Self-publishing - 100 post!

Hi readers,

I've published my first self-published short story today and it'd be great if you could support me. 'Dead Nick' is available for download to Kindle at https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0092RGDJO It's a short story about an office worker who starts hearing a voice in his head. I wrote it for an essay at uni and have rewritten it slightly for publishing. This is one of the short stories I've actually tried to get published in a magazine and on line but it was rejected for 'not being what they were looking for at the time.' Which is what happens to many stories entered to such places or even to actually publishing houses.

I was motive by my boyfriend to try self-publishing, though my parents have been going on about it for awhile. During my BA and MA self-publishing had mixed reviews from my tutors and visiting writers. Most thought it was actually a good thing to do and a way to get yourself out there. Some frowned upon it though and didn't recommended self-publishing if you want to become a professional writer. It's a problematic question for many writers trying get on the publishing ladder. Do they spend ages looking for the right place to send their work, packet/email sections with cover letters and wait for rejection replies? Or do they take the easy way out and self-publish? I don't think they'll ever be a clear answer to that question.

The traditional ways of writing and publishing have really changed in the last twenty plus years. The internet has helped a great deal with that and authors who wouldn't have got a chance are now becoming popular because their work is more easy to access. Authors are also getting headhunted through their self-publishing online and their work is then being made into books, TV shows and movies. There's so many examples of this and it's growing all the time. Take the recent popularity of the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. That started as self-published fan fiction and was then rewritten into a self-published novel. The way people read has also changed so much due to the new technologies of kindles, ipads etc. People are now finding it easy to read and access books, magazines and the news from these devices. Still though the actual book is very much alive. Finding a replacement for the book format is hard and frankly not needed. This reminds me of Jasper FFords Thursday Next series. A very awesome and mind blowing series all about life in-between the pages of books.

 The reason why I choice to self-publish though is because I'm at a cross roads in my life again. I'm not sure what I want to do now. I know my dream, but it feels far away and none of my novels are ready-in my view-to be published. Though sending off a few sample chapters is always something I can do. Right now my mind seems to be saying "get a job, get some experience of adult life and think about what you really want to do next." Well, that might be just around the corner as I've an before interview meeting tomorrow in a call centre. (More on that later) I think I'm self-publishing as an experiment, to see if it would actually work for me and what other opportunities it would generate for me. I do feel proud of myself right now for actually doing it. Feels like a big step in the right direction.

I guess if things seem to be going well, I'll start publishing some more short stories and wait to see what happens. I'm not really doing it for the money, though right now I'm really in needed of some!- one of the reasons why I'm currently looking at having ads on my blog. The big question will be if I decided to self-publish a novel and right now I'm slightly against this as I'd like to try and get it published the tradditional way first, but we shall see.

I choice to self-publish online because it's free and faster then going to a company and getting them to do it. I also decided that though having a physical cope of my book, though it's only a short story, would be good, it was properly a bad move at this stage to make. I'd have no idea what I'd have done with say 50 copies of my story to then try and sell myself, nor would having it on a website that printed on demand work. So by going through Amazon, a very well know company all over the world, felt the right thing to do. If self-publishing is the right move for me though is another thing and only time will tell on that one.

Lastly, it's your final chance to get involved in the selection of next year's books for World Book Night. http://www.worldbooknight.org/ There's a hundred titles to choice from or you can pick your own. WBN is something I've been supporting for the last two years and I've been a book giver both times now. It's worth becoming a part of if you love books and want them to reach more people. So, vote for your favourites right now.