Hi, my name is Richard and I'm a self-published author.
There, I said it.
I self-published because I wanted my book done the way I wanted it.
I also didn't want the rejection from publishing houses who I believed wouldn't take on my book anyway. As I said in another blog, children's books were not what I had imagined when I began writing.
Chris Norman's painting changed all of that. I had read a ton of books as a child and read to my own children a lot. I knew children's books and I knew there were some terrible books published and sitting in bookstores right now.
I believed in my story, if not my style - at first. However, as I said, I had seen a lot of awful books. Of course, it was the great ones which inspired my story-telling. I grew up reading the magic of Enid Blyton's work. The unforgettable characters and stories. Lines of text I can still recall years later.
Enid is my biggest influence in children's writing.
I happened upon self-publishing by chance, seeing the link on Amazon for CreateSpace. I went in eyes closed at first, but slowly learnt and adapted to the industry.
I purchased ISBN numbers and created my own publishing company. I learnt to design professional covers and bought the necessary software. It is here where I should state, clearly, that self-publishing is NOT the expensive deal it is made out to be. The author decides how much she spends and on what. I spent nothing at first and then everything I did spend out on, I was able to do so with profits gained from the first few sales.
Having self-published, I felt pride when my book appeared on Amazon and Goodreads. I watched the first few sales roll in - from family and friends. My mother turned out to be quite the salesperson for me!
It was one milestone after another as I got my first sale, first non-family sale, first review, first pay-check, first school visit. I was featured in the local newspaper as I searched for my teacher who inspired me.
I was prepared for my book not to sell beyond the first few weeks, but sales continue to surprise me. Chris has done an excellent job of keeping me grounded, I owe him so much.
Sales are everything and they are a slippery beast; seemingly impossible to predict. This is the part that no-one warns you about. Marketing and sales techniques that work for one author, may not work for you.
The only sure-fire way I have found to sell is to attend an event. A school visit or a festival.
At Dickens Festival in the winter, sales were good and sales following a school visit are usually great.
I write for myself, the books I want to read - or wanted to read as a kid. But the wonderful thing about actually publishing is that I get to see how my audience responds to my work. That's invaluable and something I would not get writing for adults. Even if I could read to adults, which sounds hideous(!), they would not be honest, not like children!
Following dreams is so important. I have many people who either don't support me or don't care one way or the other. It would be easy to simply give up. I could never stop writing, but I could stop publishing. However, I have an audience now, actual real life fans who want my next book. That is everything.
This year, I had a plan to get into bookstores and so far, I am struggling. My self-published status is holding me back. Even though there is plenty of published tripe sitting in bookstores just waiting for new victims. I know my books are better than some of the others. That's why I will continue to fight the label and fight for bookstore rights handed to other books whose stories are lame, rehashed or just plain boring.
My books are unique and special, I just have to make more people see that.
