AN INDIE AUTHOR’S JOURNEY: Labor Pains

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I’m delving into the world of indie publishing. Some authors go the quicker route and use a source like CreateSpace or Kindle Direct to immediately get their books out there.

There’s nothing wrong going that route, but I’ve decided to take a different path.

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If you’ve been following my indie journey so far, you will know about my struggles getting my young adult fantasy novel, LUNADAR: Homeward Bound, set up through IngramSpark.

What you may not realize is that it’s been an almost eight month journey to get this far.

Almost like waiting for a baby, especially since the writing industry calls it a “book birth” when a labor of writerly love is finally delivered.

My publishing company, Story Catcher Publishing, was originally set to release this book back in March, but book cover issues prevented that from happening. It was pushed back to May until my continued struggle with the book cover forced the release date to be pushed back again to the middle of July.

The summer rolled in and I thought my book would be released by my birthday, but new interior file issues forced the release date to be changed a fourth time. Time was running out to create a decent marketing plan, and I  began to wonder if becoming an indie author was an impossible dream for me.

When I was pregnant with my son, I had labor pains for almost 60 straight hours. The pain was very real.

Not unlike the pain involved in trying to “birth” a book when constant production problems prevent the birth from actually happening. But I’m happy to report I FINALLY broke through all the production problems and have a firm book “birthdate” of OCTOBER 15, 2018!

Now I can actually plan for the welcoming party…

 

 

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lunadar

 

Ruler by day, a reluctant pirate by night, 18-year-old Princess Ariana fights for her subjects in the waterfall city of Lunadar. In a kingdom surrounded by fairies and mermaids, and ravaged by deadly Drundles, only a chosen few are trusted to guard her daughter, Candra, as the secret heir to the throne.

But it only takes one ill-fated meeting for Ariana to suddenly be plunged into an escalating web of secrets found in her father’s journal, a deadly kidnapping, and an ever-weakening resolve to turn her back on the call of the merman’s song.

With Ariana’s world falling apart and the future of Lunadar at stake, how will she bring her father’s murderer to justice and fulfill a deathbed promise to protect Lunadar’s legacy?

 

donna

 

International best selling, award winning author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a ‘ninja’ writer of children’s picture books, chapter books, young adult novels and inspirational essays by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books, and the host of WRITERLY WISDOM, a resource series for writers. Donna is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and Children’s Book Insider. She is a lover of dark chocolate, going to the beach and adding to her growing book collection. Donna’s latest book, LUNADAR: Homeward Bound (a YA fantasy), ebook edition, is now available from Amazon.

Donna L

Hybrid award winning author; aspiring sketch artist; and 4th Degree Senior Certified Taekwondo Instructor. Host of BOOK NOOK REVIEWS. Member of SCBWI. Mom to fabulous son and adventurer delving into the tricky world of indie-publishing.

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