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carolineboxall
Sep 192 min read

Rewriting your First Novel - Risky Move or Brilliant Gamble?

Should you publish your first book?

The advice for new writers is generally this: write your first book, throw it away and write your first book.

The renowned (and extremely informative) podcast, Novel Marketing gives "Ten Commandments of Book Publishing". The first one states:
"Thou shalt not publish thy first book"
Perhaps, foolishly, I didn’t take the advice because I thought It’s Raining in Moscow and I Forgot my Umbrella was quite good when I first wrote it.

It wasn't. The characters were fine and the plot had potential, but after I'd written and published two more books, I could see that my writing had greatly improved.


Regrets?

I don't in the least regret publishing that first book. It took me two years to write and six months to work out how to self-publish. The skills I learned during those two-and-a-half years are incredibly valuable and well worth the embarrassment of having a book out there which isn't of the finest quality.


I asked my friend ChatGPT to give me a list of skills needed to self-publish a book. It came back with a list of thirty-five essential skills! I'll just give you a few:


1. Writing and Editing Skills

2. Design Skills

3. Marketing and Promotion

4. Sales and Distribution

5. Business and Financial Management

6. Legal Knowledge

7. Technical Skills

8. Networking and Community Building

9. Problem-Solving and Adaptability

10. Emotional Resilience


Each of these headings had a number of sub-headings. I can't say I've mastered all of these skills, but I do know how to self-publish and I think I've done okay. For example, if I hadn't learnt these skills I wouldn't have been able to run my children's writing competition and publish the wonderful 50 Short Stories of Hope - written by children for children.


Why the rewrite?

I was about to start on the sequel, when raising awareness for homeless children in India felt like a more important reason to write. In 2023 and 2024 I published The Runaway Children of Chennai and The Secret Children of Mumbai (both achieving the coveted 'bestseller' badge on Amazon and hopefully raising awareness of homelessness in India)


After those books were published, Billy and Manya lingered in my mind, urging me to return to their adventure. The ideas kept building until they blossomed into five distinct books, each with its own story leading to the answer of the 'big' question.


The Fox of Sevastopol - release date: 1.11. 24

The Snake of Southwold - release date: 1.4.25

The Chameleon of Carisbrook - release date: 1.11.25

The Raven of Paris - release date: 1.4.26


You can buy The Mole of Moscow on Amazon by clicking here.


Don't hesitate - I'm quite pleased with this one :)





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