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So the book has officially been published and I've sold 18 copies so far which isn't the best but isn't the worst either.  I tal...

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Saturday, January 25, 2025
So the book has officially been published and I've sold 18 copies so far which isn't the best but isn't the worst either. 
I talked with a friend of mine and she's going to reedit the book for me in the next few months. She's currently working on her doctorate, and was one of the first people to review my book. So I trust her implicitly. 

Of the 23 copies I ordered I gave 5 away as thank you gifts. 1 to my mom, 1 to my biological mom, 1 to my PR Team, 1 to my aunt, and one to the family of a dear friend who passed away. I had hoped to surprise him with a copy and especially the section that I dedicated to him. But well he passed before Amazon KDP got off their asses and sent them out. 

I'm really excited to see how version 2 will be. The original editor really screwed me over with not getting the book formatted and edited and kept giving me the wrong files etc. but I'm happy with how it is. It's an extension of me, my healing journey, and a legacy of sorts.

I have a bunch of stuff in the works with the PR Team. If we pull it off it'll be amazing!
Sunday, December 22, 2024
So within the next few days, the book should be ready for sale. I'm just hammering out the last details!
Saturday, December 21, 2024
At this point I'm my ”career" of being an #author I feel as if I could give a #tedtalk on how to #publish a book and being on a #fixedincome or #lowincome 

Thankfully, I'm fairly resourceful and tech savvy, and have been using the Internet since 1995, and I'm pretty advanced when it comes to searching for things on the net. So the most I've spent it of pocket for the entire creation of my book has been less than $1000 spread out over the course of 2024.

I spent $20 on a used laptop that I found at a thrift store. Got a new to me printer that was given to me with ink, and I bought new ink on eBay for less than $25. I bought a .com which was $10.99. I paid for 6 coffee meetings at we'll say a total of $30.00 and the 2 biggest purchases was my ISBN Number at $125 and my final editor which would have cost $120. And about $60 on random things here and there as gift bag prizes. And a $25 promotional poster. The biggest cost so far has been ordering my author copies to the tune of about $482.
Most things were either given to me or donated to me. Which really saved me money too! And my PR team has been amazing and I know without them I may not have had half the hype about my book that I have had. 

I still need to order more books, because unfortunately I can not sell them directly on Amazon due to my income restrictions.
But it has been a very bumpy, stressful, journey. One I thought that I'd never survive. And not to be overly dramatic, but it's aged me and fried my nerves!

In all I'm still not done with my journey. I've got speaking engagements that are being planned, plus a few other things. All I do know is that I'm pretty happy with how things are turning out.


Tuesday, December 17, 2024

Well, I have my first round of books that I need to deliver today. And this is both a moment of excitement and a moment of sadness. I am excited because this is what I've worked so hard to do. But reserved in the fact that, these are my children that I am sending off into the world. So, it is bittersweet.

This makes it 100% complete (well until I get them to all the people who ordered 99.99%) and now the whole ordeal is behind me. I now know the process and details of self-publishing for the most part. Im sure that there are a few gaps in my knowledge and a few things that I have missed out on. But for my very first book, I am happy and content. 

Looking back over the last few years, it really does not see like that long ago but also feels like the last 3 years have been me running at max compacity. All of the work that I put into designing my cover. All of the typing, and the editing, and the back and forth with people for one reason or another. It is all surreal to think that its come to an end.

According to my PR team, they still want me to push forward and to get back out in front of people and tell my story over and over, and promote the book still and to start doing speaking engagements, and getting my book into the hands of some local book shops and even into the library system. I've got to come up with more money to get more copies made too. But all of that in good time.

 

Friday, December 6, 2024

Well as I sit here at my computer finishing up the last of my speech and making games to act as time fillers, I know that I am 98% done with my book and the journey it has taken me on. 99% will be having the book launch party this coming Sunday, and 100% will be me hand delivering the books to those who've ordered.

Im nervous, yet so beyond ready to just get it out there into the world and let people have access to it. I have still not released the URL as to where to purchase it and until I get some things finalized, I don't know that I will. As there are still so many things that I need to complete once the launch has come and gone.

But for now, all I can say is that regardless of if it's going to be well received or not. Carpe Diem Scroto is complete.

Saturday, November 30, 2024

Well, there has come a point where new setbacks have occurred. It now looks like I may not be able to offer an eBook like I originally thought I would at this point in the books journey to publication. I may also be selling the book privately for a short time. What this means, is that book orders will most likely take up to 3 weeks to get to the customer due to shipping arrangements and the like. I am hoping that this is not going to be the case for very long if that is the option I have to choose, however, I am uncertain. 

This is not what I had planned and not how I wanted to conduct the release of my book. But when you have so many variables to deal with, it is hard to account for all of the hiccups that come along the way. Such is life, am I right?

What I can confirm is that things are at this moment still on track for the December 8th Book Launch Party, which may now be an intimate gathering of friends and family and well-wishers. I still have to confer with my PR Team as to how they wish to handle this.

So I will keep you all updated as things continue to unfold. Thank you all for your support and understanding. 

Saturday, November 16, 2024

 


It is with tears in my eyes that I am writing this. The book is 97% complete and is almost ready to be published.

These last few months have been some of the most difficult and stressful. I honestly understand why "professional" authors hire Literary Agents and Traditional Publishing companies. The amount of red tape and hoops that an independent author has to jump through is enough to make you go absolutely insane!

Also no one ever really talks about the out-of-pocket costs of writing a book. You have to take care of every little thing yourself. Thankfully I already had some experience with doing gig jobs and have a background in marketing, and doing product reviews and things like that, so I wasn't completely blindsided when it came to who to turn to in order to get some things done. Other things, like ISBN numbers and other book related things have all been new learning experiences and will help me in the future should I go through with publishing other books. But I really do believe that IF there is a next time that I will seek out more traditional methods of publishing.

The issues that I am facing right now with the book is getting the eBook fixed so that it will render properly across all the eBook devices and that it will render on mobile phones. But I have sent the information of to my editor and should have it taken care of soon (fingers crossed.)