Reflecting On What I’ve Learned Along the Way…

Whoops! Remember when I started this blog and I said I’d post every two weeks? Well, it’s been two months.

Your girl has been busy. Teaching is in full swing, homeschooling is in full swing, the wedding season in August, September, and the beginning of October was INSANE (if you don’t know, I also do event planning with my husband and siblings)…plus trying to market my books and write some new stuff for a couple of anthologies…I haven’t had time to breathe, let alone update my blog.

But I finally have a “free” weekend, and I’ve been wanting to write this blog post for a while now, so now’s my chance.

After trying my luck at finding an agent for a year and a half and getting the inspiration and encouragement to self-publish from a couple of my friends who did the same, I did the thing. I published three books under my new imprint, “Artes Reginae Press” (Queen’s Arts Press). Having books available on Amazon and huge boxes of hard copies in my house feels really cool as it is, but what’s even cooler is thinking back and reflecting on all the stuff I had to learn along the way to self-publishing:

• How to use Atticus (a formatting program that is compatible with various publishing companies, including Amazon)
• How to use Bowker (the company where you buy your ISBNs)
• How to create a sole proprietorship, file a DBA, open business accounts, and get a sales tax license
• How to navigate KDP (Amazon’s publishing hub)
• How to use Fiverr (to get my business logo!)
• How to use KDP’s cover calculator to figure out the size my covers will be
• How to use Canva to design my covers – this one had a HUGE learning curve: my first cover took me hours. The second and third were much quicker
• How to use Canva to do a “book trailer” and other marketing materials (stickers and bookmarks, e.g.)
• How to order merch through VistaPrint
• How to start and promote a Facebook business page
• How to use TikTok (yes, I’m on there now. My handle is thesmuttyprofessor LOL)

Yes, all of this took a LONG time. But it is SO cool to have these new tools under my belt! And I’m excited at the prospect of helping other new authors navigate the process. So ask me any questions you have, or send people my way, if they need a coach! Because, you know, I need more on my plate…

In Proximum, Regina Vestra