The Journey Continues
by Carol Carroll

I left off last time, in the telling of the story of my journey into publishing, at the point where I had given up on the idea of getting my books published. The hoops an author had to jump through, the time it would take, and the fact that I would have to become a promoter and marketer if I wanted my books to sell was very discouraging.

My writing, I was confident in. The desire to share my stories still burned in my soul. But finding out I’d have to spend so much time selling, scheduling events, and traveling instead of writing kept me from pursuing my dream.

This year I became aware that self-publishing had turned into a viable and respected way for more writers to offer their books to the public. Gone was the stigma, the thinking that self-publishing was only for writers who weren’t up to the standards of publishing houses. Even well-known authors were beginning to self-publish! There had to be something about it that was making it a good choice.

Back to the internet I went. I read everything I found about the newest way to get books into the hands of people who love to read. Writers had started getting more professional about self-publishing. They took the challenge to make their books such good quality that they could compete with the big, traditional publishing houses. They started taking time to make their stories the best they could be, then had them well edited by people who really know their business, and they also had superior book covers designed. All things key to succeeding in the publishing world. I also found out there are ways right on the internet to market books. People were doing it every day. Now I was interested again! I decided to write a novel with the purpose of publishing it.

So I jumped to it and wrote a story about an up and coming private investigator. One with characteristics that I admired, one that would do his best to solve whatever case he took on, but who also had a life outside his work.  My road to publishing was a learning experience, a trip I figured out as I went. But one I’m happy I took, because now the deed is done. I have a book out there for people to read and enjoy, one I’m proud to say was written by Carol Carroll.

Check out — Inconclusive Death an Aaron Blake Mystery

Joana Penn has fantastic articles and videos chuck full of information for writers who are interested in self-publishing. See what she has to say.

Jay Wilburn

Jay Wilburn has a Masters Degree in Education that goes mostly unused since he quit teaching to write about zombies. Jay writes horror because he tends to find the light by facing down the darkness. His is doing well following a life saving kidney transplant. Jay is the author of Maidens of Zombie Kingdom a young adult fantasy trilogy, Lake Scatter Wood Tales adventure books for elementary and middle school readers, Vampire Christ a trilogy of political and religious satire, and The Dead Song Legend. He cowrote The Enemy Held Near, Yard Full of Bones, and The Hidden Truth with Armand Rosamilia. You can also find Jay's work in Best Horror of the Year volume 5. He is a staff writer with Dark Moon Digest, LitReactor, and the Still Water Bay series with Crystal Lake Publishing.

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