Welcome Jennifer...
I never planned to be a self-published author. My dream was
to write a book, submit it to agents and end up with a publishing contract. I
did write several books and I did submit some of them to agents, but I never
managed to bag myself an agent. This was fine for a while. I didn’t expect the
process to be a walk in the park. With each set of rejections, I would dust
myself off, shelve the book and get on with the next one.
And then I wrote A Beginner’s Guide To Salad. I loved
writing the book and I really connected with the main character, Ruth. It
received some positive feedback from a few of the agents I submitted to, but
ultimately they all ended with a rejection. I was gutted. I couldn’t bear the
thought of shelving A Beginner’s Guide as I really believed in it. And that’s
when I began to think about self-publishing.
The problem was, I didn’t have a clue where to start – how
did I go about finding an editor? What about formatting the book? And cover
design? It all seemed overwhelming and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do it. My
solution was to make a list. It seems simple enough but it really helped a lot.
Breaking down the tasks made it seem less daunting and I started to make my way
through it. My biggest hurdle was finding an editor. I didn’t have a clue how
to go about it so I turned to one of my best friends: Google. After a Google
search, I made a list of editors who sounded like they would fit my
requirements and then started to contact them, requesting a sample edit (from
around 500 words to the first chapter or two, depending on the editor) and
asking for a quote. It wasn’t nearly as scary or difficult as I thought it was
going to be and I found an editor I wanted to work with.
Formatting is another issue as you can’t just stick your
word file on a kindle and expect it to look like a real book. I took some
advice from a couple of self-published authors and downloaded Mobipocket
Creator. I also Googled how to fix any formatting errors that I came across.
Once my file was converted, I could then proofread on my Kindle.
The day of publication came, which was pretty scary but I
had a lot of online support from Twitter and book bloggers. A Beginner’s Guide
To Salad started to receive some positive reviews, which was amazing and I’m
grateful every time somebody takes the time to share their thoughts. I also
organised a blog tour and hosted some giveaways, either with physical prizes or
an ecopy of my book.
In some ways, getting my second book, Everything Changes But
You, ready for publication has been a little bit easier. I already knew who I
wanted to edit my book and I’d learned how to format it, but it is still scary.
What if nobody buys my new book? And if they do, what if they hate it? But I
think this is probably something every writer has to battle with whenever they
publish a new book, whether they are traditionally or self-published.
Jennifer Joyce is a writer of romantic comedies who lives in Manchester
with her husband and their two daughters. A Beginner’s Guide To
Salad is out now and Everything
Changes But You is available to pre-order.
You can find out more about Jennifer and her books at
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jenniferjoycewrites
Twitter: www.twitter.com/writer_jenn
Everything Changes But You will be available to buy from Amazon from September 16th but can be pre-ordered now!
Everything Changes But You will be available to buy from Amazon from September 16th but can be pre-ordered now!
I loved A Beginner's Guide to Salad and thought Ruth was a great character, I also loved your hero! I'm looking forward to reading Everything Changes But You when it's published.
ReplyDeleteThanks Georgina. I hope you enjoy Ally's story too!
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