Wela Kabane

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

  Yes!!!! That 10 year old in me is in tears! I am officially in book stores. Not only is my book available on various online platforms such as Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple books etc, but I can now be found at  exclusivebooks  ,  Bargain Books  ,  Protea Books  ,  Uppercase Books  and  Wordsworth . I am beyond excited. The best part? I heard the news on my birthday, December 29.  This is an achievement for me, an achievement for that little girl who read Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Babysitters Club, transitioned to The Client and kept wanting different endings until she decided to write her own book. I am officially in book stores. (crying emoji. twerking emoji. dancing emoji- yes, I'm too lazy to look for the actual emojis 😆) The next update will probably come in 2022. This has been an exciting 6 months as a self published author. There have been a lot of ups and down. A lot of learning. A lot of sifting between everyone's advice and finding what works for me. Please continue

I published my book in August 2021. I received a few sales and then...well...not so many sales. The book  trailer approach did a lot towards marketing the book, but something was missing. Mmmm. Maybe an updated book cover? Will that work? Yes? No? I went with the former! And lo and behold! A new cover. I am keen on your opinion of the new-ish cover.  I didn't want to deviate too much from its original branding, but it was missing something. So with the help of Nerisha from  NDesigns , I updated the look of my cover.  As I am still in a brace for a sprained wrist, book 2 is trudging along slowly. However, the fourth draft is done, so on to the final draft. The question remains- will Amari choose to be a Sage Warrior or an Avaris. If you read the first book The Kenryk Series: The Avaris (available on all online platforms in ebook format and on Amazon in ebook and paperback- you know I was going to plug this,  Kobo , Barnes and Noble , Apple , Tolino , Vivlio , and Overdrive to name 

So, it has been a month since I published my first book. On the 6th of August, I released my book on Amazon in Ebook and paperback format. Sounds easy. It isn't. There are so many rules. The tags. The categories. I ran to Youtube, it confused me even more. I eventually figured it out and published!  Yay! I was officially an author.  It has been a month and I am exhausted. Mostly because there is so much to learn and to do when you're self publishing. Not to mention the Matrix bending skills you need to acquire to dodge those scammers! I purchased 25 paperback to sell in my home country. I left the rest to Amazon. You know what? I have to admit. I didn't do so bad. It's a marathon not a sprint. I managed to sell 16 of the 25 paperbacks  I ordered locally through aggressive Facebook marketing - because getting into bookstores is like a trip to Mordor. I grew my new  Facebook page  and hit 180 likes.  On Amazon , my Ebook started getting sales sporadically. Someone bought