I have just published my first book. A novella titled Crayons and Chaos. It was a rather large learning curve that involved endless hours of sacrifice, anxiety, and stress, getting the manuscript ready for publication.
Luckily, some beautiful friends I have made in the writing community on social media, gave me lots of support and assistance along the way. I don’t think I would have got there without their help. If it wasn’t for them, I would still be trying to figure out how to format the manuscript for both digital and paperback publication on Amazon, and more than likely, would have chewed my perfectly manicured red nails off by now.
Now my book is out there, the real hard work begins. For a self-published author, there is no marketing team out there promoting your work. You must put in the hard yards yourself.
A new self-published author must find ways of placing their book in front of potential readers, if they want any chance of success. Six months ago, I would have had absolutely no idea where to start. I have learned a lot.
I have learned this ongoing process involves, landing author interviews, guest post spots on other blogs, having an active social media presence, and reaching out to book bloggers and reviewers, to gain valuable feedback and exposure.
Writing a story, getting feedback from beta readers, editing your manuscript, preparing your manuscript for publication, promoting your work, and getting your book in front of your target audience, is truly a labour of love.
Although it has been lots of hard work, and will continue to be, I am very proud of what I have achieved. I am now a published author. I look forward to publishing my first full length novel titled Making March later this year.
