Giving it a 'red hot go'

 

Hi there,

I’ve daydreamed about becoming an author since I was a child. On roadtrips in the family van as we travelled up the Queensland coastline to visit extended family, I would make up stories in my head about the landscape to pass time, secretly imagining that someday they would form part of the stories in my future books. There was many a tale about the abandoned shacks I’d notice in the empty fields and farmlands alongside the highway. I wish I had taken the time to right them down.

In high school, I remember getting an A when writing an episode of a television soapie for English and an A+ on a poem I wrote for Study of Religion. As a young adult, I started writing a Young Adult Fiction novel called “Hidden Fields”, that I picked up and put back down several times as a teenager and young adult, before putting it away for the final time when I was 27. Only a few years later, upon becoming a life coach, I would submit a proposal to Hay House for a personal development book that was never picked up. I continued to dream about someday writing books on the side once I was ‘successful’ in my full time job. But I never imagined it was even a possibility to become an author as my main job. It felt lofty, unrealistic. Something that was possible for others, but not for me.

Fast forward to today and I am a 40-year-old single mother and home education teacher, who for many reasons, cannot work a regular full time job during this chapter of my life. My days are filled with homeschooling, NDIS-related appointments for myself and my child, the occasional research project, and an endless list of life admin. I figured now was the perfect time to write during spare pockets of time, self-publish books, and slowly build an author profile. It was time to give that old dream a ‘red hot go’.

My first step into the self-publishing world was through a poetry collection called You Will Find Your Way. With the encouragement of supportive friends cheering me on, I created every component of this book myself. Living on a tight budget, I also thought very carefully about every cent I spent throughout the process.

• I wrote and edited the book myself.
• I sent an early copy of the book to some dear friends for feedback.
• I created an author website using the free Blogger platform and a template I purchased from Etsy.
• I did a book formatting course* so I could learn how to format books correctly myself for self-publication.
• I did a book cover design course* so I could learn how to design my own book covers.
• Once my book was published, I trialed Pubby* to get some genuine reviews of the book from people I don’t know.

I also reluctantly rejoined social media, so I could market my book and any future writing. I love the process of quietly writing away from the safety and privacy of home. I don’t love being visible and marketing my book online or in person. Like many authors and business owners, I much prefer working behind the scenes, and wish my books or products would just magically sell on their own. But marketing is a necessary part of the process of giving my writing that ‘red hot go’, so I made a promise to sit with the discomfort and do so, reminding myself that it would help readers find the book and hopefully feel less alone whilst reading the poetry within.

So far, my efforts have meant I’ve made $20-$150AUD per month of sales since publishing in early May 2024, with over 50 reviews on Amazon AU and over 100 reviews on Amazon US. It’s even made the bestseller list in its categories a number of times since publication. I have celebrated each and every one of those sales and reviews. It might not seem like much, but to me as new author, it is enough to show me that the more quality books I publish and the more I build my author platform, the more it is possible to make writing books my main source of income. So here’s to showing up in devotion to making that dream become a reality.

Last week, I was excited to learn that the book cover I designed and illustrated for You Will Find Your Way had been nominated for the “Cover of the Month” contest at All Author. Today, I was thrilled to receive news that it made it to the Top 100, which means it is now in Round 2 of the competition, where voters narrow the covers down to the Top 50. So as part of the promise I made to myself to not hide away, and to share moments like these with you all, here I am inviting you to take a moment to please vote for my book cover. If you already voted in Round 1, you’re allowed to vote again for Round 2. I know as a small-time independent author that I will not win the competition, but just like each sale and review, I will celebrate each vote the book cover receives.

As I quietly write away on two new books behind the scenes, one a nature-inspired poetry collection and two a middle grade fiction with a non-binary protagonist, I’m reminding myself to not hide away and to show up more online sharing about You Will Find Your Way and my writing. The reviews I have received so far are evidence that it is helping people feel less alone, and that in itself, is a huge incentive to keep on going. It’s also a reminder, as I type away in my home office, that I’m not alone too.

Thank you for being here and for reading my work. I appreciate you.

* Hyperlinks with an asterisk next to them are affiliate links which means I might get a commission of some sort if you also sign up for them using my link. They are each resources that I have used and benefited from personally in my growth as a new author.