Category: Uncategorized

I’ve decided to take a hiatus from writing until after this baby is born.

 

 

 

 

 

Writing while pregnant, with two small children, and a Monday-Friday job goes mostly like this:

• waking up early on weekends and thinking of ways I can do things efficiently so that I “make sure” to not need to use their nap for non-writing related activities
• feeling guilty for wanting to write instead of getting caught up around the house or perhaps resting as I should for the unborn baby
• doing too much around the house and not enough just spending time with the kids so I can “earn” my writing time
• using their nap (if they nap that day) to finish up other things or get ahead for dinner anyway, saying I will write when they wake up
• not writing
• not being able to sleep since I didn’t get enough done, rest enough, play enough, or write
• repeat

This is our last baby and I want to take the time to appreciate the changes in our family.

If I do have unexpected time I will devote it to marketing and website improvements. I also want to read for enjoyment and perhaps to learn things I can use in future stories.

Have you ever taken a writing hiatus? If so, was it a positive decision?

 

As when I begin most research, in order to learn how to self-publish I went to my library and searched for books on the topic. Sell Your Book on Amazon came up, and I placed a hold. When I picked it up I was startled to find out this book was 13 years old, but read it anyway. Most of the tips I chose to believe are antiquated, but it sprung me in the direction of signing up as an Amazon author. For that I am grateful.

Learning to self-publish on KDP is not difficult. You can invest as much time as you like to become successful.

Seeing e-mails from Amazon referring to me as published never get old. That’s not the only reason I self-published. I spent a lot of time researching publishers and could not find one “perfect” for my book. By publishing through KDP I didn’t have to sacrifice anything. Some publishers asked for me to take out the adult content. Most wanted me to expand the book to 80K words. I didn’t look forward to negotiate contracts. Plus, I love to learn and the process of publishing and marketing my book keeps me challenged.

My biggest gains from this publishing adventure since April have been:

1. establishing a brand across your social medias

2. writing a book description that gives your reader everything they need

3. creating a meaningful book cover

4. keeping the marketing going. Something new I want to try are book mock ups thanks to this PlaceIt article

 

If you’ve written and considered publishing, what valuable answers have you sought or found?