On this day in 2022, my first novel, “And time stopped”, became a reality. As I mentioned in this post at the time, the idea of writing a book had been with me for a while. After a couple of blogs about my Erasmus adventures in Sweden and my Work and Holiday in Australia, it was ultimately in the Land of the Rising Sun, where I spent a total of 2 years and 4 months, that my dream of writing and publishing a book came true 🥳. I went through three COVID quarantines in Japan and was able to make the most of all three of them. During the first, I outlined the story. During the second, I began to write it. In the third, in January 2022, I finished writing “And time stopped”.
I returned home (Valdepeñas de Jaén) for 3 months and got to work on the layout, proofreading, front and back covers. Since it was my first novel, I thought it made more sense to self-publish it rather than trying to publish it through a publisher. Why? Because, up to now, I’m still an unknown writer 😄. The writing process took me a year. The layout, proofreading, front and back covers took me around 6 months. That year and a half helped me better understand the life cycle of a book, from the moment you sketch out the idea until its publication. As you can imagine, I didn’t dedicate the entire year and a half solely to the conception of the book; I balanced the process with my daily life.
Reception of And time stopped
On August the 26th, 2022, after having reviewed and re-reviewed the spelling, layout, cover, back cover, and Amazon’s self-publishing requirements, at around 18:00, in a hostel room in Tokyo, I pressed the “Publish” button and my first book became a reality. I couldn’t believe it. I was so happy! After the initial euphoria and the first sales, I tried to find ways to get my book to more potential readers. It was at that moment that I discovered that, nowadays, the process of writing, reviewing, and publishing a book is important and time-consuming, but the process of advertising and gaining visibility for it also requires a lot of effort.
I’m among those who believe that the Internet has made our lives easier. Someone with willpower, patience, and an Internet connection can learn almost anything on his/her own. Likewise, thanks to the Internet, anyone can share their idea with the world. This ease of acquiring knowledge can be a double-edged sword. With so many books being published every day, how do you make yours stand out from the rest?
Amazon and literary blogs reviews
One of the methods to get my book to people outside of my circle of friends and family was to obtain positive reviews on book sales platforms and literary blogs. There are several book sales platforms for novice writers who want to self-publish. Amazon is currently the most well-known, although there are others like Lektu and Apple Books. Regarding literary blogs, there are hundreds or thousands. Obviously, the more well-known the blog and the more followers it has, a positive review can result in your book reaching potential readers. As for Amazon, the more positive reviews you have, the more visibility the platform gives to the book. As of today, these are some of the reviews I’ve received on Amazon and on some literary blogs:
Most of the reviews have been positive, and I am very pleased with them. That being said, if any of you is reading this post and have read the book, I would greatly appreciate if you could take a moment to write a review on Amazon or Goodreads. It would help me tremendously!
Interview at Diario Jaén
On September the 27th, 2022, a day after my birthday, while traveling through South Korea, Nacho Guzguti interviewed me at “Diario Jaén”. The interview turned out quite well. In it, I had the opportunity to talk about “And time stopped”, but also about the kind of life I’ve led over the last 10 years and how all those experiences and adventures helped shape the book.
Arum award in Valdepeñas de Jaén
This caught me completely off guard. One day, Laura, the mayor of Valdepeñas de Jaén, texted me saying that, along with Ainhoa, I would be honoured with the Arum 2023 award. This award, which is given for achievements from the previous year, took into account my lifestyle over the last 10 years and the writing of “And time stopped”.
In Ainhoa’s case, who is only 13 years old, her incredible talent as a painter was recognized. I truly couldn’t believe it. I was so thrilled to be recognized in my hometown! Unfortunately, since I was in Australia at that time, I couldn’t attend the ceremony or collect the award. But I was fortunate that my parents and the rest of my family could do so on my behalf 😃.
And time stopped in the local library of Valdepeñas de Jaén
This has been one of the most exciting news for me. The truth is that, after writing the book, I hoped that some copies would be sold, but I never imagined that one day that book would be displayed in the window of my hometown’s library 😁.
Future of And time stopped
After publishing the novel, I began to think that I would like to translate it into English, so friends and other potential readers who don’t speak Spanish could read it. My plan was to translate it this year, in 2023. Unfortunately, my nearly 6 months working in the mines of Australia and my 5 months traveling through Australia, New Zealand, Nepal, and India (I’m writing this post from Cairns, from where I’m about to conclude my Australian experience with the Work and Holiday visa) haven’t left me much time for such a challenging and beautiful task. So, if all goes well, it will be in 2024, from Europe, where I’ll create the twin version in Shakespeare’s language of “And time stopped”. Of course, once this happens, I’ll share the news through this blog 😉.
New books or novels?
Yes. The next one will be a book, and I’ll write it directly in English. My idea is that it will summarize what I’ve learned from living as a Backpacker for 5 years. In the last 5 years, I’ve lived around 1 and a half years in Australia and almost 2 and a half years in Japan. I’ve spent about 7 months traveling through Southeast Asia, and now I’m about to visit New Zealand, Nepal, and India.
I’ve delved into the world of meditation thanks to my two Vipassana retreats, one as a student in Malaysia and another as a server in Japan. I’ve learned three new languages: French, Italian, and Japanese. I’ve met many people, made a good number of friends, experienced incredible moments, and grown immensely as a person. How did I do all of this? How did I manage to leave everything behind and embark on this journey? All these and other questions will be answered in the next book 😁 📖.
Final reflection
If you’ve made it this far, I just want to thank everyone who has purchased or in some way promoted “And time stopped”. I sincerely hope you enjoyed it and that it brought you some value. If you know someone who might be interested, I would be very pleased if you could share it with them. Lastly, for those who have read the novel, it would be a tremendous help if you could leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Thank you so much!
