The Road to Payment

How I Wrote Payment and Got It Published

Back in September, I started writing a novel. Twelve weeks later, the first draft of Payment was complete. This post is about how I wrote it (I will go into this more in a future blog), what happened next, and how I eventually chose to self-publish. If you're thinking about writing or publishing a book yourself, I hope this helps.

✏️ Writing the First Draft

Payment took around twelve weeks to write, starting on September 24. At the time, I was busy making and fitting planters, so I wrote mostly at night.

Sample copies. Essential!

As I finished each chapter, I had two friends — Marg and Simon — reading along and giving feedback. Their anticipation of the next chapter became a real driving force.

🔁 Editing and Feedback

Once the first draft was done, I re-read it myself. Then I handed it to my friend Judith, who proofread it — and to some extent, edited it. We shared the Word document online, and she made a myriad of corrections and comments: mostly grammar, but also a few factual inconsistencies and improbabilities. That stage took eight weeks.

The advice when looking for an agent is always: finish the manuscript first. So I did. Then I asked Marg to read it again — and, sure enough, she found a few more errors!

📮 Submitting to Agents

I prepared a synopsis, a summary, and a list of comparable novels (plus a film, in my case). I submitted to 30 agents.

The result?

• 7 polite rejections

• 23 no response at all

They do say that if you haven’t heard back within 8 to 12 weeks, it’s a no. I was just hoping it might strike a nerve. It still might — but I was getting impatient. I believe in Payment, and I know it’s a good book.

💡 Why I Chose Self-Publishing

After reading about author Harry Bingham’s experience, I changed my mind about self-publishing. I’d previously thought of it as second-rate — he convinced me otherwise.

So I took the plunge.

📚 Learning Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)

Getting to grips with KDP took time. Preparing the manuscript in Word to fit KDP’s requirements was fiddly. One key to success is to buy the sample books. You only need one (I bought three foolishly but I will give them to Simon and Marg). And the sample copies I ordered weren’t great!

But by setting the publication date a couple of weeks ahead, I gave myself time to make critical changes. I even had to re-jig the cover image — which involved an ongoing squabble between ChatGPT and KDP about what is and isn’t 300dpi. (That alone took two hours, thanks in part to the abysmal internet speed in Wales!)

🛠️ Reformatting, Font Sizes, and Pricing

I reformatted the Word doc, reduced the font size from 11 to 10, and learnt more about Microsoft Word in one week than in the last ten years.

Why the font change? It reduced the page count, which reduced the printing cost, which meant I could lower the paperback price. It’s now £10.99 — still not cheap, but cheaper than it was. (Note to self: consider writing shorter novels…)

I'm currently reading Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad — only 40,000 words and still brilliant. Payment is 120,000 words, so readers do get value for money!

⏱️ Final Countdown: Two Days and Two Hours

With 50 hours left on the clock, I completed and uploaded all the changes. Here's the bit you need to be careful about:

If you save too early, Amazon locks the manuscript while it’s being reviewed — and you can’t upload another version until that’s done.

That eats into your pre-launch time. And believe me — with the internet speed where I live, if I’d left it any later, I’d probably have ended up in A&E with a heart attack.

💬 Want to Know More?

Next time I’ll talk about the cover design process (yes, including the 300dpi headache), the themes behind Payment, and what I'm working on next — including Payment 2.

In the meantime, let me know what you think! And if you're working on your own book, I’d love to hear about it.

👉 Visit keithclarke.co.uk for free downloads and updates.