Drawing on Words

I’ve self-published four books since May. Let that soak in. MAY!

Sure, they were mostly written by March. I simply needed a great editor and for me to learn how to format. EASY! Once I finally learned how to format, the process went faster. Really, it was more like work-work-work-work-wait, work-work-work-work-wait. But it was an exciting time. Last week I announced Goldfish Diaries as “live” on KDP/Amazon because I had received and approved my proof copy for the collection of goldfish comics.

The hard stuff was behind me, I thought. Silly me.

This week has been full of wrestling with kdp and my bank, both saying they have the right data and not able or willing to communicate with each other. Then a box arrived from kdp with eight copies of Goldfish Diaries – printed so poorly they are going back.

I apologize for being negative, but I bet all the money I made in royalties last month (okay it’s not much) that self-publishing authors will be nodding their collective heads as they read this. As hard as writing is…and it is quite a challenge, it pales compared all the work it takes to self-publish.

The attitude is becoming less prevalent, but when people learn that you publish the book yourself, there is some kind of judgement made about your work. Truth be told, when someone hears you self-publish, the response should be…WOW! You’re not only a writer, but a cover designer, a publicist, an accountant, a format specialist, a business and mail office worker as well as your own cheerleader.

I can’t wait to get back to writing. But until then, I have a few dozen phone calls to make as a self-publishing writer.