Wela Kabane

I am so thrilled to be finally at the end of writing this series. It has felt like being run over by a white truck you see in all those K-Dramas. It has not been an easy journey. I have questioned my sanity at even continuing. I have wanted to quit. At some point, I hated my own books because they had become a burden. I had to constantly market. I had to constantly create content. It was not what I signed up for. I thought I would write a book, set it off into the wild and nature would take its course. No. No. This was like raising a baby panda in an enclosure. I had to nurture it. Feed it. Look after it. It was like having a plant. I had to water it. Prune it and do whatever you do to take care of plants. It was the deep side of the swimming pool at my former high school where I almost drowned. It was the plane flying into gale winds while over the ocean. It was ROUGH.  When I finished the last book, I decided that they all needed a makeover. So, I changed the covers. My sister worked

  Hey there, Kenryk Series fans! If you've been on an epic literary adventure with The Kenryk Series , then you're in for a treat. The long-awaited conclusion, The Kenryk Series: Wildfyre , is now available for pre-order, and trust me, you won't want to miss this thrilling finale to an incredible trilogy. The Kenryk Series: Wildfyre promises to deliver all the answers, revelations, and heart-pounding moments you've been waiting for. It's the culmination of a journey that began in the first book and has taken us through a world of magic, mystery, and unforgettable characters. I have attempted to masterfully weave a tapestry of intrigue and adventure throughout this trilogy, and Wildfyre is poised to be the grand finale that ties it all together. Or will it? From the resolution of long-standing conflicts to the destiny of beloved characters, this book is set to deliver an emotional rollercoaster that will leave you breathless. By pre-ordering now, you not only secur

  It is a fact that being a self-published author is excruciatingly painful. You want to write that story that everyone reads and hope you break even at some point. You yearn for the day when BookTok recommends your book ad nauseam to everyone. Yet, it all remains elusive. Why? Budget, obviously.  We simply cannot compete with big companies that have large budgets for marketing and publicity. Your tiny little stall in that community event hardly will make a dent in your sales. You're exhausted by all the unsuccessful Amazon and Facebook ads. You have listened to every YouTube marketing tip. Yet, you're still invisible in the grand scheme of things. The struggle of self-publishing remains the same. We cannot afford to pay all the BookTokers to plug our book at every upward swipe of the algorithm. We will not secure that coveted spot in the morning show where you talk about your book. You remain...obscure. I sound like a Debby downer, but this is the reality of a lot of self-publ

The cover of the third book in The Kenryk Series is finally here.  It was not an easy journey. Being a self-published author means robbing Peter to pay Paul. With the economy this year, I just couldn't afford to pay anyone to make my book cover for me. So, my sister and somehow made this happen.  With the mixture of her drawing skills, Photoshop and Canva, we worked for two days and finally, here it is. I have a cover.  Pre-order the book on  Amazon  . I need to go do the final touches on the manuscript!

Sigh. Sigh, again. Do you know that feeling when you connect either to a song or series or something, and it instantly sparks your creativity? Well, for me music has always been my muse, even way way back in Nsync and Backstreet Boys days. Over the years, that became BTS and Lloyiso (if you haven't listening to this man's music you are missing out). Alas, BTS is on hiatus. I have listened to Lloyiso's EP within an inch of its life. If it was a cassette (yes, I know what that is. I was born in 1986), the tape would have been out of tune by now. So, I find myself floating aimlessly in an ocean with no land in sight. I am seeking inspiration. I am in search of that one song that will get the creative juices (this is quite a disgusting phrase) flowing. I just want to write again.  My playlist is diverse. I don't limit myself to any specific genre. Yes, I have even ventured to the world of heavy metal once and hastily retreated. So, please, can anyone suggest a song that I c

I don't get it. I have been writing since I was 10. It came naturally to me. Never had to think it over. I'd open a book, write Chapter One and the story would flow.  After publishing my second book, I felt the fatigue. I have never had writer's fatigue before. Ever. It is so bad, I have realised I will write as and when the story demands. This includes waking up at 3 AM when the story demands to be written and start writing. I don't know how to navigate this new writing. I won't force it though. I need to like and enjoy the book if I am going to give it to the readers. On the bright side, I have been quite busy. I am on a drive to collect books to help set up a library at a school I went to as a child.  This will a short blog because writing is draining me at the moment. Enjoy yourselves and remember, dreams never expire. 

It has been ages. I know. This is my first post of 2023.  Lazy, you have probably brandished me. Maybe she's writing the third book, some may assume. The truth? My previous book  The Kenryk Series: Rise of the Emoryk  took everything from me. It wrecked me mentally, spiritually, and physically. I had such a hard time producing the second book that I had to take time away from anything book related? I only read 1 book in 2022- that I didn't even finish. For the first time since I was 10, I read less than 60 books a year. As someone who has been writing since I was a child, it had always come naturally. I never had to force myself to write or feel any kind of pressure. I was writing book after book without pause. Then, I decided to self-publish (because they don't traditionally publish fantasy fiction in South Africa). Book 1,  The Avaris  was not quite a struggle. For someone who had been writing endlessly since I was a child, for the first time, I found myself stuck in the

Yes, Amazon is the go-to place for authors.  However, I have now expanded to other platforms. You can get the book on sites such as Smashwords . This offers a larger distribution to places such as Apple Books, Barnes & Noble , the Smashwords Store, Scribd, and Kobo , OverDrive (world's largest library ebook platform serving 20,000+ libraries), Baker & Taylor Axis 360, Tolino, Gardners (Askews & Holts and Browns Books for Students), Bibliotheca CloudLibrary (3,000 public libraries), Odilo (2,100 public libraries in North America, South America and Europe) and Califa's Enki (powers ebook checkout systems for over 100 Califoria libraries) So go get my books at the Smashwords  website. 

Hear me out. I have absolute respect for people that create YouTube content full-time. I made a video and I was left feeling emotionally and physically drained. The editing is frustrating! I digress. I opened a YouTube channel! Not so much to market my books, but because I had been receiving a lot of questions about how I self-published my books. Here is there the thing. That is not a conversation I can simply give to you in a 5-minute conversation.  So, I have created a comprehensive series about how I self-published my books. I will be uploading once a week, on Sunday. I welcome any questions and will make follow-up videos based on these questions. I know, this blog was short, but listen, I was creating YouTube content, TikTok content, and running my Instagram and Facebook page while also managing to score an editorial on a local magazine. The marketing of an indie author never stops.  So, go check out my YouTube Channel  to see how you can get self-published. 

  Why am I posting a video? Because this blog is putting spaces between words and making my writing seem questionable. I spent years studying first language English and now, I have a blog that puts random spaces between words. I am peeved. Alas, I will find a solution. I am a fixer. I fix. I will fix this.   Above is a video you can find on my TikTok  @welawrites  . I post at least once a day. This is the most compressed character profile of my protagonist yet.  Anyway, signing off before I get random spaces between words. Hoping this post will come out as intended. 

  I don't really have a problem talking. In fact, I have a problem with knowing when to stop talking. That is why I wrote books- and improved my handwriting in the process, thank you very much. However, this is unchartered territory. So, what am I doing on Youtube? They're brutal there. I am going to be scrutinised for the smallest thing. I already know I'm not photogenic. Well, it isn't about me. I have received so many questions from people asking how I self-published my books. Many people are walking around with talent, but they have no idea where to start.  So, I have decided to do a series of videos on how I managed to self-publish my book- cost-effectively. I will welcome all questions and try to help as much as I can. I am South African, so some things may only be relevant to South Africa. However, I will try to be as general as possible. I will be as thorough as I can. No stone is left unturned. Including crippling marketing costs.  In the meantime, follow me

She's here! I will dub her ROTE! The second book in The Kenryk Series is finally here. It was released in August 2022. You're probably wondering, 'Girl, that was ages ago? What is with the old post?'. Well. because this book took my blood, sweat and tears to make. This book was never meant to happen. The Avaris was supposed to be a standalone, but Korin and the others refused to let me desert them. So, I wrote this one, way back in 2016. I don't know how many revisions to this book I have made. I have never been satisfied with it, but I think that's just that inner critic in me.   Anyway, I had challenges with this book right from the beginning! The funds to get it out were depleted before I could even print the paperbacks. Former high schoolmates rallied around me and raised enough funds for me to print the book. I managed to print 100.   Silly me, I thought that was it. Nope, I now had to print The Avaris because people who hadn't read it and saw

A s any writer will tell you, the weeks before the release of the book is nerve-wracking. Challenges appear out of the blue. Setbacks that you didn't anticipate- especially if you're an indie author emerge from every nook.  That is what I am going through. Had my first breakdown today because, despite everything I've done to get this far, I have been thrown a curve ball. So, I am persevering. I am seeking solutions instead of wallowing in frustration. I am proactively trying to dig my way out of this six feet deep hole. Dramatic, I know, but it is frustrating to be so close to releasing your second book and then... cue music that's depressing. Alas, I am not going to make this long. I have to troubleshoot. In the meantime, enjoy the videos I have produced to excite you about the 26 August 2022 release of  The Kenryk Series: The Rise of the Emoryk . You can preorder your copy now.

I am devastated. My initial intention was to release book 2 in May. Life happened. In a major way. I am one of those people that were caught in the floods that happened in my area. It was a traumatic 6 days. I lost my mojo. I had PTSD. If it rained, I panicked. I couldn't write. My struggle to get the final manuscript completed is well documented in this blog. Finally, after two months of no creative juice, it came back. I wrote and the manuscript was completed.  Side story : I have always struggled with this book. When I wrote The Avaris in 2016, it had always been intended to be standalone. However, Amari and her crew demanded that I continue their adventure. I wrote book 2, The Rise of the Emoryk and then book 3. I proceeded to spend years rewriting them until I found the problem. I was struggling to connect book 1 with book 3 because something was just off with book 2. I don't know how many times I have had to rewrite book 2. I don't think I will ever be satisfied, but

 Trigger warning: Anxiety attacks.   This week, I am supposed to be officially launching the cover and synopsis of the second book in The Kenryk Series. I've had a good week. I sold 4 books on Amazon, and my ranking went from 3,2 million to 120 000 in a matter of days. I finally understood how Amazon ads work and I watched with glee as every morning I refreshed my kdp page to find a purchase made of my book. I should be excited right? Over the moon? Look at me, climbing up the charts. No, that isn't what happened. No. The exact opposite happened. The PTSD from being caught in the KZN Floods, studying for exams, trying to finish my manuscript in time to have it edited, living with hyper-vigilance in a new Covid world, and my car battery dying on me cracked me open like a raw egg. What started as a normal day unfurled into one that ended spectacularly with an unwanted anxiety attack. For the first time in my life, I typed to a friend "I need help". I rode out the anxiet

And it has been mostly an amazing week for me. I have a tick-tock  page under the handle @welawrites   I have received moderate success on it. The video with the highest views is sitting at 1708 as of now. But you know what? I don't mind. It's a marathon, not a sprint. Also, I posted a series on how I self-published my book so if you want any tips on how to self-publish, simply check it out on my tick tock. Thank you to everyone who has viewed and liked my videos. You're doing the absolute most! Below is a sample of the kind of videos I post Now, for the hustling news. I realised my book sales had dipped. There wasn't much happening at books stores or on Amazon. I remember thinking back to the time I was ten in the school library reading books and imagining different endings. That was when I started writing my books. Then- Aha!- there are schools across South Africa that have school libraries just like the one I went to. I, therefore, decided to email them, not expectin

Almost a year later? I know, I know. I should have done this right from the beginning. However, now that you have read the first book on  Amazon  or  Exclusive Books  and  these different sites you hopefully pre-ordered book 2 The Rise of the Emoryk on  Amazon  and  on all these sites . So, what is this about? Well, I wanted to introduce you to how I saw the book characters in my mind when I wrote the books. Please note, that you're absolutely allowed to have your own version of them in your mind when you read. However, for you to understand the Kenryk, I will begin with the introductions of the key four characters. Name and age. Amari (20)   Korin (24). Yes, he's a man Forde (25) Arteryn (34) Say hello to the faces that will go through the fire with you for three whole books. When I said Korin was beautiful, I wasn't kidding. I'd like to hear your thoughts on what you thought they looked like.  Remember The Kenryk Series: The Rise of the Emoryk #2 comes out 26 August

I have had my first book, the fantasy fiction The Kenryk Series: The Avaris #1 out for a few months now. When I published the book for me it was for the "I did it" feeling. Then I started getting caught up with the numbers, the rankings, and the endless need for reviews. I was desperate. I wanted to be recognised.  It took the writer's block I've finally overcome to realise, that "I did it!" I published my book all by myself. I sourced the illustrator, the book cover designers, the formatter, the printer, and the distributor. I made it into bookshelves. Granted, I have not yet seen my book on shelves, but they are available in other provinces in the country. However, I did get reviews. A teen who has been badgering her father about when I will release the second book and my primary school friend who cannot get enough of Korin.  These are people in South Africa who want to read the next book. I got so caught up in gaining external validation, I forgot why I h

W hen I made the decision to self publish my first book, I didn't think anyone would buy it. Since I have been writing books since I was 10, I was driven by that "I did it" feeling. And I did it. I got my book published. It became available in book stores and online and there were sales. Then I got caught up in the numbers, the rankings, the sales, the reviews. I was consumed by what I could and should be doing to get higher sales and a higher ranking. I forgot why I had started writing in the first place. As a result, I have hit a major writer's block with Book 2 of the series: The Rise of the Emoryk. I forgot why I did this in the first place. Not even music could help until I had to pause and remind myself why I started. I compared myself to others. I started feeling inadequate. I just wanted to reach that level. What Level? That is the question. What level am I hoping to reach? Like my main character Amari in The Kenryk Series, I had worked towards a goal- to be a

The date is set.  May 2022, The Rise of The Emoryk, Book 2 to the Avaris will be released! Sounds exciting. Yay! Er Nay? Korin, Amari, Forde and Arteryn are refusing to cooperate with the storyline I have created for them. Nope, their fates will not be determined. I am struggling to finish the fourth draft of the book before it goes through extensive editing. So, what do I do? I'm giving them the silent treatment. I haven't written in 4 days because they insist on deciding what should happen. The problem is, where they want to go will change the whole story. So, I am locked in a battle with my characters. I am ready to delete the 2 chapters I just wrote that Amari and Korin took over.  In other news, I am officially available on South Africa's biggest online store. You can now get your paperback of The Kenryk Series the Avaris on Takealot  . Do not panic when you see the cover and blurb. That was the original cover and blurb before the cosmetic makeover. You know the book c