"Your Voice": March 2014 KDP Newsletter--and it's ME!
Here’s the piece that came out in the March 2014 KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing–for Amazon) newsletter. I was so flattered when they asked me to write this, and so gobsmacked when they actually used it! Amazon has been terrific to work with, and I just want to say right here, thank you, Amazon and KDP.
YOUR VOICE
KDP Author Rosalind James
Member Spotlight
Rosalind James, author of Nothing Personal, shares her experiences with KDP.
“I came late to publishing. Prior to beginning my first book two years ago, my fiction-writing experience was limited to a story for a school assignment when I was nine. The teacher read it aloud to the class, but I thought it was derivative, and that was it for me.
“I’m still not sure how I got the courage to write down the first scene of one of the romantic daydreams that had always floated through my head, but within a week of starting, I had told my husband, “All I want to do is write my book.” He encouraged me to quit my job and spend 2012 pursuing writing. (Have I mentioned that I’m married to the greatest guy in the world?) Within another month, I had finished the book and quit my job. I knew what I was, and it was an author, win or lose.
“It looked like “lose” for quite a while. Fast-forward seven months, and I had written two more books and garnered a pile of virtual rejection slips. My decision to self-publish came on the day a prominent New York agent told me that she’d enjoyed Just This Once, but that “New Zealand rugby” would be too tough a hook in the U.S. market. I knew it was a great hook, so I changed course, found a terrific cover artist, and self-published with KDP at the beginning of September 2012.
“I chose KDP Select as a way to get my feet wet, intending to put the books up everywhere after my first 90-day term. In my first month, I sold nearly 2,000 copies of three titles in my Escape to New Zealand series. My husband said, “Well, no need to think about getting a job. You’ve got a job.”
“In December 2013, I tried Kindle Countdown Deals for the first time and sold over 7,500 copies of Just for Now in six days. I never have got around to leaving KDP Select, and more good things come to me from the program every month.
“We are living in a wonderful, unique moment when the dream of publishing is open to everyone. Nobody can tell you that your story doesn’t work in this market. Nobody can deny you the chance to take your book to readers and see if they enjoy spending time in the world you have created. Thank goodness for Amazon–and thank goodness for all those agents and publishers who said “no.” I am about to publish my eighth book, my first audiobook is in production, and I am living a dream that I never dared to believe would come true: having a job I wake up every day eager to do, and sharing my stories with people all over the world.”
–Rosalind James
I’m SO GLAD you didn’t give up and slogged forward. Thank goodness for you finding Kindle publishing! I can’t begin to count all the ways that your stories have touched my life.
Great article and no surprise that they published it!
Mary G
Thanks, Mary! The best part has been READERS. It’s amazing to get to share the world I’ve spent so many happy hours in with readers who enjoy spending time there too–and write to tell me so. That is just the best. So, thanks.
Thank you for this inspiring story! i enjoy the world’s you create. Keep it up!
Thank you !