until it was finally born. It was no straight-forward labour, I can tell you that. But in the end, I’m happy to pronounce that both, mum and baby are very well indeed!
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October 2002. It’s the weekend – weather is really horrible! Actually, it’s the perfect setting for slouching on the couch near the fire-place, with a nice book and a big pot of coffee close-by. Only, I’ve run out of reading fodder. I’m bored to tears!
Oh well. Why don’t I start writing my book right now? It’s as a good a time as any. So off I go!
24 hours later… Did I say “Off I go”?? Now this might sound strange, but the story took off, and took me with it, rather than vice versa! It is true that the prologue has been stored in my memory banks for quite some time now. But after I wrote that down… the chapters are basically adding themselves, and I can’t even say from which depth Angelina surfaced. She just introduced herself to me, and just like it happens to Laura in her story, I feel she has known me for ages, whereas I can’t quite figure out where she’s come from!
November 2002. My colleague Josephine is a real darling, just can’t find a better word to describe her dedication to my “book”. She’s my first reader; every morning I deliver to her the pages I produced during the preceding night. She says she likes it, and she always keeps asking for more. Even if I wanted to quit now – there’s no chance of that. She’d kill me if I left her hanging without a proper ending!
January 2003. It’s done – hard to believe! I’ve been writing, deleting and re-writing almost every single night and weekend for three months. What on earth will I do with all the spare time I’m going to have from now on? This feels very strange indeed, almost like being hollow inside!
But what am I saying? There still is plenty to do! I acquired a copy of the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook 2003 and got down to the task of trying to sell my baby. Competition is tough. So tough, in fact, that the Yearbook has been a number 1 bestseller…
February 2003 – March 2004. No need to regale you with every single entry of about a dozen, which all read the same:
Print a new, immaculate copy of the synopsis and first three chapters. Painstakingly word and re-word a submission letter – just in case those people know each other! Send off to a literary agent or a publisher in England. Wait for endless weeks. Receive rejection: ‘We regret to inform you… but we thank you for giving us the opportunity to evaluate… bla bla bla.’ Start all over again: Print a new, immaculate copy…
Well, they didn’t take to my story, but at least they seem to like my carefully chosen folders – each manuscript returns to me minus the latter! They do have the courtesy to reply, though, every single one of them. None of the Maltese publishers that I approached have bothered to do so!
May 2004. Since the 70’s, the best-selling author of thrillers A. J. Quinnell, who had been living in Gozo, kindly offered to read my manuscript and give me his opinion. When we meet at the Grand Hotel afterwards, the first thing he tells me to change is the title. He suggests Angelina’s Ghost. I like that, even if it’s not, strictly speaking, a ghost story. But it does hint at the mystery that has a presence in the story.
His opinion? “It’s charming,” he says but, “not enough meat!” Oh well. He’s a thriller writer, what did I expect?
October 2004. I’m considering and calculating and counting the few cents in my possession; but whichever way I turn it, I just cannot afford to publish my book through a so-called ‘vanity press’, which expression really says it all: you pay upfront and get published, feeding your ego if nothing else. I’m giving up. At least I can say that I tried!
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Without the evolving possibilities the internet has brought about, my forays into ‘writing a book’ would have ended here. Then I discovered a printing-on-demand (POD) company in the USA. This is an avenue well worth exploring for any would-be author who is in a similar position as I am. As the term POD implies, books are printed only when an order is received.
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14 May 2006. While browsing the internet today, I discovered the amazing (and free!) services of a POD company in the USA that goes by the name of lulu.com. That sounds pretty kinky, but it seems to be a serious company. Must see in which depth of my hard disk I buried that manuscript!
15 May 2006. Judging from comments on the internet by people who used them, they have a good reputation. They don’t even require you to place a minimum order. As a matter of fact, one does not have to order any book at all. Well, but that would defeat the purpose, wouldn’t it!
16 May 2006. I’ve decided. I’ll try them out! I spent all morning formatting my manuscript to suit lulu’s requirements, designing a book cover and uploading both to their server.
Half an hour later… I was done! My book is now available for sale on lulu’s website – and so far, it hasn’t cost me one single cent – apart from the cost for the three copies that I did order for myself!
18 May 2006. Today I received an e-mail informing me that my books had been shipped. And my sales account shows that six copies have been ordered by others. This really is exciting! What a pity, though, that the postage from USA makes it pretty expensive for Maltese buyers…
19 May 2006. I had a couple of chats with Eric Debono (from Debono Digital Printing in Nadur). He’s been very, very helpful! Thanks to him and his company, I am actually able to announce: Angelina’s Ghost is now available for sale locally. Tadaa!
The only real regret in all this is that it took me so long to find out about this alternative to traditional publishing.
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Gozo being the tiny place it is, I find it very important to point out that Angelina’s Ghost is pure fiction, even though I don’t deny that it does include passages out of my own life – and I have no intention of telling which ones those are!
In order to give it authenticity and thus adding perhaps some interest to the story for locals and visitors to our shores alike, I did not fabricate places, and I even used the real names of a few establishments mentioned in the book. But please note: no sponsorships are involved! On the other hand, all characters are fictitious, even if one or the other reader might be tempted to recognise him – or herself. I assure you that any resemblance to real persons is purely coincidental!
I am dedicating this novel to the memory of Karin Cefai Neubrandt, who for a number of years was a very close friend of mine. It was she who dragged me over to Gozo for my first holiday here. Without her, this book would quite simply not exist! Sadly cancer ended her life in September 2005.
The website www.angelina.scagozo.com includes a preview of the book’s first two chapters, a list of shops that stock Angelina’s Ghost as well as information on how to order it online.