@janette
Active 5 days, 19 hours ago-
Janette posted an update 8 months ago
So sorry for my absences. I have made the decision to self-publish my books after careful consideration, reading how some trad friends have fared, and revisiting notes from my last (self-publishing) workshop in York. I’m very wet behind the ears regarding publishing, especially self-publishing, so I am deep into swatting about it before I make any…[Read more]
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Janette posted a new activity comment 8 months ago
That’s wonderful news, Jill. Here’s to upwards and onwards!
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Thank you, Janette – much appreciated. Jill x
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Janette's profile was updated 9 months, 1 week ago
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Janette posted an update 9 months, 2 weeks ago
Well done, Terrie – a great choice! I have a busy November coming up but will try and fit in some time to take part in the monthly comp.
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Janette replied to the topic Choices in the forum
September Song 10 months agoI might live to regret this, but I am changing my choices (it was a flip of a coin in the first place).
My choices now are:
Sunshine.
The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessey
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Janette posted a new activity comment 10 months ago
Welcome back, CAS. Great another Cloudie has found their way here.
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Thank you Janette! Yes, if only all the Cloudies would come! Great this is still going though.
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Janette replied to the topic Monthly competition October 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 10 months ago
As the Veil Grows Thin
Hey, Vee, I’m still at your side my dear. My old bones are aching in this hospital chair but, aye, I’m still watching over you.
They say you might hear me but – I don’t know. See, I can’t get used to how still you are. Never would’ve been afore, hey? Specially when we first met, when we danced like demons and made lo…[Read more]
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Janette replied to the topic Choices in the forum
September Song 10 months, 1 week agoRain
Chocolat
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Janette posted an update 10 months, 3 weeks ago
So sorry, Jill. I hoped to be of a mindset to join in September’s comp, only this month has thrown up too many mind-scrambling obstacles to facilitate concentration. Seems you already have some excellent stories already and I don’t envy your task.
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Janette replied to the topic Monthly competition August 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year ago
The Woman Whose Nose Pointed North
I had already met my mother-in-law, years earlier, not that I could have known. We had moved onto a still-being-built estate, the house across from ours taken by a large family. So many children were a draw for a five-year-old girl and her brother.
The children, I remember, seemed friendly. Not so the…[Read more]
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Janette replied to the topic Monthly Comp – July 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year ago
Thank you, Sea, for the challenge and for the kind words. Congratulations, Sandra, your words clearly came from the heart and made you a worthy winner.
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Janette posted a new activity comment 1 year ago
It was lovely to catch up with you, John. I’m also making more effort to visit here, and I must say, the monthly comps have been a great exercise in tightening prose and the challenge of new writing.
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Janette posted an update in the group
DONATIONS 1 year agoPresuming your details haven’t changed since last time, I hope you will find my £20 donation in your bank. Hope you find the rest.
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Thanks so much Janette!
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Janette replied to the topic Monthly Comp – July 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 1 month ago
The Last Sense
Curse my tears, dissolving my bold exterior to expose the raw feeling beneath. How dare they come at a time when I needed to show courage? To offer a united support when Mum’s strength had finally crumbled?
And see how the foundations of mine gave way, leaving the sturdier ones to put on the brave faces; carry the weak link of…[Read more]
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Janette posted an update 1 year, 1 month ago
Thank you, Ath, for an excellent prompt and for the kind feedback. I loved everyone’s stories, and congratulations to Seagreen – a worthy winner.
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Janette posted a new activity comment 1 year, 1 month ago
Jill, I admire your courage and agree positivity is the strongest medicine in most things. It has carried me through many challenges in life, though as you said, you also have to remember you are human. Keep on keeping on, and I send over positive vibes.
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Thank you, Janette. Lovely to speak with you again and hear that positivity has carried you through many life challenges. Another philosophy I have come across, to paraphrase, is that a crisis can be turned into an opportunity. Maybe a more difff
Thank you, janette for your kind words and positive vibes. Lovely to connect once more and hear…[Read more]
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Janette posted a new activity comment 1 year, 1 month ago
Hello, Jill. It’s great to hear you are writing again, and I wish you well with your treatment. I agree, we have a lot to be thankful for in Den, that it is a place we can find each other after the closure of Cloud, and carry on with our writing challenges.
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Thank you, Janette. I never really stopped writing something or other for long! For instance, after four or five years of writing a weekly story and sharing it on FaceTime with younger grandson in America, I did have to admit that ideas had dried up! So we went over old ones, but then have found other literary ways of sharing the gift of…[Read more]
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Janette replied to the topic Monthly Competition June 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 2 months ago
The First Steps and the Last
‘Come on, Mum, two more steps and you’re there. I’ve got you …’
Why was she raising her voice? I wasn’t deaf.
My mind wasn’t the disabled part of me. And what was the rush?
Hold your tongue, old lass. It’s all said through care, not to mention a familiar tone of worry that she might slip or let go.
It took me…[Read more]
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Janette replied to the topic Monthly Competition May 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 2 months ago
Ps, yes, thank you all for your brilliant entries, I meant to say- sorry if this didn’t come across in my summary.
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Good luck. Please let us know how you get on. I’d like to piggy-back on your request for tips. I am part of a group currently ready to publish a non-fiction book. We’re trying a few pitches via the traditional route just in case it lands but it’s quite likely we may end up self-publishing because we don’t want the book to languish, unpublished, for ages.
Hi Bella. So far I’m deep into reading the Writers and Artists Guide to Self Publishing, which is very ‘involved’ though gives lots of advice. I have also signed up to David Gaughran’s free self-publishing course (on his website). I also found this: https://justpublishingadvice.com/publishing-companies-to-avoid-and-nasty-new-author-scams/
I’ll let…[Read more]
Janette (and Bella), one tip I didn’t mention earlier is that it makes very good sense to set your page size for composing to Blurb’s trade book size. Makes it, in my opinion, a lot easier to read on screen too. Blurb’s page size is 13.02cm x 20.95cm. Select mirror margins , set top margin 2 cm, bottom 2.25 cm, inside 1.75cm, outside, 1.75 cm…[Read more]
Hi Janette, I’ve never self-published but am in contact with editors and proofreaders who work with self-pub authors. This tip usually doesn’t apply to experienced writers so I just add it as a general comment. When self-pub authors approach editors for a proofread or copy edit, often what’s needed is a more substantial developmental or…[Read more]
Thank you, Sandra and Libby. All taken on board, but the novel has had three beta readers so far, plus an agent’s when she almost took it on. Better luck this time, eh?
You are well prepared, Janette! Good luck with the self pub.