Here we are, the first blog post from me, Matthew James! I will start this post off by introducing a bit about myself and then we shall get on with the blog, shall we?
I am an independent author who lives in the North East, with my husband and our dog, Fleur. I have achieved a lot in my 34 years on this planet, including running my own businesses such as an escape room and until recently, a vegan fast-food business I ran from home.
I’ve always had a keen interest in writing, I studied a National Diploma in Journalism despite my parents advice and while I realised at the time that being a journalist wasn’t really for me, I still wanted to write something. I always felt like it was impossible, like I would never get to the point of being a printed author, so I fell out of love with it. I got a “normal” job instead. And guess what? I was miserable! I bounced from jobs in shops to call centres and I felt incredibly depressed in each one I did.
Fast forward many years and after a big change in my life by moving to the North East with my husband, I eventually decided I wanted to go back to writing. I always dreamed of writing a book, becoming an author in charge of different worlds, twists and turns and take a reader on a ride. But old doubts would creep in – If I wrote a book, would I be able to get it published? Would I need an agent? What would I do for money while I was writing?
Luckily, I have a supportive and understanding husband who advised me to just write, to worry about what I would do with it when I had finished. So, I did, I wrote about something I knew a lot about – business. I thought a book about how to start a business (Let’s Start A Business available on Amazon here) would gain some interest and I self-published the book using Amazon’s KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) platform.
While Let’s Start A Business did not sell, except for a few copies purchased by friends and family, I learned a lot by doing it. It helped me achieve what I had always wanted to do – write a book and feel a physical published copy in my hands.
The process of using KDP is tricky, but I learnt how to navigate the platform from editing, uploading the manuscript and also the book cover (which I designed myself) in order for the book to fit Amazon’s Kindle and formatted for paperback publishing.
I found the most difficult part formatting the book itself. I didn’t realise how confusing the process would be (For books to be published on Kindle, a dynamic contents page is required for example) so I spent a lot of my time formatting the book ready for it to go live.
Now, I have written a totally different style of book, a children’s horror named Monstrous Mobiles as part of a series called Skin Crawlers available on Amazon here, I knew how to use the platform of self-publishing on KDP and even formatted the book as I was writing it.
Here on my website I wanted to share my journey of being a self-published independent author and the trials and tribulations I face doing so. I have written my books, created the book covers, created this website and also done all marketing on my own. If you are a writer and need some tips, hopefully I can help.
I think we will wrap it up here for now, but check back soon for more updates as I believed the hardest part of this process was writing the book but I was wrong. Marketing the book has been a different story altogether, which I hope you will stick with me as we navigate the choppy seas of marketing together!
Please comment, subscribe and get involved! I would love to answer any questions you may have.
Matthew James x
댓글