I was asked a couple of times how I went about publishing my books.
Now before I dive into all kinds of things, let me burst one or two bubbles. I am not a bestselling author. Far from it. If I sell 20 copies of a book, that’s a lot. And it’s true, I would want to sell more, of course I do. But I have no idea how to advertise myself any better, and I think that’s the biggest issue. I believe in the quality of my poems and my stories. But if they are invisible to the world, no one will be inclined to purchase my books. I wish it was different, and I need your help to spread the word about me on your blogs, your socials, with your friends and coworkers. It doesn’t matter if you are from a neighboring country or from across the world, my books are available everywhere.
Publishing a book starts with one thing: writing. Writing writing writing. And then deciding which poem is worthy of being printed in a book. I recommend putting the poems in a Word document or a similar writing program. Get acquainted with the program. Know about headings, styles, headers, toc, page breaks, etc. Research things like the format your book should have. Mine are usually 5 × 8 inch. It’s a little smaller than a pocket book. Apply the format you chose as well as the margin specifics in the layout tab, and remember to mirror your pages. That’s important for the looks of the book.
But, all this can be easily researched online and you will probably understand a lot better how to format your manuscript when it is explained in depth or accompanied by videos.
The next step for me is usually getting an ISBN number. If you self-publish via KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing), you can ask to get a number from them, for free. I did that on a couple of my books. But, to reach a greater local audience, I applied for an ISBN number at my local authority. Again, you need to do your own research, but for me it was sending an application to BNL (bibliothèque nationale de Luxembourg). This was for free too, but I am not sure if that is the same for every country. If you apply for a personalized ISBN number it has to be in your own country. (As far as I know.)
When all of this is done, I begin thinking about a title and a cover. In my mind, they need to go hand in hand. Even though the intention behind my covers is not always visible at first, they have a meaning. With the exception of Fire&Rain, I always did the cover work myself. (Taking the pictures, designing the cover art, adding the titles and the blurb of course too). Sometimes I used a little advice from a creative friend about fonts and the position of the title. For my three last publications: Perfect Imperfection, WORD THIEF, and Fire&Rain, I had some help with the title and artwork too. It helps that they are an artist too and have an esthetic eye and a deeper knowledge on things. They were a great help. I sent them the table of contents and they helped chose a title. They were always spot on. I need to admit that. Giving credit where credit is due.
For Fire&Rain I tried something new for the artwork, I got the help of AI. And let me tell you, I love the cover. And that cover was only possible because of my friend chosing the title for me and me feeding AI the right words.
Once all that is done and decided, I take the easiest route with KDP. It’s fool proof since they tell you exactly which information they need. Once your finished manuscript is uploaded they point out issues with the formatting. After that you can upload your own cover or create it with the embedded tool. Again, it’s fool proof. Both these things done, you get to the next stage: pricing.
Now, pricing is something I find rather difficult to do. But at least KDP gives a suggestion with a minimum price. You can also set different prices for different market places. Though I tend to have the same price across all platforms. Transparent.
The last step is setting a publication date. Either you want your book to go live immediately or you can set a pre-order date. KDP will proof and approve your script which can take up to 72 hours. Those 72 hours are quite exciting and most often KDP doesn’t need that long before your book is live and available across the many marketplaces Amazon offers.
As for copies, you can order a proof copy to check if the book is the way you want it to be. If not you can change things until you are happy with the result. After that, you can buy your own Author Copies. Publishing with KDP is print on demand and it usually takes around 5 days to be done. If you order your own copies, you will have to pay the printing price, which is fair though, I think.
Readers pay the printing price plus the amount set by the author.
Once all of that is done, the most complicated part begins. Promoting yourself and getting word out there. Once again, I admit that this is my weakest point and that I need your help. If you find me on Amazon, you will see that there are great reviews. And many of them are from people I don’t know. Of course that’s something I like and I am very grateful for it. And I want more of that.
I am convinced that Fire&Rain is the best poetry collection I ever wrote. And it deserves its recognition. Hopefully many readers will agree with me.
In a week, Fire&Rain will be officially released. I have 12 copies at home that are waiting to be signed and sent off into the world. Maybe one of them is yours? The button on this site works, if you want to try it. (The button is on your right if you use the desktop site, or all the way down if you use the mobile version).
I don’t have an agent, or a publisher, or a manager, or a team of creative people to help me with every step of the way. I cannot just write my poems and leave the rest to professionals. I have to do it all on my own. It’s a source of pride. But sometimes it really sucks, that’s why I am very grateful to that one friend who helps me out sometimes. I couldn’t do it without him. I couldn’t make all these important decisions on my own. And, let me point this out: he also wrote the music for WORD THIEF and The Best Pessimist. Both poems can be found on my soundcloud page. All my links can be found in my “about me” tab.
Mark your calendars for July 12th, when Fire&Rain will see the light of day. And perhaps one copy will find a home on your shelves.
Do you have any questions? Maybe I forgot this or that. I am here. Thank you for everything. 🙏
reflections of an unquiet mind 