THE LONG ROAD TO SUCCESS
When I first came across Twitter users wishing an author a ‘Happy Book Birthday’, I assumed they were celebrating the anniversary of her book’s publication. I was wrong, of course. The congratulatory tweets were to mark its launch, supporting the author on her big day and helping to spread the word about her shiny new book baby, safely arrived after a hard labour (albeit a labour of love). But unlike other newborns, most books are already years old by the time they put in an appearance. They might be years old before they even get accepted for publication – long, resolvetesting years of rewrites and edits; of submissions, rejections and resubmissions; of champagnepopping highs and chocolate-bingeing lows and everything in between.
By the time I celebrated my own ‘book birthday’ for – a middle grade comedy adventure about a schoolboy turned time-travelling secret agent – the book was already old enough to vote. Old enough to buy lottery tickets. Old enough to order his own celebratory drink at the
