A Beginner's Chronicle of Self-Publishing

I thought I'd document my progress in online self-publishing and (hopefully) selling my first ebook.  Maybe other authors would find a chronology of the process helpful, or maybe point out some of the opportunities I might be missing.  Anyway, here goes.

I finished writing a fantasy novel in 2001 that I was unable to get published after about 3 years of trying.  I liked the story and thought "Why not self-publish?"  The book was just sitting on my hard drive anyway.  Once online publishing got my attention in 2011, I decided that was the route for me.

Even though I was on my 10th draft when I decided to self-publish, I hadn't read my book in over six years, so fresh eyes instigated completion of my 11th and 12th drafts.  I wanted to have my book professionally copy read/edited, but after searching online and seeing the costs involved, I decided to self-edit the book using the AutoCrit Editing Wizard.  At $77 a year, it was much cheaper than hiring a live person.  I hope AutoCrit helped me polish my book enough to make it worthwhile.  I think it did, but time will tell.  Although I think  AutoCrit is a useful tool, it's not a magic bullet.  You still do the work in evaluating which of its recommendations to implement.

Next post, I'll give you some insight on my experience with AutoCrit.

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