Self Publishing is it worth it?

Hello to my fellow writers,

Thank you for firstly finding my website and opening my first blog. I hope you enjoy it. I've been wanting to find a way to share some of my wins and roadblocks along the way with Self-Publishing. Publishing my first Children's book, The Magical Maraca's was one of the scariest and most exciting things I have done in my life so far. I plan on giving you plenty of tips to make your path slightly easier. Whether it's traditional publishing or self-publishing. I want to go through step by step everything I did and if I can provide where I got help from I will. Most of what I'm sharing you may already know but sometimes re-reading this can remind you of why you became an author in the first place and might inspire you to step outside your comfort zone and try again.

BUYING ISBN'S IN AUSTRALIA

One of the first things you need to do especially for Self-publishing is buying an ISBN for your book. An ISBN means an International Standard Book Number. It is basically a barcode to identify your book. I purchased mine through Thorpe-Bowker. I purchased 10 as I knew I planned on doing at least two books and if you choose to do an eBook and a paperback/hardback you will need an ISBN number for each style you create. How ever many you buy they don't have an expiry date so you can use them whenever you like. Here is the website: Thorpe-Bowker | Identifier Services |

SOURCING ILLUSTRATIONS

Finding illustrations can be tough. You need to decide on the style you prefer and how you envision it matching your book. I've always been a huge fan of watercolour so for me it was a no-brainer. It can really help if you know any graphic artists. Luckily for me one of my oldest friends from high school does this for a living. In saying that people are busy, and they have lives too so you need to be patient as illustrations can take some time. Another good idea is to join an illustrators’ group online. You can join fiver (freelance online illustrators), and view peoples work and pay them to do your illustrations. I prefer sourcing local illustrators and help promote their work as well. If you get picked up traditionally, they will have an illustrator in mind for your book. So many options to think about and investigate. When you send of your manuscript ensure you have some idea of what style would suit your book. I’m sure most editors would be happy to help you. it does help to be prepared.

GETTING YOUR MANUSCRIPT READY FOR PUBLISHERS

Hmm, where to start. I guess for me I wanted to see if I had any publishers interest first before going down the self-publishing rabbit hole. I didn't know much about sending a manuscript, so I had to talk to friends who knew other people and go from there. I've made some new author friends which is nice and watching their journeys has been a real delight. After talking to a few of them they sent me links for certain publishers who only publish children's books. This hadn't even occurred to me before. I just thought about emailing them but there is a whole process I didn't know about, and each publisher is different. They have different dates to send your manuscript in and different styles. Some want all your pages and others want synopsis. So far, I have mainly dealt with hybrid publishers where you pay half the costs that are involved in publishing. Most places are looking for at least $4-5K which can feel like a lot if you aren't expecting that. If you have the funds to go with that process, go for it. When you have your manuscript edited and ready to send out, please make sure you follow all their submission instructions. It can be quite detailed so really take your time and if you need a synopsis save it to your computer so you can use it if more than one publisher is wanting it to save yourself some time. I was sending one off for my next children’s book and it took me at least two hours uninterrupted to get it sent off. When I hit the send button, the relief and now the waiting game to see if anyone is interested. The anxiety kicks in a little bit, but now it’s just a waiting game. Most publishers will give you at least 3-6 month waiting times. So I suggest finding something else to keep your hands busy so you don’t keep checking your emails.

WHAT I’VE GOT HAPPENING RIGHT NOW

I am waiting for my next two books currently out being read by publishers to be traditionally published. That’s the dream right. Fingers crossed it happens. I know there is a lot of information to go through and it might not happen straight away. But the feeling you get when someone loves what they are reading (your book) ........priceless. I still read my children’s book to my daughter and love how much she smiles. I always feel proud that I was able to get it printed and can’t believe people have purchase something so dear to my heart.

Happy writing and exploring all your options. Books are such a wonderful way to connect with others especially children.

As this is my first blog I would love some comments, ideas on future blogs and if you need more information regarding one of these topics. You can also email me or send me a message.