When I want to read a novel, I write one.
Benjamin Disraeli
It took me a while to get there, but eventually, after completing Rogan’s Robbie, I decided to attempt self-publishing my book instead of going the route of a traditional publishing house.
The reasons are pretty simple even though the work is hard. After coming up with several query letters, I finally realized that the length of time that I as a new author may have to wait for the publication of my book may be longer than I wanted. “Self-publication” wasn’t a familiar term to me, but it piqued my curiosity.
The University of YouTube was an incredibly invaluable source of sometimes scant or intangible information. Such as, in order to use song lyrics, you have to get permission from the copyright holder. Even for a couple of lines!! So I saved myself a couple of thousand (at least) in fees. Just using the song title and artists’ name is free, thank goodness.
I researched every bit of every law I needed to know in order to avoid legal issues. Fortunately, there were few I needed to be concerned about once I got past the (potentially) expensive copyright issues. As a former academic library employee, I was already aware of the “Fair Use” and other restrictions and followed those carefully.
After the first draft was done (120,000 words!), I was ready for an editor. I found my freelance editor on Fiverr.
Why Fiverr?
Well, I knew I couldn’t afford an editor who worked for an established publishing house, which was my first choice, of course. It’s that simple. The project was already going to be expensive and thanks to Dale Roberts (a “professor” on the University of YouTube campus), who recommended trying Fiverr for some of the tasks that had to be done, I found a financial knight in shining armor. Hey. I write romance novels. A knight had to show up sooner or later.
Because I want to keep this post short, i will continue talking about my sources of information, training, and guidance during both the writing and post-writing processes.