It’s not often that I find myself musing over Bono of U2 or something he’s uttered. However, his apology for the free download to iTune users did snag my attention. He said (I imagine very much tongue in cheek) the mega-group’s action was partly due to a ‘Deep fear that these songs that we poured our life into over the last few years mightn’t be heard. There’s a lot of noise out there. I guess we got a little noisy ourselves to get through it.’

OK U2 don’t have to dread not being heard nor getting through the noise, but there’s a lot of us who pour our life into our creative work who do. Inadvertently Bono had said something important.

As a recently launched ‘indie’ publisher, I am struggling to know how to promote my work without coming over as an obnoxious big-head or as utterly tedious. I recently discovered that Twitter will stop you ‘following’ people if the ratio between the number you ‘follow’ and those who ‘follow’ you is ‘too large’. I found myself in this category and put out a call for help. One recommended blog I read suggested that if this happens then your tweets must be boring. Oh dear. Another lesson sharply taken.

Bono is right, it’s a noisy world out there, and (in contrast to his) my voice is unlikely to get a massive airing. In addition, he touched on the idea that it might also be noisy inside a creative person’s head when the uncertainty takes hold. Being an ‘indie’ publisher it is so easy to lose confidence – in the quality of your work; in the production values of the book you are putting together; in your skills as editor, publisher, publicist. I am, therefore, extremely grateful to anyone who has taken the time to let me know what they think of my story Adrift which I brought out on Kindle a few weeks back. I have received some wonderful affirmations and I need to hold onto them. Listening to them rather than the doubts. Letting them chime loud through the noise.

Adrift by Kate Evans is available on Kindle: http://goo.gl/xGlfOO

A short story about five people who travel to Venice and find themselves emotionally adrift in their search for love.