Wela Kabane

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!

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. 

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

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