New to the group - just self-published

Hello

My memoir "The summer Called Angel - a story of hope on the journey through prematurity" just hit the market.

Please visit my author site www.solaolu.com for more information

I would love to answer any questions you might have about the process.

What I would say upfront is that you need to research very well before you go this route...I have learned a lot of lessons.

1. I wouldn't choose the editing package - could have done better on my own and still had to do several rounds after that.

2. I would research and use my cover because I knew what I had in mind.

3. Be aware of all the "little extras" they add up fast and may not actually add value.

4. Every change was 5-7 business days.

If I could do it again, I would but not with the same publisher.

Thanks for welcoming me to the group.

Sola

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Replies
  • Hi Sola and everyone, I'm new to the site and to the group.  I too understand how loooooooong stuff takes.  As a matter of fact, I fired my professional book designer and collaborated with my sister on my book cover.  He got his deposit and you would have thought he would have been motivated.  To the contrary, he became more hard to connect with.  And the stuff he sent me?  You would have thought he had not talked with me for almost 2 hours to get my vision and the feel of what I wanted to convey.  These are my 3 book covers and yes, my sister and I designed all three!  I couldn't have been more pleased.

  • Hi. I'm new to the group, too, and new to self-publishing. My novel is Until Proven: A Mystery In 2 Parts. I publish as Nora Gaskin.

     

    I hired a very good book designer. She was willing to be collaberative and that was important to me. She brought a design ability I wouldn't have by myself, too. A good working relationship. The print on demand is done through Lightning Source. I tried to format for Smashwords myself but finally had to hire someone who did it for $49. I'll still try again one of these days, next time I'm ready to publish. Once I had the formatted-for-ebook version, it was easy to get it uploaded to Amazon/Kindle myself.

     

    One of the things I wish I'd known going in was how long everything takes. Just as you point out in #4, Sola.

     

    Best of luck to you!

  • Congratulations! That's very exciting! 

    Have you ever heard of a site that allows you to preview your self-published book chapters Book Daily?

    I just saw it today. Never heard of it before, and can't say it's awesome, but I liked the concept. I put a teeny story on Kindle for the holidays and am trying to figure out how to promote it.

    Good luck. I hope it's going well. 

    Lizbeth