“The woods are lovely, dark and deep
And I have promises to keep
And miles to go before I sleep
And miles to go before I sleep”
That’s Pulitzer prize winning poet, Robert Frost from his beautiful poem, ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ and it’s how you feel when you’ve published your book because the work has only begun. Well, that’s how it feels for me anyway, four months on from my launch last November in the Imperial Hotel here in Cork.
Publishing a book is the start of the journey really. You then have to promote, market and distribute it – get it into people’s minds, out onto the bookshelves, up online, and onto the airwaves and newspaper pages . . . and oh, did I mention social media!
It all takes time, commitment and energy but so far, I have loved the busyness of it all and the best part, meeting readers, getting feedback and seeing people resonate with the characters and sentiments in the book. It’s a whoo-hoo feeling.
I could write a book now (I won’t though!) on the process of self publishing and marketing a book going solo without the heft of a big publisher behind me. I’ve learnt a lot and made a few mistakes along the way for sure. But, hey, that’s how you learn – I’ve been making mistakes all my life and I’ve learnt a lot at this stage!
My mother always said if you really want to do something, you’ve got to put your weight behind it. Where attention goes, energy really does flow. Nothing comes easy in life. You have to show up, show your enthusiasm and enjoy the journey’s ups and downs. I’ve been all around Cork, Kerry, Limerick on local radio, meeting booksellers and readers and the support is magnificent.
Over the coming months I plan to do some blogs on the self publishing writing process so please let me know what aspects of that you might be interested in. Are you writing a novel, a play, short stories? I’d love to hear how it’s going for you and let me know if I can help with anything.