Kiersty Boon’s first Self Publishing Workshop in Hove. Brilliant! What it said on the tin (flyer) we got for a modest fee housed in a community friendly center.
Fellow students were lovely, they had novels, a community growing project, a family history, a sports manual etc. I am thinking of a pocket book for children.
Kiersty’s Course
After a brief overview on the current world of publishing and that of self publishing we got started..
Computer skills – You really only need basic computer skills to downloads your own book using LULU.
Editing – Wise woman in that she urges us all to start with a well edited manuscript. Suggesting that if you can’t afford the expense of professional editing and proof reading to get at least three people, friends, colleagues or even a family member to wield the red pen with confidence! Promising of course that you will still speak to them! Naturally one does not have to take heed of everything they come up with, but opening yourself to criticism and typo mistakes is really beneficial and will sharpen your own judgement too.
The Nitty Gritty – Now the excitement begins as Kiersty shows us how to negotiate through Lulu’s self publishing site with short cuts and tips one can only get from someone who has produced a whole range of books for other people as well as her own over the last few years.
What kind of author are you? – Whether you have a journal, novel, poetry pamphlet, family history, a course book, a hobby with tips, a community project, you will end up with enough knowledge to produce a book you will be proud of!
ISBN’s, pricing etc – We learn how to download ISBN’s, decide on our cover and, most important of all, how to select the price of our product to make it viable. It would then go whizzing on to Amazon and the Lulu site. The joy of it all is that it is print on demand so you can order one or several hundred!
Marketing Be warned however that for writers in all camps marketing is really down to you.
There is a comprehensive handout to take away.
To contact Kiersty
Email on boonwriter@gmail.com for more information and/or to go on the list for her next course.
Her website is http://boonwriter.co.uk/about/
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Self publishing – one example
And this is one I did earlier, as they used to say in ‘Blue Peter’ a children’s programme that some of you may remember?
‘Don’t Throw Away the Daisies’ (Downloaded and designed by Kiersy)
I first met Kiersty at a poetry open mic night that she was running six years ago. I was running my own Open Mic night in a local cafe.the other side of town. I had been writing poetry for sometime and had just completed a part-time course at Sussex Uni. I had had poetry published in magazines too but no one ever gave any information as to how to choose and/or approach a small press.
At that time there were no courses on how to navigate Lulu that I was aware of, so it was a good decision to ask Kiersty to ‘self publish’ my first collection for me. My book is still on Lulu, Amazon, in The Open Art Cafe in Rottingdean and at City Books, Brighton.
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Sadly in the world of publishing it is still who one knows or comes to know and not what you know – ’twas ever thus!’
So why not get on the self publishing bandwagon? Its lots of fun, one meets exceptional people who are talented and determined.
If you are marginalised you may find Creative Future a good no cost resource both for artists and writers. www.creativefuture.org.uk/
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