We were in Brighton for the early part of last week, and before we went, I’d sent my covers and book interior to KDP expecting my proofs to when we returned, but they arrived early and we came home to these books, I couldn’t believe it. My books have been available on all e-book platforms when I say all, I mean Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, B&N Nook, Rakuten Kobo, Google, since the beginning of the year, so I shouldn’t be this excited, but I am.
For someone who grew up going to the library to pick up books to read, this is a big thing. I am an avid reader, so to hold a physical edition of my story is remarkable. When I opened the package, I couldn’t believe it, I sat with a grin on my face, unable to fathom the enormity of what I’d done.
Self-publishing has opened up a world of possibility to me as a storyteller. It’s been exciting and frustrating too, so many things to learn, but the self-publishing community has been great. I urge anyone who has a story to tell and is frustrated with the process which to be quite honest is all cloak and dagger. For someone from a BAME background, the journey is even more frustrating. For far too long, Agents and Publishing houses have been gatekeepers for our stories. They want the usual stories of immigrant struggles, brown girl pain and terrorism. We have other stories to tell, stories of love, family, the clash of culture in multicultural Britain. Meera Syal said recently in an interview that she too feels frustrated at the lack of opportunities to tell stories she wants to tell, and she’s a successful comedian, writer, actress, and playwright. So what hope is there for someone like me who doesn’t have a master’s in creative writing. Who doesn’t have thousands of social media followers; a friend in publishing who might open doors for me; an Agent who could plug my story to Publishing houses; who isn’t a young writer? Sure, things have opened up after Black Lives Matter and Bernardine Evaristo’s shared Booker Prize 2019. However, it’s still frustrating to get the rejections from Agency who ask especially for diverse stories.
So, if you have a story, you want to publish, then think of self-publishing. I had to pay for some things, but there are people in the self-publishing world who have paid nothing, using crowdfunding, learning the process through KDP University, Ingram Sparks Education Hub, and reading how-to blogs from the writing community. What I will say is that you’ll need a passion to learn something new and patience and perseverance in bucket loads. It won’t make you rich quick, but you’ll get the buzz of readers leaving lovely reviews, and for a little outlet (postage and printing costs) you’ll get your book in paperback form.
Now for the next stage, proofreading for mistakes, colour matching on book covers, then finally publishing the paperbacks.
Photograph of my inspiration to write and the artwork of book covers for Reena & Nikesh University Duet
Why Write?
So, you want to be a writer?
Before you embark on this journey, you need to ask a couple of questions to yourself.
Do you want fame?
Do you want to get off the treadmill of work, work, work and make a living from your passion?
Do you have a burning desire to tell stories?
Since I made a choice to tell my story, I’ve joined writing groups on social media. I’m like many have been on a creative writing course, read books on how to write a novel, gone to events by publishing houses for new writers. Recently, I’ve read posts by people who think that writing will stop them working their dreary day job, and they will get rich quick.
Sorry to burst your bubble but this isn’t going to happen, sure you’ve read stories of overnight sensations, of writers who have written a masterpiece in their spare time and the prose is so goddamn good publishing houses have a bidding war.
But most successful writers have spent years publishing, writing short stories, writing poems, dramas, screenplays. They have honed their craft to be recognised by the great and the good in the publishing industry. It’s a big commitment, there are indie authors who make a great living, but they’ve been in the business for a long time, releasing a book a year, creating other content to gain an audience, learning to market their books, the list goes on.
It’s tough, my idea of writers are from what I’ve seen on film and television, people who have patrons who support them, people from wealthy families, people who have servants who do the chores for them, people who go off on writing retreat. That’s not normal, I wrote my book in 2006 after joining a creative writing group and then put it away. I came back to it because I had to tell my story, I had the burning desire to get it out there, the heart-shaped photo frame is my why and that’s when my self-publishing journey began. It isn’t easy, and it can be daunting. I hope to demystify some of it for you.
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