An author has turned to the internet for help in getting her first book published.

Sabuhi Gard, who lives in Seer Green with her husband James and son Alex, has written her first children’s book and hopes crowdfunding will get it published.

The Valentine’s Day Cat tells the story of Jerry the cat, who goes missing on a stormy Valentine’s Day when his owner takes the injured pet to the vet.

Sabuhi, who wrote the book in one morning, based the heart warming story on a real life experience with her beloved pet Jerry.

“Jerry went missing last year on Valentine’s Day and it was pretty traumatic because we’ve had Jerry and our other cat Fuzzy for more than 14 years.

“My husband took Jerry to the vet’s and he escaped from the vet’s table, so the book is based on a true life event. My son was so upset when he went missing.”

Sabuhi, who has been a journalist for over 20 years, decided to put her book on crowdfunding website Britain’s Next Bestseller in the hope of getting a publishing deal.

People who are keen to read her book can pre-order a copy on the website and when Sabuhi reaches 250 pre-orders, her debut story will be published.

“When I heard about Britain’s Next Best Seller I thought it was an amazing way to get books published.

“People are crowdfunding everything these days and I think it’s brilliant that it is making an impact on the publishing industry too. It’s great to be able to get my material out there and see if there is a market for it before it’s published.

“It’s a very cost effective way of getting your stuff out there and it challenges the traditional form of publishing.”

The freelance journalist is used to crunching numbers in her day job, but admits she would love to have a future in writing children’s stories.

“I find writing children’s books so much more enjoyable. It’s just totally different and I didn’t find it hard at all to write something fun and enjoyable.

“I spend my days writing about finance, so out of a choice of writing about the FTSE 100 or my pet cat, it’s a no brainer.  My colleagues were quite surprised that I could write a book but they were very supportive.”

It was a painstaking process to find a suitable illustrator, with Sabuhi eventually choosing artist Karen Moore, and Sabuhi couldn’t be happier with the result.

“It took me about six months to find the right illustrator because I wanted the pictures to really show Jerry as a lovely character. Karen was perfect. She’s a trained artist and she emailed me some sketches of Jerry and I thought they were amazing. She really brought the story alive, she’s so talented and I'm really pleased with how the book looks.”

Sabuhi is now taking her book on a local tour, with special storytime readings at libraries in the area. 

What does Sabuhi’s three-year-old son Alex, think of the book?

“My son loves it, he recognised that it was Jerry and loved seeing him in a book, but he doesn’t quite understand why I keep talking about it, I think he’s a bit bemused by the whole thing.

“I read my book at Beaconsfield Library and he just talked all the way through because he doesn’t really understand what is going on! But he loves the book and he was so happy when Jerry came home.”

Sabuhi is keen to give back to the charity that supported her family in their time of need and will be donating 25% of the money made from pre-orders to the Cats Protection charity.

“Along with the RSPCA, they were one of the charities that really helped me last year when Jerry went missing. It was awful and stormy when he went missing and they told me to stay calm and go and look for him and to keep his favourite food out in case he came home, which I was really grateful for.

“I’m not doing this for the money; I'm just doing it as a mum and someone who loves writing. It’s been an absolute dream to get it out there.

“It’s been an absolutely amazing experience so far but I still have a long way to go and only four weeks to do it in. I've had such great feedback from everyone who has read it or pre-ordered it which I'm really grateful for.”

The Valentine’s Day Cat will be published in July if 250 books are pre-ordered. Visit www.britainsnextbestseller.co.uk/index.php/book/index/TheValentinesDayCat to pre-order a copy now.