My first experience
publishing
After eight
months of pouring my heart into my book, This Morning I Woke Up Dead, I typed
the words, The End. The most powerful words I'd ever written. Many emotions
overcame me. Joy. Relief. Excitement. I was even a little sad that it was over.
I remember, gazing at the words in complete awe. It felt similar to having just
had a baby. It took nearly nine months. I fell in love with my book, just as I
did with my babies. It was a lot of work. It was painful at times. Knowing my
job as as the author was finished, and that I had a responsibility to my
beloved characters, Hadley, Dominic, Logan and Emerson, I wanted to share their
story with the world.
First of all,
you need to know one thing about me, one of my flaws is that I'm impatient.
This gets me in trouble from time to time. I'd like to think I've gotten better
at 'playing the waiting game' as I've gotten older, but I'd also like to think
I don't look a day over twenty five either. Anyhow, in March of 2013, and in my
haste to get my book 'out there', I self published. Mistakenly, I never bothered to write a
single inquiry letter to an agent or publishing house - until later on and I'll
get to that- but first, back to my adventures
in self publishing. Head first, I dived right in! I created an account on createspace.com
and they walked me through the process. It was super easy. My nine year old
could do it. This is one reason why the business I am in is so difficult to be
a part of. Its flooded and hard to shine amongst all the others.
Anyone and
everyone can now be a published author.
After I created
my account, I uploaded my document and it was approved in about 48 hours. All
that was left was to do was hit the submit button. It was live within a day.
Wow! My story, my words are now out there for the world to see!
What a shame no
one knew.
And that no one
cared.
I sold one copy
the first day and I'm pretty sure it was to my brother! A week went by. Two
weeks. Three. And I had only sold two copies. Two!
Somewhere along
the line, I joined lots of groups on Goodreads.com. In hopes of getting others
to read and review my book, I posted in numerous forums saying I was seeking
reviews and in exchange I would send them a copy of my book. Luckily, my title
and the premise of my story stood out and people took notice. I met a lot of
great people; readers, bloggers, and other authors. Most of the people I met,
I'm still friends with today. (Jen being one of them.) From here I did a few
book giveaways on Goodreads and gained more exposure. Over 800 people entered
to win a signed copy and nearly all of them added it to their reading list. I
found out later that it doesn't necessarily mean they will in fact read my
book, let alone buy it.
In late April of
2012 I contacted my local radio and news stations and I got spots on their
morning shows. If you ever get the chance to be on the news or the radio, I
highly recommend it! What a rush! I was also fortunate enough to do a few book
signings in my hometown. No one really knew who I was. Most didn't care enough
to ask. A few were kind enough to stop and chat with me about my book. All the
same I had a blast. By this point in the game, I might have sold in upwards to
twenty or thirty books.
The months went
on.
And on.
And on.
Besides promoting
on my Facebook, Goodreads, twitter, and Pinterest accounts, I was at a loss as
to what to do next. I knew I had a good product but what I didn't know was how
to get it in the right hands. Not to mention, I was spending more time trying
to spread the word than doing what I loved, writing. In the day after my book
was finished, I started a sequel but it wasn't getting the attention it
deserved. Part of me wanted to throw in the towel. The only thing that kept me
going was all the great reviews that kept trickling in. They kept me positive
and told me I was on the right path.
Talk about
validating!
Another thing I
did in my pursuit to becoming noticed, I participated in a lot of Facebook love
fest's; I liked others pages and in return they liked mine. It was fun to see
the numbers grow from 200 to over 800 in just a few days. And again, I met a
lot of people this way. Readers. Authors. Reviewers. Bloggers. And even
publishers! Bingo! There it is.
Things changed
for me when I liked a new up and coming publishing company, Lavish Publishing
LLC. I remember it was a Saturday afternoon and, for whatever reason, I was
feeling gutsy. I sent a private message to Lavish; I told her a little about my
book. She was intrigued and messaged me back quickly, saying she was interested
and wanted to read it! I sent her a copy of my book that minute and by late
Sunday night, she emailed me back. She was in love with my vision and wanted to
work with me! Little ole' me. Just a stay at home mom, turned author. The
feeling was empowering. Thrilling. Exciting. I had no negative emotions about
it at all. This is how I knew I was, once again, on the right path.
On November 11th
2013 I signed a contract with Lavish Publishing LLC. It felt great to be a
signed author and to no longer be going at things alone. Before my book was
re-released, changes were made. Things were revamped. I wrote fifty or so extra
pages including a new expanded ending, received a beautiful new cover, a press
release was written, a book trailer was made, a virtual book tour was in place,
and websites and bloggers were contacted. My reviews, number of fans, and
networking circle grew.
So have I hit it
big yet? No. Do I just sit back and let my publisher do all the work? No. I
still do a lot of marketing and networking on my own. But I no longer do it all
alone. Michelle and I are a team. She bounces ideas off of me, and always has
new things up her sleeve for us to try. The best part is that I have more time
to write. I've learned to do my thing, let things be, and allow things to
unfold as they will. My motto is always believe and never give up!
Thanks for
reading about my publishing experiences!! Best of luck to you and I hope you'll
follow your dreams as well!
No comments:
Post a Comment