Published my first book just after my 19th Birthday!

By Brendando
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Brendando

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As it says in the title, I published my first book on Amazon's Kindle service a couple of days ago, just after my 19th birthday. It has been a very happy couple of following days, especially now that I can type in the name of my book in google and see my name and my book listed as the first result! Absolutely crazy. Any other writers here that had a similar kind of thing for their first book? Would love to hear what it was like for you.

Been working on it for about 6 years, on and off, with the plot changing and growing until I had this massive universe that I could play with. What a ride. So happy! :)

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the cover as well (which was done by a very good friend of mine, personally I'm chuffed with it), you can have a look at it here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Andor-Awakening-Shae-ebook/dp/B007KZ0CQU

So yeh. Basically, so pumped, and its thrilling to see this all up and about- and would love to hear any stories like it :)

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Bambii

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Judging by the comments I would say well done. Seems like a good read. Is it only available via Kindle? Is there an epub version available? I would give it a go

How long did it take you to write?

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Paul Ferson Veteran

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Congratulations! Writing is something that appeals to me as well, and it's great to see other people going with it. Unfortunately I don't have a Kindle or any other type of eBook Reader, so there isn't much I could do here. I'd love to give it a read though, so if I do get a Kindle in the future I'm definitely going to make this a first buy. :)

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Ambroos

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Congratulations!

Enjoyed the sample, but I do think you should be careful with italic text. And I found a few tiny spelling mistakes (sorry!). But don't let that stop you, brilliant achievement nonetheless and I will certainly have a go at this if I get a Kindle or should you make a paper version available!

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AJerman

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Congrats. That's amazing. I'm one who has had a lot of trouble in with writing in the past based on various reasons, and the thought of writing an entire book seems to be a nearly impossible task. I've loved reading all my life and have great respect for those who can do it.

I may just have to download this when I get finished with a few other books I'm reading now. Best of luck with the book and any future books!

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Brendando

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Thanks very much for the kind words guys! What sort of things do you write Paul?

Understood, Ambroos.

In answer to both of your worries about not having a kindle:

One of the best parts about Amazon is how far its reach is- you don't need a Kindle to enjoy the books. There is a Kindle app for Mac/PC, iPhone/iPad/iPod touch, Android and Blackberry. Also, I'll take on board your criticism as well, it's always good to learn, and this being my first experience I'm more than willing to listen.

You can find the Kindle app for PC here: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/kindle/pc

And for Mac here: www.amazon.com/gp/kindle/mac

Congrats. That's amazing. I'm one who has had a lot of trouble in with writing in the past based on various reasons, and the thought of writing an entire book seems to be a nearly impossible task. I've loved reading all my life and have great respect for those who can do it.

I may just have to download this when I get finished with a few other books I'm reading now. Best of luck with the book and any future books!

Thank you very much :)

Writing a book was a struggle. It comes down to being able to manage your time effectively, and for me anyway, taking it a stage at a time. You need to lay out a pattern to follow- so on Monday you'll do a chapter, on Tuesday you'll do two chapters, Wednesday one chapter, etc. What the pattern is doesn't necessarily matter, but some kind of structure is totally necessary. However, I found that structuring to much actually killed the creative aspect of the writing for me and I simply didn't want to write as much anymore, so I planned less, allowing me to play more with the characters and sub-plots. That was the sweet spot for me.

Essentially the important thing is not to perceive it as a huge block of words or text; it is that in its most basic form, but when you break it down into chapters, or any kind of smaller chunk, its much more manageable. Hope that helps a little. If you want to write, do it. Experiment with your characters first, flesh them out. Then think about placing them in a larger, story based context. :) But definitely write if you want too.

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AJerman

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Yeah, Kindle really is the only choice when it comes to ebooks, at least I think. I have Kindle on my Android phone (been reading all day actually), as well as on my iPad, and on any computer I want to log on at. Supposedly it will keep all your reading in sync across devices, but I find that functionality to not work the majority of the time. Still, I'm quite pleased with what the Kindle service has become.

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canadian

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Great job. I published my first book 2 years ago and it has brought a great boost to my consulting work. I published mine on Kindle (great sales) and also on createspace (which is Amazon's physical book publisher (don't underestimate the power of real books - they still sell well). As well, I used another publisher called LuLu which you may want to consider - they have deals that will allow you to publish directly to iBooks (good sales) and the Nook ebook store (barely worth it but still a sale every so often).

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Brendando

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Judging by the comments I would say well done. Seems like a good read. Is it only available via Kindle? Is there an epub version available? I would give it a go

How long did it take you to write?

Thhank you very much :). You can simply download the kindle app for pc or mac and the book will be dent straight to your computer, you do not have to have a Kindle device. Would love to hear what you think of it :)!

No sex in the book :(

Congrats anyway.

Aha, thanks :)

Yeah, Kindle really is the only choice when it comes to ebooks, at least I think. I have Kindle on my Android phone (been reading all day actually), as well as on my iPad, and on any computer I want to log on at. Supposedly it will keep all your reading in sync across devices, but I find that functionality to not work the majority of the time. Still, I'm quite pleased with what the Kindle service has become.

I just got an iPad and haven't tried the syncing thing with my computer yet. Will have to see how that goes. The kindle store is a behemoth now though.

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Brendando

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Great job. I published my first book 2 years ago and it has brought a great boost to my consulting work. I published mine on Kindle (great sales) and also on createspace (which is Amazon's physical book publisher (don't underestimate the power of real books - they still sell well). As well, I used another publisher called LuLu which you may want to consider - they have deals that will allow you to publish directly to iBooks (good sales) and the Nook ebook store (barely worth it but still a sale every so often).

Thank you for your praise and the advice. Presumably I would need to pick up an ISBN for th iBook store. Createspace I will look into. Nook I will also look at :). Out of all of them it sounds as if Kindle offered you the best return though?

Bout the cover.... Valve sues in 3..2..

Hadn't noticed that before, but now that you mention it, I can see the similarity. Fortunately there are no zombies in this though :), and as far as I know none of the zombies in Valve's game could control fire... :)!

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Glassed Silver

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First things first:

CONGRATULATIONS!

You got two very nice reviews there and I hope your book does well and you get the satisfaction and joy of having it published! (Y)

Little question though: Why publish it only on the Kindle platform?

I know it's open to many platforms, however, there are a couple more to consider just to grab as wide of a possible audience as possible.

Barnes&Noble has its own platform right?

Also, consider iBooks.

There are a couple others, too. Might wanna look into it ;)

[...]

Writing a book was a struggle. It comes down to being able to manage your time effectively, and for me anyway, taking it a stage at a time. You need to lay out a pattern to follow- so on Monday you'll do a chapter, on Tuesday you'll do two chapters, Wednesday one chapter, etc. What the pattern is doesn't necessarily matter, but some kind of structure is totally necessary. However, I found that structuring to much actually killed the creative aspect of the writing for me and I simply didn't want to write as much anymore, so I planned less, allowing me to play more with the characters and sub-plots. That was the sweet spot for me.

[...]

Thanks for the tip of setting a strict structure... It might help me get mine done for once lol...

Started one year ago and I'm still dragging it around...

Need to get my a** up and start working more regularly.

I agree about the overdose of structuring the book, it may kill the creative joy pretty hard.

It depends a lot on what you write though.

My book needs a lot of planning in some chapters and in the others it's almost completely free writing apart from a general outline of the events.

It's a crazy concept unless you know what the book is about, it probably won't be my last but likely the one I will have invested the most love and admiration in. (Y)

Reading this thread makes me wanna write away asap... Guess it's good for both of us that you created this topic hehe.

Essentially the important thing is not to perceive it as a huge block of words or text; it is that in its most basic form, but when you break it down into chapters, or any kind of smaller chunk, its much more manageable. Hope that helps a little. If you want to write, do it. Experiment with your characters first, flesh them out. Then think about placing them in a larger, story based context. :) But definitely write if you want too.

Yupp...

As a child I always admired the patience to write a book.

I'm a slow (read: EXTREMELY SLOW) reader on paper, so I always thought if reading something takes long, writing it must be the nightmare!

How are there so many willing to do it?

Now, fast forward a couple of years, I found a story to tell that I'd hate leaving it unwritten when I die or leaving it unwritten for more than say 1-2 years.

This needs to get done, I'm happy this thread motivated me to get going again!

The "wall of text" syndrome is easily defeat once you see your first chapter done and cheer about it!

Glassed Silver:mac

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The Teej

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My mum got a kindle recently so I'll have to grab it and have a read :) I know Kindle is available on PC too... but not a big fan of reading stories on the PC :p

Congrats on your first publication! :D

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Brendando

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First things first:

CONGRATULATIONS!

You got two very nice reviews there and I hope your book does well and you get the satisfaction and joy of having it published! (Y)

Little question though: Why publish it only on the Kindle platform?

I know it's open to many platforms, however, there are a couple more to consider just to grab as wide of a possible audience as possible.

Barnes&Noble has its own platform right?

Also, consider iBooks.

There are a couple others, too. Might wanna look into it ;)

Thanks for the tip of setting a strict structure... It might help me get mine done for once lol...

Started one year ago and I'm still dragging it around...

Need to get my a** up and start working more regularly.

I agree about the overdose of structuring the book, it may kill the creative joy pretty hard.

It depends a lot on what you write though.

My book needs a lot of planning in some chapters and in the others it's almost completely free writing apart from a general outline of the events.

It's a crazy concept unless you know what the book is about, it probably won't be my last but likely the one I will have invested the most love and admiration in. (Y)

Reading this thread makes me wanna write away asap... Guess it's good for both of us that you created this topic hehe.

Yupp...

As a child I always admired the patience to write a book.

I'm a slow (read: EXTREMELY SLOW) reader on paper, so I always thought if reading something takes long, writing it must be the nightmare!

How are there so many willing to do it?

Now, fast forward a couple of years, I found a story to tell that I'd hate leaving it unwritten when I die or leaving it unwritten for more than say 1-2 years.

This needs to get done, I'm happy this thread motivated me to get going again!

The "wall of text" syndrome is easily defeat once you see your first chapter done and cheer about it!

Glassed Silver:mac

Thank you for your response. Sounds like you've encountered many of the issues I did, but I'm very glad that this topic has inspired you to go away and get it writing. The key is to hang onto that motivation in whatever way possible. Space out sessions, but make sure you write regularly. Even if it's terrible, writing will get your ideas out so you can play with them. In regards to other platforms, it's something I'll be looking into in the second half of this year- I'm enrolled in KDP Select, which among other things means that my book must remain exclusive to Amazon for 90 days.

My mum got a kindle recently so I'll have to grab it and have a read :) I know Kindle is available on PC too... but not a big fan of reading stories on the PC :p

Congrats on your first publication! :D

Thanks Teej, would really appreciate that! Let me know what you think here and by reviewing it on Amazon :)

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Brendando

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Thank you very much Neobond. Yes, I've been pleasantly surprised by the reviews- I was unfortunate enough to have Amazon place the wrong draft of my book up for a short while, which accounted for the more negative ones, but the correct draft is now up :)!

And I mean to post this, but I can't figure out how to edit my post :/:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Andor-Awakening-Shae-ebook/dp/B007KZ0CQU

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Steven P. Administrators

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Thank you very much Neobond. Yes, I've been pleasantly surprised by the reviews- I was unfortunate enough to have Amazon place the wrong draft of my book up for a short while, which accounted for the more negative ones, but the correct draft is now up :)!

And I mean to post this, but I can't figure out how to edit my post :/:

http://www.amazon.co...k/dp/B007KZ0CQU

There's an edit cut off after a certain amount of time, we had to implement it due to constant misuse. But subscribers don't have this limitation ;)

Edited the link for you :)

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Krome

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Congratulation Brandon.

I am at a constant thrash of wits to find out how can an ordinary person like me to be able to allow to publish a book. I thought before you are allowed to publish a hardbound cover book, you'd have to be accepted by a certain publisher. And I heard that the publisher are very selective. I thought that the system pertaining to who is allowed to publish the book is very strict. Perhaps you can shed a little light on how this "selective publisher" works?

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Glassed Silver

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Congratulation Brandon.

I am at a constant thrash of wits to find out how can an ordinary person like me to be able to allow to publish a book. I thought before you are allowed to publish a hardbound cover book, you'd have to be accepted by a certain publisher. And I heard that the publisher are very selective. I thought that the system pertaining to who is allowed to publish the book is very strict. Perhaps you can shed a little light on how this "selective publisher" works?

Kindle is a LOT less selective.

They mostly only filter in case of illegal content.

You don't need a traditional publisher, as Amazon's Kindle service is your distributor and publisher at the same time if you submit it directly.

That's afaik of cause. Correct me if I'm wrong or not very accurate.

Glassed Silver:mac

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Brendando

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Thanks Krome, and thank you very much Neobond. That makes sense as to why you made the change but I'm glad you fixed the link for me.

In regards to your question Krome, Kindle allows you to self-publish- you upload your book, submit if for review, and then they put it live. That's it. Obviously there are a few hoops to jump through in that process, but it's pretty simple and means that you can avoid the tiring process of reaching a publisher, just to submit your book to the dying print market. However, it doesn't mean that you be any less attentive to the quality of your work if you want to do well. Hope that helps.
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