This is a brief account of the approach I took when I decided to write and self-publish a novel. What I’ll mention first is perhaps the most important part of finishing and self-publishing a novel. It is something I’d not given much attention. It is the need to manage all those things that constitute your personal life, outside of writing related matters. As of the beginning of 2017 I became a stay at home husband, retired early. I became the master of my own schedule. Now, almost a year later I am aware of how much time I’ve spent dawdling. When you are working full time and also have family, friends, and a home tossed into the equation – your schedule runs itself. Go, go, go. When you get out of that sort of cycle, there is a void present. Expectations and deadlines are no longer imposed by the exterior environment. Time management is your own job. You now have time to take care of all those personal tasks and pleasures that you couldn’t get to when life was busy. It is a daily temptation to do all sorts of things, other than your writing. I needed to learn how take my new boss (myself) seriously. I still haven’t managed to whip myself into shape in that regard. But the new year is on hand. Letting go of the old and bringing in the new. So there is hope.

In regards to writing and self-publishing, I realized that I knew absolutely nothing about self-publishing. I am in a writing group. A middle aged woman joined the group for about a month. I was in awe of her because she told us that she had not only written a novel (detective), but that she had self-published it on Amazon. I also realized I knew little about constructing a novel. People always say that they want to write a novel someday. They most likely do have a story. But they also most likely don’t know how to go about creating a well written novel.

I have been in many writing groups and taken dozens of writing classes over the past twenty years. I specifically studied creative writing for the short story and novel for a year at a University. What we did mostly though was practice writing. We learned very little about the mechanics or structure involved in a novel. So in regards to writing, the first thing I did was to pull out the books I had on how to write a novel and began to re-read them. I also watched a half hour of YouTube videos each morning on the craft of creating a novel. Below I have listed a few of the many people whom I found helpful. I tended to lean towards the shorter tutorials. Small bites of a large body of knowledge. I also took written notes on many of them. This daily reminder of what’s important in the craft of writing allowed me to utilize this knowledge as I worked on writing and editing my own novel.

Next was self-publishing. Again, here I turned to YouTube and watched numerous videos both short and lengthy ones for free advice on how to begin. The one thing I’ll warn you against is that many of these videos are made by ‘experts’ who in the end guide you to using sites and software from which they benefit. So these presenters are often biased and fail to present balanced information. In the end I subscribed to the presenters who truly seemed to provide information for the primary benefit of the viewer. I have listed the ones I generally prefer below as well. They relate to self-publishing venues, writing software, web/blog site creation, and a bit on marketing. I will write more detailed descriptions of this whole area during the next month.

I see this whole process as somewhat akin to live theatre. The actor learns their lines well. Works hard on the presentation of the character’s part in the play including mannerisms, tone of voice, the whole gamut – the finished book. Then the actor then steps out onto the stage. The lighting must be right, good sound, an appropriate set, a comfortable environment for the audience. This is no different from you publishing and presenting your book.

How to Write a Novel
YouTube Advice
• Derek Murphy
• Ellen Brock
• K.M. Weiland
• Vivien Reis
• Jenna Moreci (swears a lot)

How to Self-Publish
YouTube Advice
• Derek Murphy
• Mark Dawson (SPF)
• Author Level Up
• Orna Ross
• Joanna Penn -The Creative Penn
• AskALLi: Self-Publishing Salon

Web/Blog Page Creation:
• WordPress (Free website themes)
• WP101 tutorial
• www.udemy.com tutorials
• www.hostgator.com (domain name purchase)

Writing Software
• Scrivener
• Scrivener / Step by Step (Karen Prince tutorial)
• Grammarly (prose editor)
• Natural Reader (Text to voice)