My first book was published 6 years ago today.

in writing •  7 years ago  (edited)

I never set out to be a writer and my first book started out as me just telling a silly story that grew into something more. I've always loved to read but never thought of actually writing my own stories, and never dreamed they would get published.
so today marks 6 years since my first book was published by Gingernut Books.

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Like most writers I've not made my fortune and retired to a tropical island to continue to write my stories. I guess very few unknown writers will ever manage to do that as mainstream publishers continue to push big name authors and celebrity writers. Publishing houses, like film companies will rarly take a risk on something new as they have to chase profits.
I don't mind that as I'm happy to tell my stories and hopefully sell enough copies to keep doing my hobby of writing.

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Since finding steemit I've been sharing my published work here as well as writing a few other story ideas that I've writen just for this platform. The blockchain of steemit is a new way for writers to share their work away from the traditional methods of book stores and even the more modern online stores and e-books.
We as writers can, if we are lucky make our stories pay. It's still not a get rich method but the odds are better than being lost in an ocean of books on Amazon.
So six years on from having my first book published I'm still writing, rather slowly as it is something done in my spare time, and finding new readers for my work here.

Thanks to everyone who has supported my stories with upvotes and helped me earn at least a bit of cash from my daft stories.

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I also read them as well.

Congratulations on 6 years - that's awesome! Although you know that I'm not really "into" vampire books, you've actually got me hooked on Eloim's story, and I've been thoroughly enjoying his adventures ... that takes some doing for me, so more congrats are definitely in order! :)

Thank you, I tried with Eloim just to make it a fun read rather than a typical vampire story.

I've always loved your stories and it's great to have a 'stable-mate' from Gingernut Books here on Steemit with me :)

maybe not that 'stable' though :D

Me or thee?

both.

I love the stories, still plug them when I can. It would be nice if steemit allowed a longer payout period, but we have what we have. You can always re-steem the TOC's if you did not want to resteem the whole series, Somewhere I think I still have TOC for book one available. Might get a few people like me that see it is paid out, and they might send a few sbd's to the wallet, never know.

So the story you shared is your stupid story?

All the stories I share are my stupid stories, they are daft and don't take themselves seriously. I write them to try and make people laugh rather than making them a 'work of literature'.

Hahaha....Readers stupid and stupid

How did you feel when your first book was published?

At first it felt great but then I began to worry that nobody would buy or like it so waiting for the first reviews was a bit scary.
I got modest sales though and a copy of the book to put on my bookshelf next to my collection of Discworld books by Sir Terry Pratchett, doing that felt really good as it seemed to make it real.

Fantastic, I think Steemit/Busy are great places for writers to practice and gain experience.

My girlfriend wants to publish a book, but she or I don't have the funds to pay for it right now. They're asking for around £5,000. 😐

You can do it far cheaper through self publishing, you just need to pay for an editor. You need to be careful of many of the online publishers who are out there and check feedback on them as some are no more than rip off merchants.

Cool, I'll let her know.

Createspace and Lulu are 2 sites that allow you to self publish. Createspace is owned by Amazon so easily links you into the largest online bookstore. I'd suggest she has a look at both and do a little background looking at people who have used them and their views on them.

Lulu looks good!

Before going with Gingernut books i looked at using Lulu and the books, both paperback and hardbacks were good quality and it was easy to use.