I only noticed this about half an hour ago (it’s latish afternoon here in the UK), but today is my 30-month or 2.5-year self-publiversary! Yes, two and a half years ago I unleashed The Secret Notebook of Sherlock Holmes on an unsuspecting world, and then, well, I just kept going.
30 months feels like a long time – longer than 2.5 years, somehow – yet my writing career is still very much in development – toddling, perhaps. Maybe I’ll learn to ride a bike without stabilisers soon, in writing terms 😉
A lot has happened in those 30 months…
- I’ve made writing friends, often online but also in person too (hello Flashdogs, local writing groups, and of course my long-suffering co-author Paula Harmon).
- I’ve written many words, and published a fair few of them. Working it out, I’ve published about 430,000 words-worth of stuff, with another 300,000 words either in editing, in the queue, or lurking in the cellar wondering if they’ll ever be let out…
- I’ve published 13 books, of varying lengths from novelette to novel. That in itself has been a massive learning curve, from learning how to keep going and finish a whole book-length narrative, to the process of making and marketing a book (definitely still learning on that one!).
- I’ve received 5-star reviews, 1-star reviews (luckily more 5s than 1s!) and everything in between (i.e. 2, 3 and 4 stars). Still pleased with my Goodreads average, though (you can peek here: https://www.goodreads.com/lizhedgecock)
- I’ve sold a few thousand books, and hopefully I’ll sell a few thousand more before I’m done.
So there you go. It’s been quite a long trip since I first looked at the manuscript of Secret Notebook and thought ‘why not self-publish?’. And I’m so glad I did. I wouldn’t say every step of the way has been easy, but it has, overall, been tremendous fun.
Here’s to the next 30 months 😉
The featured image is by ikon and can be found here. Creative Commons CC0: public domain.
Liz Hedgecock 
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