It’s been six years since I discovered the potential of
epublishing, indeed it’s what launched my writing career, without Kindle, Nook
and the others I’d still be subbing to agents and publishers, waiting for their
reply, and subbing out again (because you couldn’t send multiple submissions,
remember that?), they ruled the roost and what they wanted they got (well, most
of the time).
So when epublishing launched I dived in and published Eden, followed by A Proper Charlie a few months later (these were the books I subbed
to agents with no success). Eden swam
immediately although A Proper Charlie often needs a float. Over the following years I added Oh no, I’ve Fallen in Love!, Hunted and Scruffy Trainers.
Epublishing has brought many challenges; the biggest one being that it used to be the home of the slush pile (unwanted submissions to traditional publishing) but that’s all changed. Oh, you still get the odd piece of rubbish but it’s becoming harder and harder to distinguish between trads and epubbers.
Many traditionally published authors have seen the success of indie authors and jumped ship to become 'one of us’, and others, who have been signed, soon realise the grass isn’t always greener and come back.
But I’m glad I struggled in the early days. I’m glad I went
through all the submissions and rejections. It made me analyse my work, made me
see what worked and what didn’t. Made the thick, writer, skin grow.
Writing is bloody hard work! You won’t become a success overnight
so don’t expect it (J.K Rowling and E L James’ ‘overnight’ success took many
years), do expect to become many others things during your writing career. It isn't all about writing:
Promoter – no one knows about you or your book so you will
need to promote it.
Financer – not only will you have to fund your own promotions, you'll need to pay for your own
art work and formatter—or learn how to do it yourself. And most importantly, pay for a good editor.
Agony aunt – you’ll need to console yourself when you receive bad reviews because no one else will care. Some will even revel in your pain.
Cheerleader – to spur yourself on when you hit rock bottom.
Social media guru – you’ll need to learn about Twitter,
blogs and websites. They aren’t just for wasting time; they can be important
promo vessels.
PA – all of the above combined.
Have a story about your epubbing journey? My blog is open to guest posts on this very subject. FREE promotion for you and your book. It's shared to over 200K followers (via Triberr) Email me on louisewise3(AT)ntlworld.com
Have a story about your epubbing journey? My blog is open to guest posts on this very subject. FREE promotion for you and your book. It's shared to over 200K followers (via Triberr) Email me on louisewise3(AT)ntlworld.com
Prostitutes
are going missing.
Charlie,
the wannabe journalist, is on the case.
A Proper Charlie
Is a
nightmare a horrific dream
or is it reality
trying to get your attention?
Oh no, I've Fallen in Love!
A
downtrodden housewife gets her own back
and other
stories.
Scruffy Trainers
Fly was an unwilling experiment and Jenny was marooned.
Both were destined to meet.
Eden
Events
remind Jenny that the man she gave everything up for isn’t human,
and the
place she calls home isn't Earth - the concluding part to Eden.
Hunted (sequel to Eden)
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