So many of you have e-mailed me on my books wanting to know how I got started and how to go about publishing your book.

First of all, I want to commend the many writers out there and encourage you to keep moving forward! Never stop writing even when your thoughts come to you and you have to write them on a paper napkin honey, write them down! ..hahahah My husband cracks me up because he knows when the inspiration hits me watch out… I will start writing on anything in my reach including the light bill!

In the beginning I tried to go the route of finding a main stream publisher, however I learned in order to do that you had to have an agent or they won’t give you the time of day! Unless you’re some big name writer, so since I’m still workin on being a “starRa” they won’t even answer the door bell! Y’all know they in there lookin at me through the peep hole talkin ’bout “shhh… be quite, another “bud” aka-budding author trying to get in without credentials! …hahahah, I’m a mess! But let’s keep it real here. I am not going to try and sugar coat the situation because it’s tough out there in the writing world.

Trying to find an agent to even “read” your work and find a publisher to pitch/sell it to is even harder! But that’s something we all seek to find because it will ultimately make our lives as Authors a bit easier. So we keep trying until one day by the grace of God they seek you! This happens because “you” took the initiative after working so hard and believed enough in yourself, your works and put it out there for the world to see. You became a self published Author showing just how serious you were about your writings and forced them to recognize you because of the popularity behind your work, as well as your marketing strategies and your promotional stamina.

Being a self published Author was a great decision for me. After much extensive research, feelings of “I’m not good enough” when trying to get an agent to help me then find a publishing company…maybe, and so on… I decided to self publish my books through an online publisher (Infinity Publishing). There are numerous online publishing companies out there so please be sure and do your home work!!! Be careful of some and more watchful of others!!!! Trust me I know!! So after I compared contracts etc., Infinity was the best choice for me. Their contract is pretty cut and dry not all that small print and double talk when you speak with them personally as well. The cost to get started was $499.00 “period” if you want to add extra for someone to edit and things like that, then of course there are additional costs. After I mailed in my manuscript to them it took about 4 weeks to get my 1st proof copy and I cannot tell you how excited I was to see my book in print!!! Chile (ebonics for child…), I think I starred at that book all night, me and my Tony bologna! ..hahahah He is so proud of me. So after I got myself together, I read my proof and examined the book for any other corrections needed and made sure everything I requested was in place like the cover design (I actually designed the cover myself. I did that for both of my books), if everything met my approval I sent back the signed paperwork approving everything as well as the release of my book! Two weeks later I was published and saw my book online in their bookstore www.bbotw.com. As part of the deal I am also apart of Amazon.com, Barnes N Noble, Boarders etc. I still have to market my books as far as book signings, other appearances etc., the marketing is up to you because no publisher markets your book only the Author. So that’s where your elbow grease comes into play.

I know things are tough out there, trust me. Especially when you have a mortgage, car payments, sick husband (at the time), and just so many other things not to mention the lack of support from your family and some friends. See when you have always helped others without hesitation and gave of yourself from the heart, you shouldn’t have to ask for help when it’s the obvious and I never did. I simply refused to ask because I could see the line of separation, and you could tell what they were thinking. You know how you act when you’re at a club and you can see this fool comin right…? You know you don’t wanna be bothered! ..hahahah

But I stepped out on faith and let God… I cannot tell you how blessed I am today. Maybe one day I’ll write about it.

I hope this information was helpful and I wish all the writers out there my best!

Holla…!
~Dena aka “Boots”