Indie Me

It took me seven years to type THE END. At last I’d finished writing my debut novel but as anyone who’s written a hundred-thousand words knows, the end is in fact the beginning.

Me sitting on the original French Bed

What do I do now?

I’m a complete rooky to this writing lark but I love my story The French Bed, I really believe in it but would anyone else? From everything I’ve read the best thing to do is send it out to BETA readers so that’s what I did in January and a good job too. The process revealed a small glitch in the story which was easy to fix but I’m glad it was discovered before I’d gone any further. Getting it read by ten people also increased my confidence as all my BETA readers loved it.

What next?

There are many routes a new writer can take. I am in a lucky position as I no longer have to earn a living. Even though I don’t feel it I’m old enough to receive a pension. I have energy and enthusiasm and I get bored if I’m not doing stuff so I’ve decided to independently publish my novel and I’m expecting an interesting journey..!

Did I consider traditional publishing?

No, I didn’t. Why? All my life I’ve worked with the public in one way or another. Retail and Business-to-Business sales and ran my own businesses. I loved every minute of my career although I’m not sad to see the back of the stress - having to hit targets and chase payments etc., but I do miss the challenge of getting my ‘thing’ out into the market. I am quite excited about having a go at Indie Publishing and after all I don’t NEED to sell my book, I just WANT to.

The Green Room

I like research but as far as I’m concerned learning from those who’ve been ‘through it’ can be a faster track to getting answers. Plus, I wanted to join a community of like-minded people - writing is after all a lonely pastime. I can’t remember how I found Mark Stay and his fabulous Green Room but I did and now twice a month I get to be part of an on-line interactive Zoom. We get well researched answers to questions we’ve posed about the industry and the process of writing plus once a month a 200-word critique which I have found really helpful. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

What came next?

I found an editor. New to this business I didn’t know how to go about it so when someone on a podcast mentioned her editor and how good Abbie Editorial is, I thought well, maybe she’s the girl for me. She offers various editing options and I plumped for Copy Edit. She’s busy so I had to wait until March to get my slot and she completed the job on time and gave me great feedback.

To Do List

Now I’ve made the decision to independently publish I’ve drawn up a to-do-list of all the actions I think I need or want to do:

• Cover design

• Buy ISBN numbers

• Social Media

• Get my head around KDP

• Format the manuscript for KDP

• Learn how to use Canva

• Delve more deeply into how to use social media

• Plan a marketing campaign

• Plan a launch party

• PUBLISH THE FRENCH BED

I’ll keep you posted on progress with my list and let you know the launch date as soon as I know it. In the mean time, I’m loving this deep dive into the unknown. Even though it’s a hobby, I’m taking it seriously. It keeps me occupied but I’m not too busy and that’s because my goal is clear – I’m doing this for enjoyment and keeping plenty of time free to do all the other things I love as well as write novel number 2..!