Self-Pub Author Spotlight: Catherine Valentine

As a part of 31 Days to Self-Publishing a Book, I will take Fridays to introduce you to noteworthy self-published authors. Take the weekend to check them out and hear their wisdom on self-publishing. Love to hear any nuggets you learn! Leave a comment or send me a tweet.

Today I am so thrilled to welcome my IRL friend Catherine Valentine to the blog. She recently self-published a poetry chapbook called Mothers and Daughters via CreateSpace. I love my copy and look forward to sharing it with Carson as she gets older. You can connect with Catherine on her blog and Twitter. Without further ado, here’s Catherine!

Thank you for letting me guest post, Victoria!

Back in August I took the plunge and self-published a poetry chapbook entitled Mothers and Daughters now available on Amazon. I’m amazed that since then I’ve sold almost 40 books, not exactly a best seller, but it’s selling a whole lot more than I expected.

Let me back up, why self-publishing? I actually fell into self-publishing. Early this summer I wrote a children’s poem/story and I contacted a childhood friend of mine, herself being children’s book author, and asked if she would illustrate my story. This has been a dream of mine, that my friend and I would combine forces and create a book. She then she asked me about publishing and told me about CreateSpace by Amazon. I looked at the site and watched a video, it seemed less intimidating than the traditional rout. Landing a book deal wasn’t my focus, I loved the control and simplicity that self-publishing gave me. My children’s book (hopefully coming out by the end of the year) is all about the area where I live and I just wanted it to get into the hands of locals.

While waiting on the illustrations for my children’s book I decided, quite suddenly actually, to write a chapbook. My mother passed away earlier this year and writing a chapbook helped me sort through my emotions and memories. I dedicated the book to her and it is a work of love. Again, I didn’t care about a book deal, I just wanted to get it into people’s hands. My mother always wanted a collection of my poetry.

That being said, I did do some advertising. I sent “Mothers and Daughters” to a friend of mine so she could review the book on her blog (sometime this month). I put it all over Twitter, Facebook,  Pinterest, and of course my blog. It got around by word of mouth and I asked people to review it on Amazon. Sales have slowed down, but I’m grateful about HOW much has sold.

I do not regret self-publishing at all. After I published my book I felt so much more confident about my writing and getting my voice out there. I’m not saying no to the traditional rout, but for right now self-publishing works for me. True, formatting will drive you bonkers and it’s hard to get the word out, but it works for me right now. The confidence that came with publishing my own work is reward if of itself.