Hello, dearies! 🐱
It’s been a while since I started blogging and even more since I began writing, but I only published a book not even a decade ago.
My first self-published book was The One That Got Away back in 2015. 📖
Thanks to Smashwords, I was able to publish it, after learning their guidelines.
The decision didn’t come easily, but it came resolutely. I had some stories and drafts written back then and even sent some to publishers but got no replies that would satisfy me, and suddenly I thought, why not publish it myself? And that, right there, that single moment was when my mindset shifted. That was my first step.
Of course, sometimes it is not easy even to do that, and you might need to spend a few bucks on cover design and editors, or you could do it like me and be a one-person company. I do my own covers and edit my books, and also criticize myself the whole way. It takes more time to do it as such, but it’s worth it.
I know, not everyone is an artist, and I’m not either. I just like Photoshop a lot and learnt how to use it, and over the years have managed to improve my skills a bit. This isn’t me offering my services in PS, I’m being candid.
So, what is the first step? Deciding. Taking the fear of publishing or of being out there and throwing it out the window, and saying, I want to publish this story and I will. Now, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with having a publisher, it comes with lots of benefits, mainly the promotion of your book, and you will be guaranteed to reach a bigger audience. But self-publishing has the satisfaction of being your own person, of keeping all the rights to your book, of knowing that you did it by yourself and you were able to do it. And even if you’re not as known in the reader's world as other writers/authors are, at least you are trying and doing.
If you want fame right away and nothing else, you can keep trying with publishing houses, but if you want to start small and grow, you might want to take that tiny first step and self-publish your books. Just a thought.
I’m not famous yet, but I like talking about my books, creating aesthetics for them, editing images and sharing content quotes from them. This was my first step, next up, I’ll share how I finally made it to Kindle, so don’t miss out. 😊