Supporting Other Writers

OK, I’m not exactly a millionaire author just yet, but over the past few years I have been lucky enough to learn a lot about writing, and publishing, and especially e-publishing.  Which is why, along with my husband Andrew Thorn, I ran a course last Saturday called ‘e-Publishing Know-how’.

A group of eager students gathered with us in the historic Gloucester Guildhall where we spent the day whizzing through everything from setting yourself up on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), to formatting your work, as well as writing blurbs and designing book covers.  We also looked at some of the marketing techniques I’ve picked up from the many other generous Kindle authors out there.

As an added bit of excitement we also we also e-published my latest novel ‘Brighton Sucks’ during the day as a demonstration of how easy it is for writers to get their work out to readers via KDP.  I’ll be launching it in the UK on Halloween, and will keep the people who attended the course informed about this as an ongoing part of sharing my experience. 

The most gratifying piece of feedback I’ve received so far about the course is this:  ‘You did exactly what it said on the box:  I feel excited, informed and confident about moving forward into my venture in epublishing.  Today I am working on a new blogspot, and have already prepared stuff for my new website.  I have chosen a name to write under, got two new ideas for stories, planned a press release and planned a marketing initiative that I'm really excited about - and only 24 hours have passed.  Thank you both so much for having enabled me in this way.  I'll finish with just three words - FAN-BLOODY-TASTIC!’

As ever when a group of writers come together I am always pleased to see how helpful and supportive they are.  Email addresses were swapped so that people could continue the writing friendships they made on the day, and so I’m sure the knowledge and experience we all shared will pass on to other writers out there.

It’s an incredibly difficult time for writers at all stages of their career, but it’s also an amazingly exciting time, with new technologies offering writers access to readers that they’ve never had before.  The whiff of snobbery about self-published authors is being gradually replaced with amazing success stories of Indie Authors who are sidestepping the gatekeepers and building their own publishing empires.

Good luck to all of you!