This year I self-published my first novel, The Devil On God's Doorstep, via Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, after twenty-one years of working on it. It was a huge decision - one that I made last September/October, and then spent months agonising over. I learned to be ruthless with the editing process: I discovered that the manuscript contained a lot of teenage angst and childhood trauma that just didn't serve the story. Eventually, I would cut the manuscript in half, publishing it a full month after the date I had set for myself. The final novel ended up a third of the page count of the earliest typed draft, but it was the story that I wanted to tell, and finally the version that I felt confident seeing in print.
I'm glad that I finally did it - I'm glad that it is now available from Amazon in multiple territories worldwide (in hardback, paperback and kindle ebook!) but the journey to get to publication was harrowing, and the process of marketing it ever since has been challenging. I've been making sense of it all on my blog, with more posts to come, but here's a post with a bit of background on the genesis of the novel. I've also spent time transferring my blog content from Medium to Wordpress, and will shortly be abandoning Medium, allowing people to read my posts without the paywall getting in the way. If anyone else is in a similar position to me, vis-a-vis self-publishing their first book, maybe there's something useful in my blog posts past, present, and yet to come...
:)
https://daniellyddon.wordpress.com/2022/07/11/twenty-one-years-in-the-making-how-the-devil-came-to-gods-doorstep/
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Thanks for sharing, Daniel and kudos for getting your book out there! (Great cover as well)
I agree there is a lot confusing 'talk' out there about what makes a writer (let alone a 'good' one) - I remember being on a writers' forum where debates would spiral out of control over Strunk & White versus developing your own voice, and so on (leading to people being 'banned' from the forums....).
I believe we write because we can't help it; the rest is about honing/developing/testing out our voices.
I also find that distance from a project (in terms of time) can be a great help later on in weeding out/restructuring and so on; did you find this?
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Congratulations, Daniel. Don't forget to pat yourself on the back.
Julia Warren Thank you! I designed the cover using an image that I licensed. I definitely write out of compulsion - it's how I make sense of the world. Going back to it after a long break was definitely beneficial - I realised that a lot of what I'd needed to express during the writing period didn't serve the story that I wanted to tell, and having that distance to reflect allowed me to be ruthless with what I needed to excise from the manuscript.
D.E. White Thank you! It was worth being ruthless-- I'm happy with the result!
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Debbie Elicksen Thanks! It's the pat on the back I have trouble with. I still have yet to properly reward myself!
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Congratulations! Self-publishing is far from being easy! It's practically a full-time job. Kudos to you. :)
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Evelyne Gauthier Thanks! Yes, it's pretty labour intensive! I look forward to being able to hire others to work on the publishing side of things :)
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Daniel Lyddon at least celebrate with a keg of beer and a bowl full of nachos binging on your favorite actor's movies.
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Debbie Elicksen Thanks Debbie! Funnily enough, a keg of nachos was enjoyed last time I was in Canada!
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Daniel Lyddon The more Canadian thing would be to down that puppy with a keg of beer. :)
Well done Daniel Lyddon on your persistence and tenacity.
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Geoff Hall Thanks Geoff - it hasn't been an easy ride. A lot of time spent, at high cost, both financial and mental/emotional and it has yet to make any kind of significant sales. But the fact is, I finished it, I told the story the way I wanted to, and it's out there
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Debbie Elicksen I've learned the hard way not to compete with - the Canadian capacity for alcohol consumption! Especially at sports fixtures
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Daniel Lyddon and that is a great measure of success. You had a story to tell. You told it and you got the book out there. Promotion is difficult with and project, as we have to figure out how to cut across a noisy marketplace.
Geoff Hall Definitely - I've done the leg work in creating the book (my second book is out next month) and now it's about cutting through the noise. It's also been a HUGE learning curve for me - about making myself accountable for my mistakes, giving myself credit for my achievements, taking charge of how I work and so on.
I'm pleased now that the Amazon exclusivity period is over that the book will soon be available through Barnes & Noble, indie bookstores and also potentially through libraries. I've learned so much in the last eighteen months - not only about the publishing process and how the industry works, but also a lot about myself.
Daniel Lyddon Lol. True that. Especially if they are Ukrainian Canadian. (Whistling and looking away, innocently)