If you missed my first part of how I wrote my poetry books check out the blog here before continuing, or check it out after it doesn’t really matter. Everything is written. Now you may think, wow the bulk is over. No. It’s not even close! Remember I wrote them in a notebook by hand so I still have very much left to do! Just the typing them up in 3 separate documents for each book and organizing them as I go through took a bit of time. I also have 2 kids so time was limited and I would spend a few weekends in the afternoons or mornings to type them up.
I now have to start the long process of editing and typing up every poem in the proper files, since I wrote 3 collections at once I need to take then time to get all of the poems out at first. Editing is something I did myself. I felt with it being poetry I could do it myself. If it were the short stories or novels I eventually would like to write that would more than likely require an editor. One that knows the details and rules. Now, is there spelling mistakes? Yup. And I am okay with that. I need to go through and re-edit now that I know more about what to do. Which is incredibly challenging but still. I knew editing was something I would want to try to save money on because I was spending money on other things. The fact is, I am a brand new author and poet. Not everything is going to be perfect in the very first book. There is, like much of life, going to be things that I will change or tweek as time goes on. This is no exception. But what I have put out I am proud of though.
Formatting was a very very unexpected expense. I thought I too could do this on my own and I was very wrong. I felt like formatting the books to look a certain way I was taking 1 step forward and 2 steps back. I ended up finding a great person with great reviews and they formatted the books from Fiverr and used them to format all 3 books. While it was an expense it saved so much time for me. I felt like in the end there was no way I could have done the tips and tricks for formatting. Not to mention if I were to figure it out I would more than likely need to have gotten another program which there was a good chance it was subscription based also. Which would have still been more money.
Covers were something I also paid to have done. The reasoning for this was due to the fact that I had a very specific idea for them. I wanted them to be custom made. And all 3 to have similar covers due to the fact that it was supposed to be a trilogy. I had found an artist that I liked their art style a pretty retro take. They did all 3 covers so they look together. The main thing when getting covers done is ensuring that you get the source file. That way in the future if you wanted to tweak things in the back etc, you are able to do so. Getting the source file is normally the reason why getting covers designed are fat more expensive than they normally would be but our family friend who has been giving tips along the way said this was a big thing to remember to get when having covers created.
Publishing seems to be the easiest step. Because once you have the formatting and covers, publishing to Kindle direct publishing like I did is just some answering questions and uploading. Though you do have to think of certain criteria like keywords and also a price point. Before uploading to KDP it would also do a lot of good if you have time (and if not should make some!) To browse the category you are using. See what other books are selling for that are similar. This also is HUGE when designing a cover and creating the ideas. You want to have a catch cover for the genre so people know what your trying to show. If you have a romance and a cover that isn’t hot and steamy people may be totally lost and have no interest to even read the little paragraph describing it. Much like crime books also have their own look as well with the cover designs. A bad cover can literally make your incredible book not sell. It has to grab the attention of readers.
Marketing is one of the hardest things I struggle with and on top of it I am just not being consistent. At the end of the day you have to market your books endlessly but if you don’t do anything no one else will. I try to do Instagram and also tiktok. Though I can admit I have been majorly slacking in all areas and need to keep hammering down and putting out info on different platforms. With 2 kids and a 3rd on the way though it really is challenging even if it doesn’t sound to be that hard to upload or record a quick little video. But that’s okay. Eventually I will keep plugging away. Same with these blogs, that is why I try to link the books via the posts in hopes someone reading may be interested in my other works too!
Overall, writing and publishing was not easy. I would be lying to you if I said that it was. I also had a lot of help from a friend of the family who had published things before. This was a great way for me to bounce ideas or even ask how things go. It can be overwhelming to google things like how to publish a book especially because everywhere around the world does things differently. Hopefully you have an interest peeked though and check out the first ones I published too!
Stacey J. Girard 