I am dedicating this post today to my experiences as an indie author. I am relatively new to self-publishing and admit it has been an enormous learning curve. I think I began the process thinking I would write a book; I will self-publish and see how it goes. But boy was I wrong. I had not considered the skills I would need to develop to get the book into a manuscript format, and learning how to format this for Kindle… was a whole new world for me.
I have a degree in English Literature and an MEd, so writing essays and dissertations has always been easy enough for me. I thought I was up to the task of creating, writing, and editing my manuscripts myself, but I quickly realised I would need help from others to get them print-ready. I was lucky I had family who could help with this, and my aunt, a high school English teacher, was great at helping me restructure my work. It was a blessing as I could not afford the high cost of hiring an editor.
I know some indie authors feel this is a must, and some like to hire development editors, too, but for me, that was not something I could justify the cost of, so I relied on family and friends to help me prepare my books for publishing. Maybe later in my journey, I can pay someone to do the editing for me rather than rely on the goodwill and time of my nearest and dearest. For now, I am thankful for their support and find ways to repay them for their kindness.
When I first looked into self-publishing, I was pleased that I could quickly navigate the Kindle Direct Publishing website and create an account within minutes. It was a simple enough platform to use, and I could use the tools and features to upload my manuscript into a book format. Creating the front cover was simple, too, as I just used stock images on the site to create a cover that was in keeping with my book. Little did I know this would be one of the first things I changed once the book was out there. I realised the front cover had to look more polished and eye-catching if I was going to draw readers in.
I used AI to create my new covers, and again, I know many authors out there would suggest staying away from AI as it can take away from the work that’s been written. Still, the cover ideas that were generated were what I had in mind when I imagined how the covers would look, so I took the risk and used these as my new covers for my Cherry Blossom fantasy series. They looked fantastic, and I was pleased, despite another author suggesting the covers didn’t promote my books’ fantasy aspect. I felt it captured the setting and stuck with my choice – they looked beautiful and captured the essence of my books.
As my fantasy series reached completion, I went back to look at how it was formatted and realised that the book didn’t look quite like other novels out there. I couldn’t put my finger on what was bothering me about how it appeared in print form. Still, after some research and time spent looking at other books, I adapted the format, paragraphing, and layout to look as professional as other books I’d read. Finally, I felt I had created something that looked and felt like a proper book. I was pleased and began preparing to develop a Kindle edition.
This was by far the most challenging part for me as it was a completely new programme, and I wasn’t sure what I was doing. However, it became easier to use with a bit of time and patience. Uploading the manuscript was simple, and the Kindle programme created the eBook for me, which was great. My book looked really good in Kindle format, too, and at last, I felt I had created something worth promoting.
This has become much easier as I begin my new Coven Series of books. The Last Coven, released just over a week ago, was a much simpler book to prepare for publishing. I had the tools firmly at my disposal and had learned so much from my previous series that this wasn’t as daunting. Editing a much lengthier book was a task, but I finally got there and self-published something I was really quite proud of. I also used and paid for a company to produce my front cover as I wanted to capture the setting and elements of the book that would hopefully sell the story.
My second book in the series is now well underway. It is a prequel to The Last Coven, and I am in the really enjoyable part of my writing journey where I want to dedicate all my time to getting the words on paper, excited as it begins to take shape before my eyes. A Coven Lost is a little different to how I have written in the past, and this time, I am trying my hand at first-person narrative, which I have to admit I am really enjoying. I personally prefer reading third-person narratives and, as a reader, enjoy being an observer in the room, but writing in first person has been really enjoyable, and I have to admit, I am opening my reading list to first-person narratives now that I have a whole new appreciation for this way of telling the story.
To read any of my books self-published so far, find them linked below:
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE PUBLISHED 
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