The trip

There I sat on the train, one sunny Friday morning on my way to Brighton to have my first meeting with the publishers. It was relaxing. The trains ran on time and I arrived in London in a positive mood. The connecting trains all went to plan and I arrived at Brighton Station with two hours spare.

I have travelled many a time on trains and had learnt the hard way to always allow extra time for delays, breakdowns, suicides (so many poor people end their days jumping in front of a train) etc, etc. You name it I have been on a train that has been delayed by one reason or another.

The Germans have a well deserved reputation for running their trains on time as well as the Japanese, along with the french T.V.G system. In America it's a bit different as most people will fly to where they need to go, but in Britian the train is still one of the biggest networks in the world, and thus when things go wrong it has a whole knock on effect for the rail system.

I didn't mind arriving on time as I used my spare two hours to have a look around Brighton and some of the sights it's famous for.

My meeting was arranged for 14.30 and I arrived at ther head office in the centre of town (opposite the world famous Royal Pavillion) and rang the buzzer for the main reception.

I was buzzed in and walked up the stairs to the third floor office and entered. My heart was beating like a mad-man and the climb up the stairs had made me start to swet (I think nerves had something to do with it as well).

The one thing I noticed straight awat was that everyone working in the office was a women. I was soon meeting the owner of the company, another women, and it only confirmed what I have stated in previous blogs. The publishing industry in a lot of sectors ( in Britian at least) is dominted by the fair sex and this is having a major effect on who and what type of books are being published.

I found all the staff friendly and open minded, and the meeting with the govener lasted nearly three hours. It didn't matter that I was a man because they could see the quality of my manuscript.

When I left the office I knew that Bookguild Publishing would be my publishers and I knew how I wanted to take it forward.

I left their office, walked across the road and entered the first pub I could find. I bought myself a pint and then phoned my sister to say I was in town.

Then I was ready for a night out in Brighton.