Self Publishing Adventures

I’ve always written: endless diaries as a child and teenager, short stories in my early and mid 20s.

Then, not long after my first son was born, I wrote my first children’s story about an urban fox. That was probably around the time JK Rowling was finalising Harry Potter. I also probably had my first rejection around the time JK was signed by Christopher Little!

The rejection didn’t put me off - far from it - and a year or so later I received a very encouraging letter from (coincidentally) Bloomsbury. Their Senior Commissioning Editor for Children’s Books said she very much liked my writing style but that the book I had sent in was the wrong length for their lists - and could I call to suggest other ideas. This briefly gave me renewed hope - albeit in the end came to nothing as messages left were missed, and when we finally spoke the moment was lost. Soon afterwards, with my son starting school full time, I decided it was time to return to the day job, where I could at least earn a living as a professional copywriter!  My writing dreams weren’t abandoned - they were just ‘on hold’.

Fast forward 10 years

Times certainly changed in the publishing world during the time I was back at work. And now - thanks to (i) the wonderful world of digital print on demand and e-books, (ii) a much enjoyed sabbatical from the ‘day job’ since last January, and (iii) heaps of determination - I am finally there! My first children’s book, The Secret Lake, is in local independent bookstores and Waterstones in south-west London (including Putney, Kingston, Chiswick and more), as well as on Amazon and in the Kindle Store!  Even better, I now have 5-star reviews trickling in, including from an Amazon ‘Top 10 Reviewer’ in the USA - and from children I’ve never met. And only this morning I received my first modest royalty cheque from Amazon’s CreateSpace!

Sharing my self-publishing journey

Today the opportunities for ‘indie’ (independent) authors without a publisher are enormous, and getting your book to market requires surprisingly little financial outlay. All you do need is time and willingness to do some research into the mechanics, determination. I felt overwhelmed with information when I began my journey - so, to help anyone thinking of treading this route, I have created my blog. This shares the process I went through to get to The Secret Lake to market at very little cost. In do doing it aims to offer a quick overview of the different options out there - and to help others learn from my mistakes and discoveries. I shall continue to populate it over coming weeks in between marketing The Secret Lake and preparing my next book, ‘Eeek!’ for upload!

I hope you’ll like what you find. In the meantime, if you’re short of a Christmas or birthday present for a book-loving 8-11 year-old I hope you’ll look no further than the magical website of The Secret Lake!

Karen Inglis from Barnes is the author of The Secret Lake, a ‘time-slip’ mystery adventure set in London’s Notting Hill. You will find her self-publishing adventures blog at kareninglis.com - or via selfpublishingadventures.com

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