As August 1 approaches, the next landmark date for my baby publishing project, I’m taking stock of where I am in this whole process. I’ve written seven completed books to date in the series, recently published the first book on Amazon Kindle, and just this week created a website and Facebook fan page and joined the Goodreads author program. Whew, right? It’s been exciting, to say the least. Currently I’m working on finalizing the second book for publication and reading through the third for final edits.
It’s a surreal thing to consider myself a published author. True, I’m technically self-published, and I’ve heard that in the world of publishing that doesn’t really “count.” I would have loved to have gone through the usual channels of agent… editor… published, but frankly I found the beginning steps of that process really depressing. I love writing, will suffer through editing my work, enjoy being read by others – but I truly hate sending out query letters convincing agents that I’m worth their time. It made me both anxious and blocked creatively, and life just seems too short for that.
My books are meant to be fun, easy reads, and while I want to do the best job possible and would adore a professional editor by my side, holding my hand and pushing me to be better, at this point that just wasn’t in the cards for me. Kindle Direct Publishing came along and showed me a way to offer my books to the public on my own terms, and I found that to be an exciting and worthwhile effort – especially compared to querying agents.
I still think of myself as an aspiring author – aspiring to write more books and to be the best writer I’m capable of becoming. And maybe someday I’ll land that shining dream of a book deal that budding writers all fantasize about. In the meantime, I’m simply thrilled to be able to work on and promote my books to new readers.
It’s a great place to start.
– Emily
Emily Senecal Books 