From Concept to Publication: My Journey as an Indie Published Author

As a 22-year-old woman, I never thought that I would be writing a blog post about my journey as an indie author.

But guess what?

I am!

I’m Multi-Passionate…

This means that I love to write novels, I love to read, I’m a doula, a virtual assistant, I’m a web designer…. and so it goes.

but how does this all affect my book writing and the publishing involved with it.

It all started when I was 12 years old, I lived in a small rural town and was obsessed with twilight. So, for a project, I decided to learn how to write it better so, I rewrote twilight almost word for word.

But once I finished that, I thought I needed to go further, so after daydreaming about a boy I liked, I wrote 16 and Pregnant with Twins.

At that time Wattpad was famous for people like me who just wanted to write down things.

I actually blew up I was almost around 1,000,000 views on that novel so I decided to write a sequel and in my mind that became a five-book series.

I was like 12-13 years old, and I thought a million views meant that if I published it on Amazon lots of people would run for it.

I was wrong.

My first attempt at publishing the book was when I was 17 years old at that time my life had changed so much and I had so many feelings so when reviews were happening they were quite negative and the feedback in my e-mail I decided writing wasn’t for me.

So I gave up, and quit.

Let’s flash forward to 2020, the entire world shifted, and the focus I put into my business as a doula wasn’t giving me the output I had hoped. I wasn’t allowed in the hospital, there were rules that contained me and prevented me from living life.

So I became obsessed with the Phantom of the Opera I was destroyed by the fact that the Phantom and Christine never got together.

So I wrote a 60,000-word novel in a matter of six weeks and I fell in love with writing again.

I decided from then on that I had to stop letting negativity in my life destroy the things I enjoyed.

That happened once and I wasn’t going to let it happen again.

Once I finish that draft I moved on to several more including Taken Care Of which I officially published in June of 2022.

But I’m getting ahead of myself…

After writing these I had to find an editor that I know would do good for me and my self-esteem.

That’s when I realized I had a contact in my files and she became my professional editor. That’s one of the most important things to do when publishing a book, which the editor that I got the very first time around was not. That and that is one of the many reasons that 16 and Pregnant with Twins failed the first time it was published.

Once it was edited it went off to my arc readers and they all gave some good feedback. Some were negative, some were positive and that’s okay too.

I break the rules when it comes to writing I don’t wanna be a cookie-cutter kind of book. I want my story to make you think, to make you feel something, and that doesn’t repeat the motions of every other romance novel out there.

I don’t stick to a subgenre. Romance is the theme and it just comes in many different flavours – kind of like ice cream.

When I hit publish on my book, I was excited, I was nervous, but really, I was proud of myself.

When I felt the lowest that I could possibly be about my writing, I decided to pick myself up again and say you know what fuck the World because this is so special and something wonderful that I accomplished this.

The journey of an indie author is not an easy one, but it is an incredibly rewarding one. I have learned so much about the writing process, editing, cover design, and publishing. But most importantly, I have learned that with hard work and determination, anything is possible.

If you have a story in your head that you’re dying to tell, don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it. The self-publishing industry is constantly evolving, and there are more opportunities than ever for indie authors to succeed. So, take a deep breath, sit down at your computer, and start typing. You never know where it will take you.

So do it and celebrate each little win 1000 words, 10,000 words, even 50,000 words, then celebrate the fact that you finished a novel, celebrate the fact that you shared it with at least one other person even if it never makes it past the beta or the editor.

If you want help or have questions don’t be afraid to ask me for help. I’d love to share my resources.