A good question.
After waiting 18 months since I signed my contract with Head of Zeus, my debut novel, Patience, will be published next week. It felt for a long time like it was never going to happen – each month felt achingly slow. And yet here I am, just seven days off that magical day where I can finally tick ‘become an author’ off my life list.
How am I feeling? Full of adrenaline, mostly. Getting to sleep is becoming tricky, and I feel like I’m a drug addict searching for my next hit every time I refresh Netgalley. I’m also pretty tired – there’s been a lot of promotional work to do, much of which will come to fruition in the next seven days.
I thought it might useful for other writers to see the kind of things I’ve been doing in the run up to publication, so here goes.
Interviews
I’ve been interviewed for five podcasts so far, each of them really fun to do. Honestly, talking to people about my book is now one of my favourite things. It is an incredible rush hearing people talking about their favourite bits in the book, their favourite characters, or the bits they particularly related to. Seeing my words take on new life in other people’s minds is thrilling.
Of the five podcasts I’ve done, only one is out already. It’s a very funny, very candid interview with the lovely Simon Minty and Phil Friend for their disability podcast, The Way We Roll. They both loved Patience (phew.) You can listen here – my bit starts at about 27 minutes in.
I’ve also spoken to the Write and Wrong Podcast, The Reverse Rett Podcast, Any More Tea and Off The Shelf. I’ll share them here when they’re available for download.
I’m also due to do two radio interviews next week to talk about the book – one with Radio WM, and one with Talk Radio Europe. I’ll add links here afterwards.
Reading reviews
I mentioned Netgalley above, and it’s been a source of a lot of joy of late (not always the case for authors, I know!) I’ve had a run of really wonderful reviews from really thoughtful people, and I’m so grateful.
I’ve also been reading my first professional reviews – one from NB magazine (below), who have made Patience their recommended book for August, and one from LoveReading, who have made Patience one of their Debuts of the Month, and also one of their recommended bookclub picks.
They both said really lovely things, and I’m delighted.
Writing features and short stories
I’ve written a long feature for the BBC, which should be published next week, about my relationship with my sister, Clare. I’ve also written a short story set in an airport (I miss travel!) for the Express magazine, S. I’ll post links for both of these when they’re up.
Choosing the actors for the audio book
I’m very lucky that WFHowes are bringing out an audio version of Patience in just a few weeks’ time. I’m also lucky that they asked my opinion about the actors who are reading it. The two we’ve gone with – Bronwen Price and Imogen Comrie – are awesome. I can’t wait to hear it. You can pre-order here.
Admin for live events
Excitingly, I’m actually going to be able to have live launch events, something that didn’t seem likely in the darkest days of Covid.
I was invited up by Wrecking Ball Books in Hull to do a live reading and Q&A, which is tremendously exciting. I’m heading up there next week – the event is at 7pm on August 4th and tickets (which are FREE) can be got here. I’m having to do a mad drive across the country to drop my kids with my parents for a couple of days to be able to get there, but it’s all good. The joys of school holidays!
I’m also planning my own launch party, which will be held at Waterstone’s in Walton-on-Thames on Saturday August 7th 2021, at 3pm. If you’re in the area, do swing by! I’ll be signing copies of the book.
(I’m also planning a 7th birthday party for my daughter the day after launch, which is driving me a little bit mad, but never mind.)
Right, I’d better get back to it. I have a pass the parcel to wrap! If you need me, I’ll be knee deep in sticky tape or madly refreshing Amazon… (pre-order links are here!)
Victoria Scott 