For any of you who may not know, getting an indie book out there (Again, where is out there exactly?) takes a lot of love, effort, determination and support from many sides. That’s what my husband John, my family, my friends and The Self-Publishing Agency have done for me as I check off one of my biggest ever bucket list to-do’s. Write and publish a book.

Now that On Love and Death and Belonging is up and running, I get why I’ve waited decades to finish a book. (Starting one or two over the years, then leaving them undone has been relatively easy.) But finishing one? It’s a lot of bloody hard work. Procrastinator me, if I’d realized just how much, I might just have waited some more. (A deadline gets you moving.) Now whenever I look at a bargain-bin-book, I see it in a new light. Not the looking-for-a-cheap-deal light that my ‘before author self’ would have relegated it to. But in a some-poor-hard-working-writer-gave-their-everything-to-get-their-book-published-and-now-it-has-been-relegated-to-the bargain-bin light. So be it a good read or a bad read, author, I salute you.

The latest challenge (another way of saying thorn in my side; pain in my bum; pebble in my shoe) was with Amazon. (I’m starting to view getting a book on Amazon like running a marathon. Something to be avoided.) For the past three weeks, there have been issues uploading the cover. Resubmitted, for what I think is the fourth time, they then said because of the font, my book is low content. (Low content. What!?) That book contains my heart and soul. FYI, that’s high content baby! But guess what? After all that it has made it to Amazon. I still await my print copies for purchase on my website.

And that leads me to something I learned from Tom, one of the Self-Publishing Agency authors, on a recent zoom call. He gave all of us attending a few words of wisdom. (Or depending on how you look at it, some words of warning.) Fifty-percent of the work is writing the book. The other fifty-percent is marketing it. He also added to enjoy the process.

So, I’m trying to enjoy and to process of all that I have done and all I still need to do. Tomorrow, I’m working on a press release. After all, my book isn’t going to sell itself. I must. (Ye gads, more work?) And now my book is in the world, I can share it with you. I also get to stretch myself and become a marketer and general all-round sales person.

So, I’m signing off. Just wanted to share a few things and add some words of hope to anyone else checking off a bucket-list-to-do no matter what it is or how long it has taken them to get it done. And really, some things in life are worth the wait.

‘Till next time
Daphne Leonie Wright