Start to start, a journey

Here goes, I am dipping my feet into self-publishing. For the last two weeks, I’ve been accumulating as much information as I can about this vast “world”, and have come to the conclusion that it’s for me.

Maybe it’s because of the two rejections I received, or because I’m an instant gratification kind-of-gal (in some sense) and the thought of more queries and waiting doesn’t appeal to me, or because the idea of writing on a deadline makes me cringe, maybe, it’s a combination of all these things—no matter—I am forgoing the traditional route of publishing.

I have written a novel I care about and I want it out there, for anyone who cares to read it.

Writing has always been, in my opinion, like solving a creative equation. You imagine a world of ideas and situations, of endless possibilities—anything can happen—and then you try to put them together in a manner that would make sense to other people. People who are not you and do not live in your head.

So here goes, my journey: the headaches and missteps, the confusion and hair-pulling. I expect to make mistakes and run into doors (being the dork that I am, I do that in real life anyways). I also expect moments of triumph, after all, I am not a pessimist.

Novel done, my first order of business was to find a cover artist. I found one after a day of searching thanks to AW (thanks again!). She’s amazing and has been wonderful to work with. So far, this is the result:

I have to admit, I'm loving the cover and can't stop looking at it. It conveys multiple aspects from my novel. I have suggested a few changes, but am happy with the concept so far.

Ann Joyce said:

Welcome to AW and to the world of self-publishing. One of my favorite things is to follow the journeys of fellow writers, and I am looking forward to following yours.

I also self-published, partly for the reasons you cite and for others as well. For me, it was a good choice. I'm enjoying the ride - even the bumpy parts, and while I'm not burning up the boards with my sales, am feeling okay with my progress and am working hard to get my second novel up. Good luck with your own journey!

I like the cover too.

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Hi Ann, thank you for the welcome and well wishes. I've actually gone through your thread and look forward to more updates from you as well. Being new, I'm trying to gain as much information as I can.

And Heart Song is a totally cool title!

RLMcKeown said:

What a gorgeous cover! Good luck on your journey. I look forward to reading your updates!

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Thank you, the cover artist I found deserves all the credit. I saw your self-publish thread and will have to check out your poetry soon. Good luck on your journey too.

shelleyo said:

Good luck with your decision to self-publish. Two rejections isn't very many--it certainly doesn't put you at a giving up point if you really do want to be trade-published--but you seem to have other reasons, as well.

The cover is pretty, but have you looked at it in grayscale? Is there enough contrast for the title to be readable? It's kind of hard in color as the center is sort of washed out. Took a second for me to make out Promise, but that could be my eyes, my screen, whatever. All I can make out in thumbnail is what looks to be a chain with the letter A at the end, so I'm not sure what elements you're talking about besides that. If that's what you mean, then yes, it stands out! But always check in grayscale at thumbnail and regular size. People browsing on anything but a Kindle fire will see the tiny little stamp-sized cover in grayscale, not color, and a lot can get lost in the transition.

Again, good luck.

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Thanks for the well wishes and tip shelleyo. I will definitely have to check out the cover in thumbnail to see if the title and cover is visible enough. I didn't even think of that.

For the past two days, I've been working on the blurb that will be accompanying my novel. I tell you, as most writers would, it isn't easy. Funny, sometimes I think this part is harder than writing the actual novel. After I don't know how many edits (I've learned not to count things when it comes to editing), I finally have what I believe is a good blurb. I am satisfied. The hard part is not going back to change/add words.

In the self publishing world, it's never too early to think about promotion. After all, how am I going to get people to read my book when I'm an unknown? This part worries me most. I'm only tech-capable when I need to be and I have zero presence on social networks. Facebook? Twitter? Blog? I'm on none of them. Yesterday, I finally created a Goodreads account. It's something...a start.

Through the advice of helpful strangers I do not know, I am working on a novelette that I will publish alongside or soon after I publish my novel. That helpful tip, the more you write, the more the world knows you, rings true it seems. (Kind of like real life and learning). Silly me, I didn't even know a novelette existed until a week ago. A novella I knew, but a novelette....nope. Where have I been?

Thanks everyone, for all the well wishes. After a few small changes, I decided to keep the original concept for my cover. I like it way too much. (LOL, I did give my cover artist an almost heart attack though, I think. Chalk it up to newbie mistake). I’m hoping the light will entice people to click on the cover if the words and images are too small in thumbnail size.

After getting the cover sorted out, I went ahead and started the Kindle self-publishing process. I’ve decided that I will be sticking to KDP Select for the time being. It will also be available only as an ebook at the moment.

My first roadblock came in the form of formatting pains. After uploading my novel, the preview was horrible! The indentation was off. I spent a day fixing this.

I published the book on May 31st. There was a moment of joy and accomplishment. For the next day, I did nothing. I relaxed, let my mind wander, watched cooking shows and drooled over how good the food looked. I wanted to savor the moment without worrying about sales or how I was going to promote the book.

Being the curious cat that I was, I clicked on Report on Sunday and what do you know, someone bought the first copy. Since I’ve yet to tell friends and family or do anything, the sale was a welcome surprise. It really brought a smile to my face.

Over the next few days, I added the book to my AW signature and posted in a few threads at Goodreads. I checked Kindle and found out I sold another copy.

Then the heartache.

Later that night, I checked again, and had one refund. My feelings on the refund: It was a little depressing and brought forth a lot of fears and insecurities. I questioned whether my book or writing was good enough. Was my novel too out there? Did the writing stink?

At the moment, I have zero review and zero rating.

Honestly, I was bummed about the refund for a few days. Even now, I’m trying not to look too much into it. The ever-so-optimist in me is looking forward.

Promotion: The strategist in me has a few things planned. I’m hoping to do a R2R for Aug with one of the YA Goodreads group. I will also be doing a Free Promo for a few days next week. I’ve been accumulating a list of where to notify or post, so we’ll see what happens.

My work in process novelette is also looking good. I had a plotting issue, but that’s worked out now, so I hope to get it finish soon.

Wishing everyone good sales and Happy Reading!

Celeste Carrara said:

Glad you got the cover sorted out & have putthe book up for sale. Congrats!

Now, do not let the return get you down! I wouldn't give something like that any importance at all!

My advice, space out the free days when you do that promo.

Get on Goodreads now, don't wait till Aug! Find ever R2R group in your genre and offer the books for free in exchange for an honest review. That's how I got most of my reviews.

Contact bloggers in your genre and offer your book for them to review.

I love to help out fellow newbie self pubbers so follow me on Twitter & I'll follow you back. I'll Tweet about your book & whatever promos you have going on. I don't have a lot of followers, around 1,100 (my teenage daughter has 8,000! lol) but hey every little bit of publicity helps!

BTW, what genre is your book? I know YA, but is it a fantasy? Paranormal?

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Thanks for the tip Celeste. I'll follow you as soon as I create a twitter account. And thanks for adding me as a friend on Goodreads. Yes, the book is YA, urban fantasy.

merrihiatt said:

People refund e-books for many reasons (accidental purchase -- yes, I've done this with one-click purchasing, thought the book was a different genre, found the book was too religious/not religious enough, offensive words, or they didn't get engaged with the story, it lacked proper formatting, had grammar and spelling errors, etc.).

Patience and perserverance are your best friends.

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Awww....thanks! You're absolutely right. I have to remind myself that the tortoise won the race.