#Ocelot Press #reblogged

Good Morning Monday! 

I've been asked a couple of times why I chose to self- publish with Ocelot Press - a co-operative of authors - rather than just branch out as a totally self-published author on my own, after I received all my publishing rights back from my previous publisher Crooked Cat Books in 2018. 

This blog post of today on the Ocelot Press Website is exactly why I'm delighted to be part of a group with such supportive and talented authors. When the opportunity arises, we Ocelots are all about sharing, which includes helping to spread the word of any successes of our author members. My heartfelt thanks go to Vanessa Couchman who has undertaken the additional role of maintaining our Ocelot Website, squeezing valuable minutes from her own time-pressed schedule to share our Ocelot news.

Her post begins like this....

Look at the History on Your Doorstep, Advocates Nancy Jardine

"Ocelot Press author Nancy Jardine is a mine of information about the Romans in the north of England and Scotland, knowledge that she’s put to good use in her Celtic Fervour series: four novels, soon to become five. The series concentrates on a particular clan and its struggles to oust the Romans. Each book focuses on a specific character. ..." 

You can find the rest of her super supportive post HERE about my recent feature in The Press and Journal Newspaper's Weekender Magazine, which I'm informed has the third largest Scottish national daily press uptake.

Now, I'm off to play my part as a  contributing Ocelot author because, as well as supporting each other with publicity, we are sharing our other skills. Today, I'm doing some Beta Reading for an Ocelot. For those unfamiliar with Beta Reading, it's support given pre-final professional editing and my job is to read the manuscript that's approaching final stages. I'll be looking for aspects like continuity issues, character development, believable storyline, punchy beginnings and super endings with all of the loose ends well-tied up and other structural issues that an author is sometimes too close to their work to  notice might need a bit more tweaking.  

It's not an editing job, though I have to say I find I can't not jot down things that I feel could be improved on like a misspelling or an awkward sentence.  Beta Reading is a skill that I'm just learning! And later today I'll be squeezing in time for more of my Book 5 new writing. 

Slainthe!