I'm joining the ranks of some famous writers...

...That is, I'm collecting rejections from publishers.

I will keep working on reducing the word count and hopefully someone will soon take it on. Otherwise it will end up as an e-book (which I can do myself), but it won't do the story justice in that format.

Ian

Keeping on keeping on.

Another rejection email received.

It appears that British publishers are not interested in naval biography unless it has 'Nelson' in the title.

Unfortunately for the reading public, there was a lot more to the sailing navy than Nelson. Without the dedicated men who trained and nurtured the officers and crews that Nelson led at Trafalgar, there would have been no navy for Nelson to lead. He would have looked a right donkey then!

Without biographies these brave and dedicated officers remain hidden behind the smoke and noise of the Nelson legend. Very unfortunate.

Self-publishing is still an option for me and I have the where-withal to make it into an e-book. But I will give it a little longer in an attempt to have it published in paper form by a commercial publisher.

Ian

Referral

Rather than a rejection from the first publisher I have been commended on my writing style and referred to another publishing house.

I will now re-write my proposal and submit it all over again.

No-one ever said this was going to be an easy process and I have to stay positive.

Ian

First proposal accepted.

My initial proposal to the UK publisher brought a quick response, asking me to submit a full proposal and sample of my work.
This was submitted today.
I am striving to get the manuscript down from 200,000 words to 130,00 or less and am hopeful this will result in a publication contract in the near future.

Ian

Initial Editing Complete.

Manuscript editing on the Gower Biography has been completed and I have prepared a proposal for a publisher in the UK.

Fingers crossed this will be the big break I have been seeking and we can see this massive project fulfilled.

Ian

Manuscript complete.

The main project I have been working on for many years is a biography of British Admiral Sir Erasmus Gower. Gower was born in 1742 and served for over 50 years in the navy, reaching the rank of admiral of the white in 1810. He died in 1814, having recently served as Governor and Commander-in-chief of Newfoundland. Much more to follow. Keep posted!

Ian

Another year of editing completed. I just seem to get it right and new material becomes available. This time I have drawn a line under the project and have stopped researching and concentrated on my writing.

The next 4-5 months will see the final edit before submission to a publisher.

June this year will mark the 200th anniversary of Admiral Gower's death. I would have liked to have the book ready for publishing by then but it wasn't to be.

Ian

Introduction

Hi there
Now that we are winding down our main book restoration business we are looking more at our creative writing endeavours. Over the next few months we will gradually introduce our projects.

We look forward to sharing our projects and learning from others.