It seems fitting that yesterday, at the beginning of the Chinese New Year and the celebration of Imbolc (in the Celtic tradition) that my first dozen author copies of my book arrived to my home.
I decided that I wanted my books to “hang out” with other books I’ve enjoyed and authors I love. So while my little writing muse (Willy) was dressed in his tuxedo best, I created a display to celebrate.
While I know I have a long way to go in my author journey, and I’m not at the level of the amazing authors sitting next to my book. But I also know they had to start somewhere, and so did I.
Taking time to celebrate this event felt like the right thing to do. So grateful I got serious in 2021 about getting this process started and finished.
What’s your next big goal? How do you plan to celebrate when you achieve it?
I breathed a sigh of relief yesterday as I ordered the first dozen author copies of my first book, Unleash, Unlearn, and Enliven: Seven Micro-Practices to Engage Your Somatic Wisdom. I get to buy at printing cost plus shipping from Amazon.
Is there some shameless self-promotion in this post? Yea you betcha, as we say in Minnesota.
I’m choosing to include not just the Amazon link as I encourage potential readers to buy the book, but also links at Bookshop.org, which supports Indie booksellers. I also include Barnes and Noble, because I truly miss hanging out in their bookstore/coffee shop as I did for many hours (days, weeks, months) back when I was finishing my masters thesis in 2006. I’m giving some love to Birchbark Books in Minneapolis. It is owned by author Louise Erdrich. I first read Love Medicine back in college I think. If you have never read Erdrich’s work, stop now and order a book by her. Any book. Don’t even read my book. Seriously, your money is better spent on her work if you haven’t read any of it yet.
My deepest hope for my first book is that it feels like nourishment and support to those who are bicultural and/or neurodiverse, with ADHD, or those with sensitive nervous systems who want to love those parts of themselves they often hide in the shadows. There is much love contained in it, and much hard-won wisdom. And I know it’s not for everyone, but I hope it helps my peeps feel less alone.
We live in an incredible time when we can spread the messages we wish to convey without the same gatekeepers who used to “control the store” so to speak. While I deeply respect the work of the traditional publishing world, I also know that the leadership there is overwhelmingly White and male. In recent years, many independent publishers have been established that cater to a more diverse reader base. And now as self-publisher, I get to join that list in a tiny way.
If you want to take a listen to the guided somatic awareness practice from Sound Cloud, it might make a nice 5 minute body-based meditation as a break from your day. I will someday have an audio book version of the entire book produced, perhaps. One project at a time. Spring has me thinking about podcasts to further spread the micro-practices, but I’ve got a little prep to do before that.
Hope your creative work is fruitful and satisfying in 2022!
I recently published my first eBook and it felt like such an achievement to me. After taking the time to work through a couple rounds of editing and then thinking through more changes after the Advance Reader Team helped me see where it could be improved, I felt ready to upload to IngramSpark to generate a paper version. Hurrah!
For me, a book isn’t “real” until I can order a paper format. Much as I love how digital products can generate royalties for their authors and creators, until I can hold something in my hands, it feels like a figment of my imagination. I crave the embodiment of something with weight and a cover that I might pick up in a store.
IngramSpark didn’t accept the fact that I didn’t yet have a professionally designed cover to add to my file. File rejected: bummer. I had hoped a “placeholder” cover would suffice could put off the process of locating a designer while I reviewed a bound and printed version.
What was I waiting for? I’d found my editor, Kay Grey, by putting a post in LinkedIn for an editing project. Within hours I got 8-9 applications. But only one person read the post closely and reached out to me to find out more about the budget. I was delighted when after viewing her website we connected and it seemed like a fit. Kay has made the book miles better than it could have been with my own editing.
Why couldn’t I find someone via LinkedIn for the cover design as well? Most professional designers might not work with just a one-week turnaround, I reasoned. But if I found someone who knew upfront that’s what I hoped for, maybe I could find them out there. Indeed within hours I received 8-10 applications again. I closed the post and took a look at the portfolios. One stood out in particular. I reached out. She scheduled a conversation. Turns out we have so many common interests I was delighted. She was able to take the art that I’d commissioned from a friend of mine, and turn it into a cover I really love.
Mock-up of the cover design; slight changes will be in the final version to be released in January.
This was not something I could have generated on Canva. It required an eye for visual art, competence with InDesign and an understanding of my vision for the overall project. And while there are many free tools that exist for eBook covers, I believe a physical book needs a professional to make it shine. So grateful to Natalya, who helped me visualize how this book might appear on my shelf (and hopefully for others) someday.
As authors, we can find the support of editors, artists, and cover designers to focus on our gifts. I have a deep appreciation for beautiful art, but that’s very different from actually making it. As indie authors who publish work ourselves, this can seem daunting at first. But taking it one step at a time, and being patient, it’s not so hard to find collaborators.
I’m already at work on the next book(s), which have been starting to present themselves in my morning freewriting sessions. Grateful to have worked with some amazing professionals that may accompany me on future book journeys if their schedules align.
Where have you found your best collaborators? I am curious to know.
Warm wishes for a lovely solstice or whatever holiday you celebrate.
Yesterday my brain decided to have a tantrum about “all the work” it would take to send the files to my cover designer and finalize my cover text, etc.
This will TAKE TOO LONG, it screamed.
What if you make a mistake? it wondered
What if the book is not worthy of the cover art? it speculated.
So instead of doing this task like I planned yesterday, I felt myself digging into a familiar cave of podcasts, audio books and other forms of distraction to avoid facing the task.
My brain did let me make my plan for the following day. Thank you, brain.
This morning I got up with my head less foggy. I used my prime hours (the 2 hours after waking, when I’m most clear, after my coffee, and before my breakfast) to get the files uploaded to the shared drive for the cover designer. I told her my back cover copy is 95% complete and that I’ll get a final edit to her by end of day.
Was the task worthy of all this drama? It took me only about an hour and 5 minutes to get this stuff done when I put my phone and other distractions away.
That’s how it goes. I’m ONTO YOU, drama queen brain. You can’t fool me. I know you’re trying to protect me from embarrassment about making mistakes. I appreciate that. I’m going to make my plan, and then stick to it, one step at a time. That’s how everything important gets done. I love you, but I won’t always listen to you.
How goes your December? What fun things do you have planned?
This is the placeholder cover, and I love the art by my friend Heather, but I don’t love the design. That will be changing in the next 10 days or so!
I spoke with graphic designer yesterday who will make my book cover way prettier and more professional than it looks now. Yay! I have a different idea of eBooks versus actual books in terms of how they operate and what readers expect.
Since I’m not personally fond of eBooks, I’m not devoting a ton of attention to the formatting for that this time around. I wanted to get it “up and out” but to focus more on the paperback, since that’s what I tend to idolize on my own shelves.
That said, it is fun to mark the milestone of completing the Draft2Digital launch, opening the distribution of my eBook to plaforms outside of Amazon. If you’re curious, I’m pricing these pretty low and there’s a 20% first week launch deal on D2D. Books for the cost of a latte. Don’t you love the digital era?
The indie publishing journey is proving to be fascinating, challenging and invigorating. To make a product from start to finish, hiring editors, artists, and cover designers along with recruiting an advance reader team… it’s an accomplishment worth celebrating.
So off I go for an annual “bonfire of the brushpile” trip with hubby for the weekend. Where I may take a few pages of the last draft as kindling for the fire.
Be well and enjoy whatever projects are brewing for you!
Cristy
P.S. If you are curious about the book and want a $3 pdf version, you can get it directly from my website. Thank you for supporting indie authors!
Releasing a book feels like the most vulnerable thing I’ve done in my life to date. I see my thinking in black and white print, concepts that danced through my consciousness becoming still. Now they will be available for others to critique or enjoy. My errors will glare at me. And I will continue to write books, and to create. Grateful every day that I live in a country where this is possible and encouraged.
I love reading paperback books (over eBooks or hardcovers). I love the tactile experience of a paperback book. What’s your favorite format for reading?
mexi minnesotana 