~ February 3, 2019. I have updated this post since working on publication of my first eBook.
First-you have gifts. That is the truth. You may be on a limited income and need to share within your budget. Still, there are many ways to get your work out to the world.
As my friend Elizabeth Herbert Cottrell says:
“We all need to remember that these thoughtful, beautiful activities do not have to cost a lot of money. The currency of love, respect, and mindfulness is much more valuable!”
Right now, I have chosen to publish through Apple iBooks.
I have finished A Story Made From Pictures that went up onto iBooks in November 2018. This is an exploration in reaching out with my gifts. It is meant to utilize the resources available to all of us at this time. By utilizing resources and working with creative energy, I have completed a work of which I am pleased and proud.
This is what I want to share. The journey to manifesting creativity in the manner that is a reflection of who we are at our core.
Apple has fantastic resources. The team members are very polite, kind and maintain a professional nature. They have a live phone number with a team that will help you get your book from draft to finished book for sale. They take care of collecting the money and depositing it for you. They send the IRS a notice of your earnings. They are the big machine that does so much of what the print publisher used to do.
In completing my book, A Story Made From Pictures, I wanted to see how my layout would translate into the Apple platform. I wanted to see what a children's book looks like in an eBook format. My exploration has been based on what can I do that is free to me so that I can keep going in a smooth flow. If I have to stop while I save the money for the next step, I am building frustration into the process. This is how I arrived at "what can I do with what is available to everyone."
How do we start and lift ourselves up when we have no extra money beyond our expenses for this effort? After that, how do we learn to alert the public that we are offering something of our voice for them to explore?
We need to learn these new technologies to be able to publish to these platforms. We need courage to see what the steps are and to take them. It is entirely possible to traverse this road at our own pace. This is a very good exploration to build confidence and to encourage oneself as writer, author, artist and publisher.
I hope that posting on this blog becomes a safe gathering place to explore that which we are trying to make manifest to the world.
Let us not be afraid of being seen. Let us come forth with our gifts and share them when the world so desperately needs our hope and our vision. This is a critical time to acknowledge each other and to come alive to appreciate the world around us and look for how we can extend our creativity to the world at large.
Elizabeth, I always noticed you referencing powerful female authors as well as sharing your own thoughts beside them. That gave me the courage to add my voice to the group of women who encourage each other.
I have watched you muster up your own courage to be seen, and so many of us have been blessed by that, Pamela. Thank you for sharing my own thoughts in your post.