A journey with self publishing

What have I learnt?

In 2023 I decided the time was right to try a little bit of self publishing. As a seasonal teaching artist much of my work is about generating creative activities linked to seasonal moments and transitions. I thought that might make a useful series of activity books that folk could work through in their own time. Amazon KDP was the obviously place to start as there is no finanical outlay so the risk is small. In my own practice I also journal a great deal and have done since I was a small child. I wondered whether I could create some seasonal journals and notebooks featuring my art work on the cover. Finally, as I use papers a lot in my book arts project I wondered about creating a series of journal papers. All of that is achievable through Amazon KDP. I now have my own Amazon author page.

At the same time I was fascinated by zines and was really excited to write my first seasonal zines which I got printed through a fabulous company called Doxzoo. I sell these through my Etsy store.

I have spent some time reflecting on this small journey and I thought it might make a useful share for anyone contemplating this gentle step. Ultimately, I would like to move onto to creating a four seasonal creative high content book which I might self publish. For sure, self publishing has come on a long way in recent times.

Why did I start this journey?

I am in my 60th year and it is proving to be a good time to reflect and consider what sort of creative legacy I am building. My commitment to being an environmental artist and, more specifically, a seasonal artist has led me down some fascinating creative journeys. However, it is the deep connection and understanding of the natural world immediately around me that has had the biggest impact on me. Putting these both together has delivered an approach to art that I think is worth recording in a way that others may create similar journeys. I have always loved books and have more journals than I care to admit to so publishing my content into books seemed a neat solution.

Why Amazon KDP?

I am not a huge fan of Amazon when I reflect on the damage they have done to small independent stores. However, I do not have access to a publishing company and I wanted to just dip my toe in the water and learn the necessary skills. Amazon provides that opportunity but only as a point to begin from. There are others that provide that opportunity too but my research revealed that this is the most accessible.

Why Zines?

Zines are mini magazines and are gaining in popularity on Etsy which is my selling platform so the connection was obvoius. I would immediately say that writing zines is a much more rewarding experience as an artist that writing for Amazon KDP - more on that later. I imagined the four seasonal zines might provide useful creative nudges and that they could be revisited as required. I had complete control over the creative process and that grew in importance for me as the journey continued.

How accessible is Amazon KDP?

Surprisingly, the process was quite accessible. I did do my research though. I began by looking on Amazon to see what others were doing in my field. Not only does that help understand the process but also helps you to position your niche. I bought a couple of books in my field that I could see had been self published. I followed a few self publishing authors as well. Finally, I watched just a few self publishing Youtube channels but, in my opinion, ‘self publishing central’ offered by Caroline is the best. There isn’t much she doesn’t know.

The actual publishing process is based on a good understanding of layout and Amazon KDP leads you through that. I created my books from scratch using Canva Pro as my software - you can do it without the pro account as well. You can download the layout as an image file from Amazon KDP for your selected size and load it into Canva. That way you can check your layout works. Some folk choose to get others to work out the layout and buy a template that they can alter. They are sold on Etsy and also through Creative Fabrica to name just two sources. Once your book is finished you upload it to the Amazon KDP platform and they will alert you to any issues and these need to be fixed before they will publish your book. At the start I always seemed to have issues but, after a realtively short period, I could upload without any issues and go straight through the publishing process. A little bit of experience goes a long way with Amazon KDP. Things to note, in addition -

• Do your research on descriptions as that is vital and draft yours until you are happy. Always bear in mind your key words and make sure they appear in your description.

• Consider your pricing strategy to maximize royalty return without pricing your book out of its marketplace.

• Consider hard cover over soft cover. In my experience my journals, notebooks and activity books have sold better as hard cover than soft.

• Work on your cover, making sure it reflects what you are trying to do. As I was working across a series I made sure I worked up a design concept for the whole series first and then broke it up.

• Amazon is massive so expect to drive your own sales.

• Look at what sells best and work around that concept some more before branching out.

How accessible were Zines?

I loved everything about this process. I used Canva pro to make these and drew on scanned images from my art work and also some of my own digital art. The process is joyful as you begin to create a new page. Writing and art in one place. I don’t think you get that at all with Amazon KDP as you working to their layouts and restrictions. The printing company is fabulous and allows for free postage if you allow for 10 days for delivery. The print quality is outstanding as is the customer care. If you know Canva you can write a zine. Mine are all A5 and mostly 28 pages and I recommend this size for ease.

What are my big ‘take-aways’ from this year of self publishing?

I am so glad I did it. I am really proud of my offerings and they all seem to have found a small place in a very large world. I much preferred the creative process of zine creation and I think that will be my main focus going forward. I will add to my Amazon author page over time but I am happy with the income I get from there. It ranges between £60 and £150 a month and is obviously now completely passive. My zines are on second or even third re-prints but I have a bigger stake in the Etsy pie with over 2,400 sales since opening in 2020. The result is that I drive traffic but so does Etsy. In addition I have a strong niche on Etsy - Seasonal Creativity - and that works very well for me. My zines also sit well within my store. My apologies if you are reading this from outside the UK as I only post within UK so you won’t be able to see my non-digital listings.

In essence, my take-aways are -

• I am delighted that I could manage this journey and would recommend it.

• Amazon KDP is an excellent place to start but probably won’t be where I will end up.

• Zines are super to create and I highly recommend that creative process.

• I feel that this journey has enhanced my seasonal creative legacy.

• I note, with interest, that my most popular book on Amazon is my book on seasonal creative affirmations. This gives me a route forward.

• I have more confidence in moving into high content books now.

• Overall, I would say that my zines are more popular than my Amazon books but that might be down to my own enthusiasm when promoting them. The financial return is also higher but I would expect that to be the case.

• I hope that I have inspired others to give self publishing a go. If I can do it you can too…..

Hope this has been helpful. x

Postscript

I now offer a paid subscription option for those interested in creating their own book art. You can find out more about it HERE.