What I learnt about writing books—part 4
Pushing the upload button to publish
If you’ve been following along, I started with a small idea for a book, I explored and analysed the idea to the nth degree, edited it to within an inch of its life and now it’s time to get the courage to draw a line in the sand and stop editing the books. That was probably the most difficult part of all. I’d been on this amazing journey and high for three years and I’d felt that it had paid off. I’d learnt so much along the way and every time I edited the books, I felt they couldn’t be any better…then the sun would rise and I’d change something. It was a never ending cycle and with me saying to my family that I was nearly finished every day, that got a bit wearing. Would they ever be finished?
After reading about the benefits of self publishing, I decided that it would be the way to go for me. I didn’t want to have piles of books around my house so I decided when the time came that I would upload them to www.createspace.com and they could be printed on demand. This way I didn’t have to outlay any money and just wait for the royalty cheque to come in. It took a long time to understand the international tax ramifications. Hint: If after reading the pages of tax information on the internet and breaking into a sweat, email www.createspace.com. I got a simple answer in one or two sentences! I eventually uploaded the books.
I then started shaking. What if someone found a mistake? My daughter said that every book she’s ever read has had a mistake in it. This news did not make me feel better. I realised I could re-upload the books if I found one—even George Lucas revamped Star Wars, so I would be in good company there. I had to learn to let go of the books.
Part of page 120. I decided to put a fake mistake in the book so I could laugh at myself for being so worried about making one.
So when the email went out to friends and family that I’d given birth to triplets (in the form of books), my husband read the first line and went into a cold sweat. (I had uploaded the three books on the same day.) It was done.
Although I still have to throw myself into marketing, I’ve been very happy with how they are selling. I even got a five-star review on www.amazon.com from a lovely lady in the States. Oh boy, did that make my year! You should have seen me dancing around the apartment when I was in South Korea recently when it came through! Kermit the Frog had nothing on me when it came to the happy dance.
Happy writing and quilting,
Fiona
Fiona Schiffl 
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