The REAL deal

I've been looking forward to writing this blog post for a while because I've really had my eyes opened over the last six months or so with regards to the publishing industry - getting published and being published - that whole journey.
I like to think of my experience as an experiment. Some of it was how I expected things to play out, much of it wasn't - but that's because the industry is going through a period of discontent, more of which will be the subject of another blog session.
It's worth pointing out here that I was made two very succinct promises when I signed those contracts:
1) Little Child would get published
2) Little Child would be available worldwide online
BOTH were extremely important to me and I'm very happy to say BOTH did happen.
If I had been snapped up by a big traditional Publisher, I know my experience would have been completely different. I would've had those luxuries, but maybe lost the book's integrity. The funny thing is, I may not have sold many more copies. The exposure would've been different, however, not necessarily generated more sales. Currently my online presence is spot on, but I don't feature in any book shops. A traditional Publisher would get you into the stores but they don't believe in / like / want to acknowledge (delete where applicable) the eBook thing so I wouldn't have been on Amazon, not immediately anyway.
There are lots of these "vicky verky" scenarios to consider.
To sum up my experience for today's post, I'd say this: being published by an Independent is pretty much like flying with a no frills airline - they'll get you to where you're going, but don't expect any luxuries along the way (unless you want to pay for them!)
And be prepared to work really really really hard because no one else will do it for you.