Earlier today, I finally submitted my first eBook for publishing on Amazon’s KDP platform. And although I am quite excited, I’m also a bit apprehensive. It’s a big step towards getting where I want to be.

Who am I kidding? I’m scared shitless.

Actually, I’m not as nervous as you might think, and that’s because of how I approached this publishing in the first place.

If you’re curious, you can check out the eBook on Amazon right now. It just went live as I was starting to write this post.

Why I’m Publishing an eBook

So, I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to publish first. I’ve always wanted to see my name in print, well, outside of a blog post. And when a viewer brought it up to me back in February, I thought, “what the hell?”

With this first book, I had a few things in mind of why I wanted to get it published.

To Finally Say I Finished Something

First of all, I have a habit of starting a lot of projects and then never finishing them. I can’t count the number of stories I’ve deleted or thrown into the trash over the years.

Getting this eBook done and following through with the publishing is something that means more to me than any amount of money I could make in royalties.

I can look back now and feel proud and confident because I finally finished something I intended to put out there.

It’s a different feeling than when I blog. I mean, I really don’t take the blogs all that seriously, really. This is an actual publication and the beginning of something big. And for me, that is profound.

To Help Others Succeed

One of my biggest goals in life is to help as many people as I can. It’s why I’ve built several of the blogs I own and why I keep pushing the YouTube videos and live streams.

In this book, I hope to demonstrate that even after dealing with severe depression and impostor syndrome, that success is possible. As cliche as it might sound, this is what happens when you don’t give up.

I had to go through my own personal hell and back. Nothing is outside of your grasp if you’re willing to push for it.

Content for Both YouTube and WriterSanctuary

What started this idea of publishing an eBook in the first place was one of my viewers on the YouTube channel. He asked if I’ve ever used Amazon’s KDP platform before.

Since I’ve always had an interest in publishing, I figured it would make great content for the YouTube channel and the blog.

I have a lot of content planned for the coming weeks, especially since I am going to continue to keep pushing out books. Though, most are going to be non-fiction.

What can I say, I love to tell a story.

Decided to Become an Expert

I’ve been kind of running into a bit of a snag for both the YouTube channel and the blog. A lot of my subscribers, readers, and watchers want Textbroker content. Well, I stopped working with Textbroker a couple of years ago.

Not because I thought Textbroker was a poor content mill, but because I outgrew it. I make more money now with everything I’m doing.

So, in order to keep myself and WriterSanctuary moving forward, I need to become an expert on something I’m currently involved in. Thus, I’ve decided to move forward with self-publishing.

I have a long way to go, but if I put in the same amount of effort as I did becoming an expert at Textbroker, I’m sure I’ll do fine.

It Was Never About the Money

Some people will jump into self-publishing an eBook to get the money rolling in. For me, it was never about making that mad “book money.”

In reality, I’m not expecting to make a lot of money on this book. It’s just a story about me and how I got to where I am today. Nothing all that riveting, to me, anyway.

As I said, it was mostly to help a few people whom I know personally to show them that even when things are horrid, there is still light at the end of the tunnel.

If I manage to sell a few copies, to people other than myself, then that’s just the cherry on top. But, I’m not going to sweat it.

The experience alone is going to help me make money in ad revenue from the blogs and YouTube channel. So, no matter what, I’m making something on publishing the eBook.

Am I Publishing a Paperback Version of the eBook?

I fully intend on publishing a paperback version of the eBook. For one thing, I would love to create a few tutorials on how it’s done and perhaps a few reviews and insights.

Not to mention that I would love to put it right next to Mom’s book on my shelf.

Plus, a few people have asked me for autographed copies. And that really doesn’t work all that well in the digital space.

Unfortunately, it’s not long enough of a book to qualify for the hardcover books on KDP. But that’s OK. As long as I can print a few off for myself and others, I’m a happy camper.

What’s Next?

Right now, I am pretty deep in the NaNoWriMo project. The story is coming along nicely, and it might be ready by February. That is as long as I can keep up my writing momentum.

In any case, I plan on putting quite a few more books up on KDP and then also exploring how to do Barnes and Nobles’ self-publishing.

As far as I’m concerned, this is only the beginning.

Besides, I have a folder on my computer full of stories that I would love to flesh out. Not to mention working on and finishing VII.

In fact, I’m coming up with even more ideas just sitting here writing this blog post.

Publishing the First eBook was a Lot of Fun

I’m pretty excited about getting the book finally published. Mostly because it is a major milestone for me…I finished something!

The experience itself was a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to see what else I can publish in the coming years.