I never suspected as I researched and wrote my book what further stages of the process were yet to come. I’m probably preaching to the choir a bit here, addressing a lot of people who won’t be surprised by what came next.

Self-publishing with CreateSpace without going for any of their paid services was one challenge. Reformatting for SmashWords was another.

But the real grind came with promotion: establishing a web presence and seeking reviews.

I’ve kept at it doggedly and learned a lot and even found a few kind folks willing to do reviews for my book, which is a bit of an ugly duckling genre-wise — a hybrid of memoir and narrative and experimental nonfiction with inspirational and self-help elements… which I wound up calling an ‘open letter’.

While familiarizing myself with the five or six main community sites for reviewing, I came across some intriguing concept sites like BookCrossing and BookMooch and AllConsuming. I’m a big BookMoocher now. Just sent some off yesterday.

In the course of seeking reviews, I became a reviewer myself. I encountered sites like Blogging For Books, which drew me across the line from reading writer to writing reader. In fact, I hope to review here for SPR. We’ll see if I’m picked up.

I’m writing this blog because I’m interested in doing a review swap with any other author of a memoir or book of narrative nonfiction. I hope it isn’t out of line to forward that proposition here. Simply put, I review you and you review me. I could even be persuaded to read and review literary fiction, humor, or short stories (though narrative nonfiction really is my preference). I made a press release and cobbled together a site with the intent of implementing this ‘quid pro quo reviews’ concept. It’s here. Couple of my reviews there too, though none of indie or self-published works as yet.

I also made a facebook page for free book promotion. Find it here.

Thanks SPR, for the opportunity to share a little about my self-publishing journey, and for this soapbox from atop which to peer around for a potential review.

Cheers,

Uttley

 

 

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