Suddenly everything has changed.
At a literary evening which I almost didn’t go to, I come upon Shona Martyn of Harper Collins.
“You wrote that letter. Come and see me,” she says.
I ask Bem to come with me, for she’s much more e-literate than me- though I’m learning fast, on the job, the way I learn best. But I’m still incoherent- e knowledge seems like learning a language, where you understand more than you can say.
Harper Collins are very welcoming, and don’t put me on the spot at all, except that we have a discussion about digital rights management, which they think is essential, but Kate Eltham didn’t, relying instead on pricing books low. And afterwards, they send me a letter offering to publish my novel, taking print rights, and e rights for Australia and New Zealand, but giving me rights to e publish everywhere else.
So it is quite like the partnership I envisaged back in the hotel room in Athens!
So, how do I take up these rights I so desired? How exactly do I e publish?