Wela Kabane

I can no longer claim to be an introvert. Some extrovert from somewhere took over my body last week. This past week, on the 30th of September 2021, I had my first exhibition at a fair. First the bad news. It rained, horribly. It was wet, we were all cold, and I had a stand next to the door. However, I am a pre-planner, so I had my heater with me 😁. Second bad news, because of the rain, I could barely see, so, I ended up scratching someone's car by mistake at the parking lot. Oh, the anxiety, the panic, the fear. Turned out, the victim was a colleague so the exchange of insurance details was seamless, and she ended up having to calm me down because I would not stop apologising. Now for the event. There I was in my stall. All I had were books, a few plants, a banner, and my personality! Oh, did that personality come to my rescue! I walked into that room with many exhibitors, and I knew, if I was going to sell any paperbacks that day, I had to rely on my personality.   My p

So, it turns out getting reviews is harder than Frodo's journey to Mordor. You need a horcrux, the blood of  a unicorn, Voldermort's nose and a nonexistent Gandalf the Purple.  Despite selling a number of books, I still have no reviews. I have deduced this could be for a number of reasons: 1) People have bought the book, but have not had the time to read it. 2) Creating an Amazon or Goodreads account to leave a review might be a bit of an extra mile for others. 3) They liked it so much, they were overwhelmed with the need to give it 6 stars, but the maximum is only 5 stars😉. It has only been a month. I will patiently wait for that first review. I have mentally prepared myself for the good and the bad. Hopefully, one day, I will see myself on some best-seller list somewhere.  Accio reviews! Still nothing? Oh well. I'll wait. In the meantime... how cute are my bookmarks?

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

I was 10 when I wrote my first book. I'd read everything in the school library. However, I kept thinking "why didn't they do this instead"? Eventually, I decided, I am going to write my own book. Which I did. I still have the tattered old book. My classmates read my books, constantly pestering me for chapters. It was the validation I needed. As I grew older, I thought "Why not send my book to a publisher?" Oh, the rejection! I was dejected, felt unworthy, and suffered from imposter syndrome. How dare I think I'm worthy? I continued to write, but more for me than anyone. I must say, it led to my enviable penmanship. Eventually, I decided this year to finally self publish my book. Not for validation, but more for the "I did it " part. For that 10 year old girl who imagined herself an author. On Friday 06 August 2021, I released the first book in my trilogy- The Kenryk Series: The Avaris on Amazon. It is a dream come true for me. I never imagined