How to publish a book with only hunches, balls and good friends

It’s been only a week since Andrei finished his novel. And boy, it was a hell of a week... Actually, it was so tossed and turned, I don’t even know what to begin with… But let me try...

The Reviewing

The book is in my hands. Literally, since I began re-reading it for final polishing. Needless to say, I love it now more than I loved it at the beginnings, because the loose ends finally tie together and the more I get into the characters, the more appealing they look to me. With an average of 72.000 – something words, the manuscript is worth the last un-slept 4 nights. The proof-reading is going well and I intend to finish it ASAP because next in line, waits…

The Copyright

Simple procedure, actually, but it took me 2 days to understand how on Crux (yes, pun intended) will we get it done, since Andrei is surfing the seas somewhere, while I was blinking dumbly at the amount of information I had to digest, refine and chose as viable in such a short time. Luckily, as the song goes, with a little help from my friends, I got the info I needed and we’ll submit the manuscript for certification as soon as we have the final version. This means me going back on hunting for comas and satisfying phrasings. Peachy!

The Promotion

Well… at that, I’m a pro! (laughing). No, seriously, I engaged in some bold actions and wrote to some people which I won’t mention at this point just because I don’t want to jinx it. Otherwise, on-line accounts on the major networks like Delicious, Twitter, Stumbleupon, Google+1, Pinterest and so on. Why didn’t you read the word Facebook in fire letters? Because the page is under construction.  Again, a friend in need is a friend indeed, so I gathered all my beautiful people and started promoting the blogs. And I say blogs, because Andrei’s has now an improved look and he’s writing on it daily.

Well, give him a check! He promises good things happening there which I am proud of!

Andrei Mazilu

Undergoing the process of construction is the book’s future site, also. Armed with Andrei’s ideas, I began the search of web-designers. Found a few, waiting for them to show me what they’ve got.

Also, we got a cover. Not the greatest and it’s a loaner, but a cover nonetheless. I need a graphic designer and fast! Anybody?

The hopes, dreams and expectations

Plenty. And then some!

Stay tuned! Up-dates will follow!

First, about the author

Name: Serban Andrei Mazilu
Born: February 11th 1983
From: Constanta, Romania
Likes: Books, cats and being a geek.
Food for thought: Coffee & Cigarettes. 


Andrei began expressing his talent on paper ever since grade school, but it was the high-school years that shaped his style and vision. The high-school paper represents his jump-start and the winning of several regional prizes encouraged him to press on.


2001-2003: He attended the Romanian-Canadian University of Journalism in Brasov for two years, showing a keen interest in radio. Sadly, he was forced to drop out and follow a more financially wise strategy. 


2003-2004: Andrei took his chances with a new college, attending courses at the Ovidius University, specializing in technical engineering and welding, back in his home town by the Black Sea.


The years 2004-2009 took him on a different path, as he enrolled at the Maritime Academy, to become a deck officer in the commercial navy. Although forced to focus his mind on subjects like mathematics, physics and all sorts of navigational and engineering disciplines he never lost his love for writing.


During that period, Andrei started several blogs, approaching many and different subjects; literature of course was always one of them, but trained now as a real editor, he also chose to speak his mind about pressing political and social matters, attracting the attention of quite a few local public figures (who still follow his works today) with his stinging articles.


His passion for fantasy stories also drove him to continue creating and even start several projects that were later abandoned mostly due to boredom and / or lack of confidence in them. In 2006 he started writing a horror-fantasy novel in Romanian, hoping to be the first to approach this style and publish in his home country. Again, due to other factors, he was forced to abandon that idea or, at least, put it on hold. 


In the autumn of 2010, while on board a ship called S.P. Auckland, Andrei started writing a short fantasy story. It started as a way to pass the time and soon transformed into a serious project on which he worked on and off for almost two years. With the support of his readers, friends or just acquaintances, who reassured him that the novel's worth the time, Andrei forced himself to finish it...

And he did! On May 24th 2012, his first (and definitely not the last) novel was complete. Crux, his debut novel, is the first book of a fantasy series called The Angellove Society and currently is submitted to the refinement of the last details.

Until we can bring you more novel-related news, please visit Andrei's blogs and help us advertise his beautiful story by sharing info about us. Every bit helps!

~

Visit his current blog for teaser stories, silly comics, recommendations and updates about Crux:

The Cat Factor

If you're Romanian, you might get a kick out of his old blog, containing articles, stories, music & more: 

Tomcat83

 For further information, you can directly contact Andrei at:

E-mail: andrei.mazilu@ymail.com

Facebook: Serban Andrei Mazilu