{"id":1617,"date":"2018-09-26T15:20:44","date_gmt":"2018-09-26T04:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/?p=1617"},"modified":"2018-09-26T15:20:44","modified_gmt":"2018-09-26T04:20:44","slug":"a-e-dooland-on-sove-for-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/articles\/2018\/09\/26\/1617\/a-e-dooland-on-sove-for-i\/","title":{"rendered":"A E Dooland on \u2018Solve for i\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Describe your latest book in under 50 words.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maths whiz Gemma Rowe has found the one problem her maths can\u2019t solve: she\u2019s fallen for her female and very heterosexual best friend.<\/p>\n

Essentially, my latest novel, Solve for i<\/a><\/em> is a lesbian rom-com with a storyline many folks can relate to: falling for someone who is unavailable.<\/p>\n

Why self-publish? <\/strong><\/p>\n

The reason I self-publish is that the format I write my stories in isn\u2019t typical of books\u2014I write them as weekly chapter-by-chapter web series, with each chapter going through an editing and redrafting process each week before being published online on my website. When the series is complete, I collate the chapters, edit them again as a whole, and then release the story as a book.<\/p>\n

I did initially inquire with some publishers about whether it would be worth submitting a manuscript when I\u2019ve already published the story online (usually to paid readers), and I was met with a lot of hesitation rather than enthusiasm. Given that response, I opted to give self-publishing a shot.<\/p>\n

Self-publishing is expensive but I\u2019m very lucky in that I already had a fan base of regular readers who have been following my writing for some time. I asked my fans whether they\u2019d be interested in financially supporting me and got an overwhelmingly positive response, so I decided to crowdfund<\/a> the cost of my books. I\u2019ve successfully done that three times now and I plan to crowdfund my next book, too.<\/p>\n

There are lots of benefits to self-publishing: I have complete creative control of every aspect of the process, I commission artists I like and choose the cover art myself, I control deadlines and, while I do listen to the advice of my editors, I have the final say in which parts of the plot stay or go.<\/p>\n

What year did you start and where are you based?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I crowdfunded my first book in 2014, but I\u2019ve been publishing stories online since the late 90s. I\u2019m Geelong-based.<\/p>\n

How many people did you contract on your book and what did you do yourself?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I need to contract at least five other service providers per book.<\/p>\n

I had three artists on all my books: one person to do the cover art and graphic design, and the other two for promo art and marketing design. I have two editors: one story editor and one copyeditor. I also periodically contract sensitivity readers for content related to characters from minority groups I\u2019m not also from.<\/p>\n

Everything else I manage myself: marketing, project management, type-setting, promos, campaigns, phone calls \u2026 everything! I had no idea of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into publishing a book until I did it all myself.<\/p>\n

What makes your book unique?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been told my books are page-turners because of their origin as web series; I need to keep people reading and coming back next week for the next chapter, so I try to create interest for the next chapter in every chapter I write.<\/p>\n

What has been your biggest success? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Hitting bestseller in my category on Amazon USA!<\/p>\n

What has been your biggest challenge?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I face two big challenges, and those are finding the energy to write when I work full-time (in a job I unfortunately love!), and the fact that when you self-publish, writing the story is just the beginning. Once the story is finished, the publishing process begins and it\u2019s exhausting and time-consuming. I spent 1000 hours writing Solve for i <\/em>and probably about 200 to 300 hours on administration related to publishing the story.<\/p>\n

What would be your top tip for those starting out in self-publishing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be afraid, take the plunge! Self-publishing is hugely daunting at first, but there are so many guides out there about how to get the best out of your story that it\u2019s never been a better time to start.<\/p>\n

If I can also sneak in a cheeky second-to-top tip, it would be to always <\/em>make sure you have a written, legally binding contract when you commission services from someone. Things go wrong more often that you\u2019d like them to\u2014little things like missed deadlines, or big things like completely substandard work. A contract protects you.<\/p>\n

What will you publish next?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think I\u2019m going to try my hand at fantasy next! I\u2019ve loosely planned a couple of different web series, so it\u2019s a toss-up between pirates and dragons at this point. Whatever I write will have a mostly queer cast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Describe your latest book in under 50 words. Maths whiz Gemma Rowe has found the one problem her maths can\u2019t solve: she\u2019s fallen for her female and very heterosexual best friend. Essentially, my latest novel, Solve for i is a lesbian rom-com with a storyline many folks can relate to: falling for someone who is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1619,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,20],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1617","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-profile","8":"category-newsletter"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1617\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}