Back when I graduated from university in 2008 with my BA in Creative Writing & Literature there was a bit of a stigma to self-publishing and it’s amazing to see how it’s changed over the years. I spent a brief period of time as a bookseller at Barnes & Noble when I came back from completing my MA in the UK and often customers had no idea they were requesting a POD (Print-on-Demand) self-published title. Those authors have major traction now. It’s become fairly popular for Instapoets to get their words on the page as well. I’m in the middle of self-publishing a book of poetry myself and I have more respect than ever for this entire process.
Not sure why I didn’t consider doing this sooner. I much prefer doing things my own way. Not going to lie, writing contests have never held a huge appeal for me. I’ve tried my luck at a handful but never kept pursuing it. I prefer to do my art my own way and let the audience make of it what they will. The one major downside is you have to get your art in front of people all on your own, but oh how nice it is to be doing it all for you and completely your own way.
I’m not going to go into the entire process since there are already some amazing resources out there, but I can share some of the ones that I am using. I work with graphic designers on a daily basis at my job so thankfully, a friend/coworker did my cover design (I paid her). I found a great typesetter/interior designer thorough Reedsy who I am working with now and in the final stages of proofing. The publishing platform I’m using is IngramSpark which, to be honest, I’m still learning how to use… but they have a lot of helpful articles for us newbs to this whole self-publishing process.
I can’t say I’m a guru just yet, but the next book should be SO much easier! Although maybe not cheaper… Oh, and I don’t update it as often as I should, but you can find me @dukeofverse on Instagram.
Too Lit to Quit 