Helena Brady
Publishing Diary 2- ILLUSION
Hello again! Time for another update on ILLUSION's publication journey!
So, a lot of exciting things have happened since my last Publishing Diary, which you can read here. I got my first proof copy, and it turned out so much better than I thought! Unfortunately I can't show you juuust yet, it's still very much a secret, but I promise once the cover is revealed you'll get to see them! The quality of my KDP proofs were amazing, but the other one... not so much.
I ordered a proof copy from Lulu, because I wanted a copy without the annoying "not for resale" band across it to display at my desk, but I was not impressed at all with what I received from them. Firstly, they are more expensive than KDP prints, and even though I paid an extra €25 for express delivery, and it arrived a week late (that's not on Lulu though, that's on FedEx, but I was still pretty annoyed). When it finally did arrive I opened the packet and... it wasn't a pretty sight. The quality was heartbreakingly awful.
I will be sure to show you a comparison between my KDP copy and Lulu copy at a later date.

On a more positive note, I got some new business cards printed, and they look amazing, and very professional (in my opinion haha)! I am so happy with how they turned out! I have just ordered some ILLUSION bookmarks, and I cannot wait to see them printed out!
I also finished the next round of edits, which was just cleaning up some of the new scenes that were added. I have read this book so many times, but this was one of the few times I actually felt so proud of myself for creating this book and these characters. I love this story, it holds a special place in my heart and I cannot wait for you all to read it!
When I finished the edits, I went straight into formatting the interior. It took me a couple hours, because there is so much design on the inside, but it is done and dusted! And I went back to ordering myself another proof, fixing all the little things that I had a problem with on the first one. It was still just as painful uploading the new proof to KDP this time round, and I spent even more hours wrestling with KDP to get my proof uploaded and looking good, but at 11pm, I finally could hit the order button.
ILLUSION now has to undergo a final proofread before it can be approved for publication. So, once the new proof copy arrived through my letterbox, I'll be straight onto that. I also have my wonderful CP (@writingsomethingserious on Instagram) reading over ILLUSION at the moment. Things are moving in the right direction!
Just a heads up... I'll be revealing the cover as well as looking for ARC readers very soon, so follow me on Instagram @authorhelenabrady to catch the announcements!
I thought I would switch things up a little and share a snippet from my little debut, The Secrets of the Forest!
"We just found a dead body.
We shouldn't be laughing."
And that's all your getting. Thanks for reading, bye!!