Self-Publishing on a Budget
Jerri Miller joined Writing Help KC owner, Val Cervarich, to chat about her experience writing and self-publishing her first book, Running through my Thoughts. Jerri shared various tools and services she used along her journey, and we hope it helps you navigate the self-publishing world.
Learn more about Jerri’s books and courses by staying in touch with everydayscribe on Instagram and Facebook.
This is a recap of our Author interview on April 28, 2022 on Instagram Live. If you missed out, please check out the video here, or continue reading the recap below.
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Jerri’s main goal is to be a published author, but Running through my Thoughts was not the book she anticipated being her first. She had another book that she’d been working on since high school; she always thought it would be her first publication.
But then Jerri reviewed all of her past blog posts and started looking for themes across the blogs.
She found parallels between her running activities and writing activities, creating the perfect collection of essays.
Jerri then edited her blogs into more of a narrative and put them into a collection for publication.
She opted for the self-publishing route and never considered another route because:
1. she described herself as very impatient and wanted to do her own thing; finding an agent and waiting for publication was not of interest to her; and
2. she wanted to retain control of her work.
Val shared that sometimes authors forget that we have collections of work, such as blog posts, that can be put into another format and form a coherent piece.
Jerri’s passion for writing and running are evident in this memoir with vignettes that explain why she is drawn to both.
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Val expressed that Jerri’s book can be encouraging to other authors and can relieve the pressure of writing something new.
Jerri writes every single day and has a consistent journaling process; she encourages authors to look at their journals and identify themes.
After Jerri collected and formed the posts into a book, on a very strict, self-imposed deadline, she reached out to Val for the next step in editing.
Jerri shared that she is a procrastinator and her procrastination is rooted in fear about putting her work out for the world to see. Having Val edit the book lessened her fear about publication.
Jerri’s procrastination led to not having a deadline for getting the book published so the work languished for a while.
In the meantime, Jerri redid some of the portions of Running and added an essay that was not originally a blog post.
She recommends giving the editor the final manuscript and not reworking it, other than incorporating the editor’s suggestions.
Jerri shared that she felt fearful of publishing the book, but also of not publishing the book.
But Jerri did finalize Running and listed it on Amazon, with the help of IngramSpark for distribution.
Val asked Jerri to share her experience with formatting and the cover.
Jerri did her cover design on Canva.com, with her own photographs, then applied the artwork to Amazon and Ingram’s templates.
She stated that once the cover was finalized in Canva, it was easy to apply to the other templates.
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Jerri shared her hesitation in working with IngramSpark because she’d heard that the formatting requirements were difficult.
Finally one day she decided to finish the formatting and she discovered that IngramSpark had a book builder tool where she could copy and paste each chapter into the software.
Jerri said the process ended up being simple and easier than Amazon, and that the book ended being about 20 pages longer in Ingram’s program because the font is larger than the Amazon formatting.
Val asked if IngramSpark also takes a portion of author profits like Amazon does.
Jerri confirmed that IngramSpark does take a portion, and it costs $49 to upload the book and ebook if you do the upload at the same time. But the book builder tool comes with that fee.
Jerri did not choose a cover designer because she was confident in how she wanted the book to look, but she knew she would need an editor to fill in gaps.
Val stated that Jerri also has Running in the library system.
Jerri said that she was looking for another book and stumbled upon her own book in the library, and it’s a mystery of how it got there. She went to the library to take photos and celebrate the moment!
Val asked what Jerri would do differently in her self-publishing if she could:
She’d submit a finalized manuscript to the editor.
She wouldn’t be as intimidated by IngramSpark. That said, her next publication has worksheets and that process is a challenge with IngramSpark and Amazon formatting requirements for ebooks. She stated that maybe using a PDF version as opposed to a Word version could be causing the issues.
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Val shared that for the Kansas City area, Mid-Continent Public Library has a formatting tool through The Story Center that can help authors as well.
Jerri hopes that her next book will be a book of poetry.
Publishing Running was a surprise to Jerri, but she she offered unique insights when discussing what type of book she wants to publish next. She stated that goals often come from a place of lack versus a place of compassion for ourselves, so to create goals that help us evolve, we need to be comfortable with ourselves.
This led to a workbook and Jerri had many other things she wanted to say in that area, and that’s how she arrived at the next project, Creating and Working Towards Goals with Compassion.
Her book of poetry is just sitting in a notebook, and she wants to work on that project next since it’s already done. She said it just needs a home.
Val agreed with Jerri that goals from a place of lack don’t celebrate what we have accomplished, and instead detract from our sense of creativity. Sharing our talents and interests is a way to bond with others if you are willing to put yourself out there.
Jerri is learning that she has to trust the words and page and let whatever it is evolve on its own. Running evolved on its own and similarly with her workbook.
Jerri said people should play around with what they already have or work with a snippet of an idea because your writing will lead you somewhere.
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Val stated that writing is like running in that initially, you may not want to do it. But with persistence you are glad that you tried.
Jerri has a new course offering, Write Your First Poem. This is a good course for beginners. To see a list of Jerri’s courses, go to everydayscribe.com.
Jerri also has courses for Canva, marketing, and brand colors. If people are intimidated by technology, this would be a good course. The first step of putting yourself out there is hard, and she wants to help eliminate barriers for people.
There is also a journaling course available that covers Jerri’s own struggle with consistency, and tips for success and how to stay out of your own way with your journaling.
Val shared that these courses are a great way to welcome people into the writing and self-publishing communities.
For previous interviews and Writing Help KC resources, please email me at writinghelpkc@gmail.com.
Happy Publishing!
-Val