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Viewing Post from: Gayle Martin's Journal
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The life adventures of the author of the Luke and Jenny series of historical novels for young readers.
1. Lessons Learned from Self Publishing

This week marks the end of an era.  I've finally sold the last remaining copies of my first self-published book, Anna's Kitchen. I learned a lot from the experience, and since that time I've done my best to share what I've learn with the rest of you.

I produced and published Anna's Kitchen back in 2005. I was such a little smart-alec at the time that I thought I knew everything. Okay, maybe being a free-lance graphic designer helped, since I was able to produce something that looked really cool, but I didn't know squat about editing, distribution, or marketing. So, here are some of the lessons I learned.

  1. A spell checker is not a substitute for an editor, or a proofreader.
  2. If you want your book to be distributed, you really need Ingram.
  3. 500 books really does take up a lot of room in your shed.

Ah, I was so naive at the time, but looking back, it was still a good experience. I learned a heck of a lot, and I have no regrets.

Will I republish Anna's Kitchen? Not at this time, although I did consider it. A couple years ago I started up a food blog called My Timeless Cuisine, as a tool for promoting the book. What I discovered from that blog is that food, like fashion, seems to follow trends, and right now old-fashioned home cooking doesn't appear to be in vogue. But then again, I may change my mind someday.

In the meantime, many of the recipes from Anna's Kitchen, are available on My Timeless Cuisine

Bon appitite,

GM

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