A Life Less Lost

Fantastic news!

2012-01-23T10:21:00.000-08:00

Steph, from Crooked {Cat} publishing has asked to see the rest of my novel!!! This is a quote from her email:
"Thank you for your recent partial submission of Once Removed. I found the chapters engaging, witty, and thought-provoking at the same time. Your story has a very timely topic, and the way you approach it is cleverly done." Even if they don't offer me a contract, someone I don't know, in the publishing business, likes my work.

Yikes!

2011-10-21T00:59:00.000-07:00

Lots to catch up on since August...
Great ACW weekend at Scargill in September. I only managed to attend on Saturday but was inspired (as always) by Adrian & Bridget Plass, as well as Nick Page and all the other lovely people who were there.

Spoke to the Shepley Mother's Union on Wednesday 14th Sept. A lovely group of women doing good work in their community. Met a mother whose son, like James, had cancer in his youth but survived and is in his thirties now. He has also suffered post traumatic stress symptoms. Made me more determined then ever to raise awareness and support for research into Cancer Surviorship.

Spoke to the Rastrick Mother's Union on the 20th September. This was a bit different, as we had a short service in the church before the meeting/talk got underway in the Sunday school building. They could just about hear me over the roar of the scouts in the next room. Met a woman called Shirley who is joining ACW after telling me she was interested in writing, too.

In October, Howard and I enjoyed a few days with family in Slough before speaking to the Tuesday Break group at Slough Baptist Church. This was my third engagement with this group. The title of my talk was God promises His peace. I had some interesting questions and some very good feedback.

On October 20th, I gave a talk to the Thursday Fellowship group at Linthwaite Methodist Church. It was lovely to be introduced by my friend Margaret. Afterwards a man came up to tell me his neck had been broken in a hit and run accident when he was on his bike. He whispered that he also suffered post traumatic stress symptoms and seemed grateful that I'd talked about the subject.

Beverley Writers' Day

2011-08-13T02:13:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday the roads were quiet and my journey to Beverley easy and straight-forward. The fifteen people who met in Toll Gavel Church in the heart of the city were lovely and keen to get busy. The two hour workshop resulted in some fine stories from the participants' school days. A delicious selection of tea-time treats were the, well, icing on the cake!

Gainsborough Event

2011-04-18T04:17:00.000-07:00

I had a great time at the ACW event in Gainsborough on Saturday. There were lots of lovely people and some delicious food. Best of all, Joe Story, of Unboring Books, lead an excellent workshop on how to get published, which was very helpful now that I'm busily submitting Once Removed to agents. Joe described himself as the Del Boy of the Christian world and was very down-to-earth, practical, funny and inspiring.

Unboring Books is a newish venture trying to bridge the conventional publishing and the self-publishing worlds. They offer to read and assess your manuscript and if they feel it has merit will recommend it to Christian bookshops. This is something self-publishers need, a kind of kite mark of excellence to lift you above the stigma.

Huddersfield Literature Festival

2011-03-18T09:23:00.000-07:00

Another good festival ~ just wish I could attend more events! Anne Caldwell's The Route Women Life Writing was an excellent workshop yesterday. My event ~ The Hard Truths About Self-publishing ~ went well today. There was a positive atmosphere and some good feedback. Tomorrow, I'm looking forward to hearing Anne Fine.

Encouraging words

2011-02-21T03:21:00.000-08:00

I just received these encouraging words in an email from Bobbie Ernst via my dad:
"Anyhow, I just finished reading your daughter Kimm's wonderful book and wanted to let you and Kimm know how very much I enjoyed it. Actually, I couldn't put it down ! Having lived in England for 2 yrs in the early 70s, I could so well identify with that part of it. The compassion she expresses on her big, supportive family is moving, and her writing style superb. My hats are off to her as she has accomplished so much and willingly & bravely taken on hardships and new challenges."

Huddersfield Literature Festival

2011-02-18T02:20:00.000-08:00

I'm giving a talk/workshop on the Hard Truths of Self-publishing on Friday 18th March. Please pass this information on to anyone you think might be interested. For more information follow the links below:
http://www.litfest.org.uk is the website link.
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/group.php?gid=61839645820 is the facebook link.

Long time no post

2010-11-30T08:09:00.000-08:00

Just added some more dates to the calendar on this blog. After a quiet spell, trying to finish the novel, all of a sudden lots of speaking engagements have come my way! I'm especially delighted to be giving a talk at the Huddersfield Literature Festival in March. The poetry writing workshop should be fun at Lawrence Batley Theatres Festive Fayre event in a couple of weeks, too.

Writers' groups

2010-10-04T03:57:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, I gave a talk at the beautiful library in Cleckheaton on setting up a writers' group. It was well attended and we finished up by launching three new groups. One will meet on Friday afternoons, one Monday evenings and one at Birstal library on Wednesdays evenings. Please contact the libraries, if you are interested. And please contact me, if you'd like me to do a talk at your local library. In this economic climate libraries, like other services are fighting for their existence. We need to use them or lose them!

Amazon.co,uk expansion

2010-08-31T03:06:00.000-07:00

Amazon.co.uk can now post my books to the following EU countries at no extra charge!
Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Ireland, Portugal

Christian.com

2010-08-04T09:56:00.000-07:00

Michael, from christian.com has invited me to join this social networking site. I'd love to know if any of you are new visitors here because of this link. Does social networking really work?

Smashwords

2010-07-26T02:34:00.001-07:00

Anna-Kaisa's done a brilliant job on reformatting A Life Less Lost and it's now been launched as an ebook on Smashwords! Thirteen people have so far downloaded sample pages so let's hope a few purchases will soon follow. My next project, with David's help will be to release it as an audio-book on the Podiobook website... Any thoughts about that idea would be gratefully received.

An experiment

2010-07-18T01:03:00.000-07:00

Six blurry weeks on and I'm looking forward to a possibly quieter August. Between reader's groups, house groups and writer's groups, visitors and social events, time has lost its elasticity. My new hobby ~ edible gardening ~ is helping me relax. The homegrown cougettes we had for tea last night were yummy.

My novel is out with readers and the feedback dribbling in is positive. Kate and Christina are meeting with me on Monday for the detail. Two new novel ideas are beginning to take shape.

I've come to the end of my speaking engagements, for the moment. The talk in Wilshaw was well received and I sold as many copies of Reflections of Holme as A Life Lest Lost. Holmfirth Parish Church are doing sterling work selling books to tourists and my future daughter-in-law is creating an e-book version, out soon hopefully.

The big experiment was to offer free 'Writing From Life' workshops at two small local bookshops. This was intended to bring people into the shops and spark interest in my book. Seven people turned up for the event in Orchard Bookshop, Denby Dale and all seemed to enjoy it. Only one came to Huddersfield Christian Bookshop, though. I'll need to do more of these in order to discover if it was not enough advertisement, the time/day or the venue. Only one book was sold because most of the people already had a copy! I'm sending out enquiries now for future events. All suggestions welcome.

Reflections of Holme

2010-06-09T01:42:00.000-07:00

We've done it! The Holmfirth Writers' Group celebrated the launch of their collaborative venture, Reflections of Holme, on Monday. It's a gorgeous book, thanks to Andy Leader's photos and the writing is wonderfully diverse and very evocative of the Holme Valley. I'll try to figure out how to attach a photo and other links...

Busy week!

2010-05-01T02:14:00.000-07:00

The last week of April was a bit of a marathon. At the Holmfirth Writers' meeting on Monday night, we tidied up some business to do with our upcoming anthology ~ Reflections From Holme, which is very exciting. Afterwards we had a brilliant workshop led by Mary. She brought her puppets and challenged us to write Victorian moral fables in rhyme!

On Tuesday, I led a house group meeting on the fruits of the Spirit and how we might apply them to combating climate change and building our church for the future, another kind of challenge.

Wednesday night I was invited by Holmfirth Library to take part in a Local Author Bonanza. Amazing the variety of talent in our valley, from Roman toilets to memoir, it was a very interesting evening.

On Thursday night I gave a talk to the Mothers' Union at Holmfirth Parish Church. One woman told me my book had saved her life!! She just happened to be reading the section about MRIs when her doctor wanted her to have one. He didn't believe her when she told him she had a metal stent in her heart but knowing how important it was she insisted and was proved right.

Last night's badminton helped me run off all the tension of the week ready to see what May has in store.

Word of Google?

2010-03-29T07:50:00.000-07:00

I had two comments regarding my last post. One which appeared to be in a far eastern script and one that suggested my books had sold by 'word of Google'. What a brilliant turn of phrase. Apparently, my post had turned up in his box under the guise of Christian bookshop. I'm way out of my depth with all this social networking. However, if it encourages folk to buy one of my books, bring it on. I feel like I'm hanging on to a kite's tail in a gale, blindfolded.

The radio interview on Saturday was great fun. I love the sense of community TwoValleysRadio and their sister station ELFM create.

Two events coming up in April. I'll be one of the guest authors in an Authors Bonanza held in Holmfirth Library on the 28th and will be speaking to the Mothers' Union on the 29th.

Exciting news

2010-03-26T06:44:00.000-07:00

Createspace sold thirteen books last week in the USA! Is this the beginning of 'word of mouth' sales???

I'll be taking part in an internet 'Two Valleys Radio' programme on Saturday. My friends and I from Holmfirth Writers will be promoting our collaborative book 'Reflections on Holme' to be launched in June.

Work is progressing at a pace on the novel, hence my absence from these pages. Watch this space...

We're back!

2010-03-05T07:12:00.000-08:00

Home again in England and lots to catch up with. Must just give a plug to 'Holy Grounds' Christian bookshop and coffee house in Grapevine, Texas. It's a brilliant shop with a gloriously inviting aroma of fresh brewed coffee when you open the door so well worth a visit. Best of all, when I asked if they were interested in selling my book, they instantly bought six copies!

Book tour USA

2010-02-17T08:21:00.000-08:00

Arrived in Maryland to news of impending snow storm. We were bemused by school closure announcements, etc when there wasn't a cloud in the sky but right on time 28 inches of snow and a 30 hour power failure trapped us in my cousin's house for a couple of days. We had to cancel one event and hastily rearranged another. I met some wonderful people and sold 32 books. Most of all I enjoyed visiting with some of my family. Sadly, the snow kept us from seeing everyone.

We missed a day of skiing due to airport closure but still had a wonderful week in Winterpark, where I spent family holidays as a child.

In Arizona at the moment, soaking up glorious sunshine and helping my nephew make origami frogs. The talk I gave yesterday was well received and again I met some wonderful people and heard some heartbreaking stories.

Radio interview

2010-01-31T01:48:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, I was interviewed by Peter Spofford of East Leeds Community Radio for a programme on Belief. You can listen on the internet at www.elfm.co.uk .

Upcoming events

2010-01-30T09:28:00.000-08:00

Howard & I will be setting off on Monday for our epic journey. We fly to London, where we'll stay with family. I'll be speaking on the theme of 'Loss' to a group at Slough Baptist Church on Tuesday, then off to the States on Wed. First stop, Maryland to visit family and give talks on Thurs, Fri and Saturday!
We'll be ready for a week skiing at Winter Park, where I spent holidays as a child. From there we travel to Arizona, staying with my Dad and Lynda. They've arranged for me to speak to the Rio Verde Readers' Groups.
On to Texas to visit friends and speak at their local community centre. Last stop, Michigan where we'll be able to see lots more family and friends. A highlight will be my aunt & uncle's 60th wedding anniversary celebration!

My website is live

2010-01-30T02:39:00.000-08:00

Ascensor have done me proud and created a lovely website to promote my book(s), talks and workshops (thanks Donna). Now I just need the time and a helpful techie to spread the word that it's there. Pop over and have a look, then let me know what you think.
http://www.kbwalkerwrites.co.uk

Ice Blue Sky

2010-01-14T08:48:00.000-08:00

Sitting, with my laptop on my knee, I'm looking out at an ice blue sky. Snow, clean and curvy, smothers every surface. Our unusual white Christmas has continued for an unprecidented three weeks! Gorgeous to look at but problematical to travel in, even if only walking through the knee deep drifts or on the black ice spread across the cleared bits.

Our trip to the States will soon be upon us ~ will the weather cooperate with our intricate travel plans? With at least eight flights involved and committments in five different states, there's lots of potential for things to go wrong... But also lots of opportunities for meeting new people and spreading the word about A Life Less Lost.

A selection of reviews

2010-01-09T03:48:00.000-08:00

[KB Walker] manages skilfully to get past all the surface religiosity to show what a relationship with God can look like in practical terms in a real and messy life. This is both a "good read" and a convincing testimony which cannot fail to provide consideration of how your faith works, everyday - and in crisis. Mary Jefferson, review sent to Magnet magazine

The anguish of a Mother finding that her son has cancer in his leg is graphically described in A Life Less Lost. KB Walker has expressed this by telling the story of her life, interspersed with the diagnosis and the many months of hospital visits thereafter. James is a teenager; he has to handle a lot of this trauma for himself, watched over by supportive family and friends who can do nothing to lessen the impact of what is happening to him. These chapters are hard to read, but you feel compelled to continue, empathising with all the people involved. Incredibly by the end of the book James has become a Doctor, but what an amazing and heart-rending journey! Not your average 'holiday' read, but I am so glad I took it with me. Reviewed by Mary Bartholomew for thegoodbookstall.org.uk

blog hop

2009-11-27T22:29:00.000-08:00

Important info on Amazon.co.uk

2009-11-24T08:21:00.000-08:00

I have finally discovered why orders for my book that people have sent to Amazon have not been filled, when they have 50 copies in their warehouse. Aparently, a prospective purchaser must go to the Life Less Lost page then click on the tiny link that says 2 used & new. At the top of the page that comes up you should see 'seller kbwalkerwrites' has new copies available for free next day delivery. Please don't ask me why they have created such a confusing system or why they won't fill orders made on the original page.

Amazon.co.uk verses Amazon.com

2009-10-22T07:53:00.000-07:00

More problems with Amazon.co.uk. My brother-in-law, Arthur, ordered a book two weeks ago and nothing happened. In despair, he's cancelled his order and I'm going to send him one instead. another friend also told me she ordered a copy weeks ago and I've heard nothing from Amazon so assume it's gone astray, as well. I wonder how many other orders have vanished?

Amazon.com on the other hand have managed to sell 11 books in less than a week without a problem, so far. I've had two newspaper articles, a radio interview and have sent dozens of letters to friends and family in the UK but Amazon.co.uk have only sold two books in over two months. They are making a very difficult job much, much harder.

Available in the US at last!

2009-10-19T03:39:00.000-07:00

Createspace has come through a week quicker than expected and two books have already been sold. I look forward to hearing what Americans think of my story.

Rev Kerry's Kind Words

2009-10-13T04:22:00.000-07:00

This book is an excellent choice for anyone struggling with a serious illness, whether as a patient, carer or relative. Kim Walker tells the story of her son's cancer wisely and bravely. She describes how her Christian faith sustained her, whilst being honest about the big questions faith doesn't allow one to evade. We hear of those who died as well as those who recovered, the frustrations of hospital neglect and misdiagnosis, the times when family bonds shuddered under the strain. In this book cancer is not the enemy to be beaten but a reality to be lived with. Kim Walker does not speak of her son's eventual remission glibly or simplistically, but writes frankly of the difficulties of amputation, of emotional recovery, of the post-remission depression that followed his brave acceptance of his illness. It is a truthful account of devastation, hope and frustration. The days when things seem right and then go wrong again, the mornings when a parking difficulty or an unhelpful clinician can make the difference betweeh hope and despair. And, above all, it is a story of faith in a dark time, a reminder of how Christianity cannot take away suffering or pain but at the hardest times of one's life may make it easier to bear.

It's all happening

2009-09-22T04:42:00.000-07:00

Wow! A moment to catch my breath.

Last Tuesday, I nervously waited outside a building that looked nothing like a church but once inside had all the true warmth and love of church at it's best. Grace Community Church had invited me to speak on the recommendation of Rolf at Huddersfield Christian Bookshop. Not only had he found me the gig, but he turned up to listen, too! The prayer cover I'd asked for from my church prayer team really worked wonders. The talk went well, many books were purchased and I came away full of joy.

Saturday found me at the big event in Burnley, speaking alongside Adrian and Bridget Plass! That was an action-packed day that started when I set off at 8:15 am and finished when I flopped onto my settee back home at 10:30 pm. Met lots of lovely people and sold 17 books ~ yippee!

On Monday, I gave a two hour workshop and talk to Lindsay's writing class. We gathered in Barry's lovely home and the time vanished. It is a small but eager group and it was a pleasure to be part of it for the afternoon. They each bought a book.

With two library talks coming up in the next two weeks, I find I'm running low on books again. Should I do another print run even though there are almost a hundred books stored with Amazon waiting for the wider world to take notice.?

I spoke too soon

2009-09-03T01:28:00.000-07:00

This is typical of the roller coaster ride that is self-publishing. Both branches of Amazon seem to have come through, at last. I say 'seem' because so far I only have the possibility of progress. Createspace finally came back to me and it looks like a minor error in communication may be holding things up. I've made alterations and am now holding my breath. Raj from Amazon.co.uk phoned me back, at last, and explained Amazon's stupid system of saying things are out of stock but in fact listing them as available under the 'new and used' link(????). Richard has contacted Nielsons to see if they can get the price changed on the US version to take away the confusion there. So watch this space...

Headaches with Amazon

2009-09-02T02:37:00.000-07:00

I'm struggling to get the book printed in the US. Createspace, the printing arm of Amazon.com, won't accept my ISBN number and won't explain why not. It all takes so much time when you are dealing with remote no-reply email communications.
Amazon.co.uk are not being very helpful either. They insisted I send them 104 copies of the book to qualify for their fullfilment programme but they still list the book as being out of stock. They also insist on listing the US version ~ which doesn't actually exist ~ at £6 and eligible for free delivery. Who is going to want to pay £6.99 for the one that is sitting in their warehouse ready to be posted?
AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!! All I want to do is get back to my writing.

Second batch of books arrives

2009-08-28T03:35:00.000-07:00

Two hundred books arrived at my house on Wed and 100 were immediately dispatched to Amazon.co.uk. This means people who order via Amazon will be able to take advantage of free delivery. Plans are afoot to spread the word even further about this book. If you've read it and liked it please encourage others to buy a copy. I'm still trying to get it up and running on Amazon.com but ran into technical difficulties. Sorry for the delay but don't worry, I won't give up.

BBC Radio Leeds

2009-08-22T02:34:00.000-07:00

On Friday, I was on Graham Liver's morning programme! He was lovely and helped me relax. Thankfully, the audience couldn't see my dripping hands or realise that my shoulders ached from the tension. Just shows the power of prayer that I managed to sound confident and at ease. It was wonderful to be interviewed on the same programme as Phillipa Gregory. Graham and the book club also discussed Chris Cleave's book The Other Hand.

First print run sold out

2009-08-17T07:24:00.001-07:00

With barely thirty books left, it's time to re-order. Hit another small hiccup in my efforts to get the book published in the US but hope to be up and running there soon.

I had a lovely day yesterday speaking to the writers on the Write About Your Life course. Sold lots of books at church and the parish church across the road has also taken copies to sell on their summer bookstall. Rolf at the Christian bookshop has persuaded the rep from Lion Hudson to take a copy to show to his editor... All very gratifying, but it's true ~ the hard work starts once you've launched the book. Those five years I spent writing it were the easy part!

A Life Less Lost is serialized!

2009-08-08T13:05:00.000-07:00

Peter Hinchliffe phoned me the day after his partner bought my book. She couldn't put it down and stayed up until 2am to finish it. He was so impressed he wanted to put it on his web magazine, Openwriting. I'm hoping people won't be able to wait 67 weeks to receive all the installments and will order a copy.

The Huddersfield Examiner features Me!

2009-08-08T13:02:00.000-07:00

On Friday, Katie Grant wrote a half page article about me and A Life Less Lost, complete with photos. Someone had ordered two books before I even got my copy of the paper!

Book launch

2009-08-05T02:52:00.000-07:00

Holmfirth Methodist Church hosted a successful launch last night. I gave a talk, read some exerpts from A Life Less Lost and signed copies. Twenty seven books were sold, which takes us over 100, half of the first print run. Much enthusiasm was generated, with people suggesting ideas to increase sales. I also received a booking to speak at Birstall Library on the 29th of September.

Alison from the Laura Crane Trust wrote:

2009-07-28T08:47:00.000-07:00

I took your book home over the weekend and picked it up casually on Sunday afternoon and read the prologue, at 11pm on Sunday evening I had read it from cover to cover. I was engrossed pausing only, rather annoyingly, to have to prepare Sunday Dinner for my family!

I thoroughly enjoyed it and it gave me much to think about. My family and I attend church every Sunday and my husband is completely committed to the Christian faith and he is part of a missionary team that give talks/sermons once a month. I struggle to be so committed and dip in and out with God (more out than in at present!). Reading about the events life has thrown at you over the years and the amazing strength and courage you show in this book and your commitment to your faith is inspiring, reading your different perceptions of bible passages and how you found hope from them when you could have easily turned against God in the circumstances and who could have blamed you?

On a professional level, when work is getting me down I will think about your book and about James’ struggles and hopefully it will remind me why I come to work every day and the good we are trying to do.

Hope you don’t mind me emailing you Kimm but I just wanted to say thank you for leaving a copy of your book in the office last week. I have passed it on and I hope lots of people enjoy reading it as much as I did.

A quarter of the first print run sold!

2009-07-27T08:40:00.000-07:00

Books are selling very well and I haven't even started my marketing plans yet. Still trying to get the Paypal system established and busy polishing up possible articles for magazines and newspapers and preparing for various talks coming up. It's taking some time trying to figure out the best way to make books available in the US & Australia.

Feedback has been positive and encouraging. Several people have told me they haven't been able to put it down and one chap said his family had to fetch him out of his car where he'd opened the book on the driveway and been hooked from page one. Many people have described how the story has mirrored their experiences of traumatic events in their own families, even those not related to cancer or involving their children. It was always my hope that people would find the book helpful

The books have arrived!

2009-07-16T06:27:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 15th July, 200 books arrived and now I'm in the book selling business.

On our way from Yorkshire to Helsinki, two weeks ago, I was invited to give a talk about my work at Slough Baptist Church to their Tuesday Break group (mainly parents of young children enjoying the playgroup and creche on offer). The response was good and they ordered 12 books so I'm off to a good start.

It turns out writing the book was only the beginning ~ I finished the first draft in four months! Four and a half years of redrafting later, as well as writing other things and learning the craft, the feedback began to sound like I might have something worthwhile. Then months of research into getting my manuscript into book form and here I am.

Plans for marketing include drumming up more speaking engagements, preparing for the big Northern Writers' Event with Adrian and Bridget Plass in September and writing articles for various magazines and newspapers. If anyone has anymore ideas out there, please let me know.

News from Australia

2009-06-26T01:34:00.000-07:00

My good friend in Brisbane, Kimberley, is currently enjoying motherhood with one year old Charlotte. I had the crazy idea of asking her if she'd like to handle sales of my book in Australia and she said yes. She's full of ideas and enthusiasm. Here's a quote from one of her emails:

I was thinking of perhaps (when you are ready and have received feedback from others in the UK) contacting some book clubs to see if they would be interested in purchasing copies of your book. It seems (from my quick scan of the web) that most clubs are run from libraries. Not sure how well received I would be from libraries but happy to try. (Not sure if they are most interested in 'best sellers' or if they are happy to read a variety of authors and genres etc, which I think any good book club should be!) If I can manage to get in contact with the 'right' people it could be really good, I think.A couple of my friends are either currently involved in book clubs or at least used to be. I was thinking of asking them who I could contact at their book clubs (or if they could pass on the info etc at the right time). I figure the kind of people who attend book clubs are likely to pass on their thoughts to friends and so potentially through word of mouth it could really spark some interest.

I can't wait to get back from Finland and start the next leg of this adventure!

My manuscript is at the printers!

2009-06-25T02:37:00.000-07:00

Printondemand-worldwide are, as I write, processing my manuscript! I can scarcely believe that after 5 years of work I shall finally have actual books in my hands on July 15th. Learning the craft of writing through adult education classes, a Cornerstones residential weekend, self-help books, writers' groups and internet writers' forums has been challenging, hard work and lots of fun.

Swimming in the shark infested waters of self-publishing has been less fun. Because I'd already had 7 speaking engagements about my work and 4 more coming up, I decided to stop waiting for the mainstream publishers to give me a chance. CIDA (Creative Industries Development Agency) in Huddersfield have helped by providing me with a mentorship package.

Richard Netherwood has been my mentor. He's been able to translate printer-speak into something I could understand, turn my word document and artistic ideas into printer-ready pdf files as well as advising me on next steps, book sizes, paper quality, etc, etc.

Now all I need to do is learn a whole new set of skills in marketing...