So I'm a Self-Published Author...

I'm a writer (If I weren't, I'd have figured out what the "Vocal" community is by now and headed for the hills).

My obsession with spinning words into universes caused me to seek out a "local"(-ish) school with the vaunted writing program (THE Grand Valley State University. "Currently an alum; ALWAYS a LAKER.")

Whoa; no one starts a story in the middle like that! (and what established writer DOESN'T know better?)

Let's back up some, shall we? I'm in charge of this ride and we SHALL...

"You see, when a man and woman REALLY love each other, they..."

...TOO FAR back.

Like any child of the 1980s, when I picked up a remote control, learned how it worked, and found ANIMATION, I was hooked (granted I was also two). There were animated stories being spun for my young eyes to behold (For my own convenience, I could hunt for these characters on the local toy shelves too).

Anyway, even somewhere in my young mind, I somehow intrinsically knew that these animated adventures had come from SOMEWHERE.

There came a day shortly after I learned remedial penmanship that I decided to DO SOMETHING. "He-Man..." and "G.I. Joe..." as two distinct examples at the time were off the air for the day and Mattel and Hasbro, respectively, had only made so few figures that I had managed to take into my possession. What to do with my bustling, busy, right-side-of-my-brain; what to do? (Here's where a tyke's remedial penmanship and creativity come into play)...

I began to scribble out little adventures for "He-Man" or the "G.I. Joe" team. These micro-bits of fan fiction (remember, by now I was four and I'm not sure that "fan fiction" had been coined yet; if so, it would two decades before I'd HEARD the term) even included what kind-of/sort-of passed for illustrations. (At some point, MAYBE my prose has improved since then; it was time to leave the artistry of picture behind me).

It is one thing to grasp at the dream of writing when I'm about four (and just enough of a realist to know that He-Man, G.I. Joe, Batman, and Spider-Man are make-believe). It is another animal altogether when I stuck to spinning short stories through ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, let alone MIDDLE SCHOOL and HIGH SCHOOL (yes, by this time, I did have qualms about what my peers might think of my latest venture. For who I was as a teenager, WRITING was the least of my quirks).

Anyway, this converted into my becoming an English major at Lake Michigan College; then a writing major at GVSU.

I took that writing degree and professionally became...a counter attendant at the family antique store; with access to a computer to continue to WRITE. I wanted to do MORE if I was serious about this.

Eventually, works went out to publishers and I either a). was honestly rejected or b). they loved my works so much that they then passed out in their chairs without contacting me back OR going anywhere with my project. It was time to consider another outlet/venue.

A writing competition from a presumably reputable company crossed my eyeline in "Writer's Digest" one day; it was to involve a religious fiction novel.

A "religious fiction" publisher ran this contest. They HAD TO be reputable, right?

I banged an ending to a work that I had tinkered at, off and on, for close to four years and sent out the submission.

I had lost the competition to receive FREE publishing and promotion. However, I was "rewarded" with several cold calls/emails to boost a young artist's ego. "You're GOOD; you just weren't THAT good for the contest. However, we want you to..."

I couldn't win a FREE publishing/promotional package; they STILL expressed interest in my work! I did some final edits, dipped into my bank account for scrounge up enough for a VANITY PUBLISHER'S publishing package (complete with the cover art and formatting services since I did my own editing), and away we went. (Looking back at my first book now, I NEEDED the editing services too).

My second novel went to another "Christian" self-publishing arm that made me feel that this opportunity was a legitimate one for BOTH parties concerned (this time, I paid for editing too).

The next thing that I knew, I had boxes full of my first two books that eventually, ten years later...are still in boxes. Between two VANITY publishing services, I was out nearly $2000 now with little to show for it. But my NAME was out there! I was an AUTHOR! My books were on Amazon for the world to see! Friends and family were still TALKING about my books! I...kept getting cold-called by the companies to hound me about how actual sales were going. I'm an honest man who gave them honest answers. They laughed in my ear and "helpfully" gave me sound promotional advice that would help THEIR pockets and not necessarily my own pocketbook, my future writing endeavors, nor my dignity. Then this graduated to cold-calls/emails from publishing companies that I had never spoken to in my life, all pushing...Self-Publishing services; for a book or two that were ALREADY out there. The Vanity Publishers with the Christian titles that I had trusted so had sold my contact information...

I moved on to Amazon's self-publishing arm and learned to format scripts to fit books where I wanted them so as to save some money on THAT too. I found a website for paid cover photos so that I had access to my own book cover options. That is where books 3-(I think I'm up to 14 self-published works) came from.

I had the books on my shelf, distributed amongst family and the one or two friends who were legitimately interested, and...in boxes. I needed an extra gimmick...

DIRECT DOWNTOWN SALES

Part of living in a resort town is that we had two major festivals per summer that brought out not only the locals and second-home-owners but a larger cast of Summer visitors.

I sought permission from a shop owner and set up shop outside of her store for sidewalk sales/signings.

My first year, I might have sold five copies of my very first book over two days.

Once I had TWO, between the two books, maybe I sold five between the two (maybe two of my first one, three of the new one; or vice-versa).

Along came THREE (and, still, my personal favorite, most honest of my writings; and the one that I can picture, to this day, as a coming-of-age motion picture [because, sometimes, we artists IMAGINE these things])...

What a response/reaction I was getting from my works!

*

Young, wide-eyed child to his father: "Ooh; what's this?"

(Me, not wanting to interject over the father but with a response primed and ready to go for when the father asks ME something).

Father: "It's PROPOGANDA; keep walking!"

**

Grandmotherly Woman: (Distracting crosstalk that sounds like it could lead to a sale).

Granddaughterly Charge: "Ooh; pretty! ( ...Just enough time to handle one of my books with ICE CREAM ALL OVER HER HANDS and to leave chocolate gooey remnants behind in her wake)."

Me: (Calmly and coolly accepting that book into my hand rather than having it slapped back down on the unblemished pile).

***

(Random thumbs-up sign...)

(...Yep; still walking by).

****

Person after I've been outside for five hours on a very public sidewalk: "SO, HOW ARE SALES GOING?"

Me presented with an honest question and a readymade audience: "Eh...I sold one book."

Person...: "YOU SOLD ONE BOOK ALL DAY?!!! AND IT WAS TO ME!!!"

Me: "Yeah; that's right. Thanks again."

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Anyway, that's when I had THREE books that could easily be fit on a table and with my write-up from the local newspaper.

By the time that I seriously quit on tabling at festivals (that we haven't had in two years because...reasons), I had eight books struggling for attention on a table that had once held one-two-three...

Oh, I was still getting all kinds of responses to my writing endeavors!

*****

"Hey, nice table of paperwork! Can I just slam these pro-cannabis legalization leaflets RIGHT ON TOP OF the corner with your latest books?"

******

"Nice day, right?"

*******

"Grand Valley? Oh; okay!"

********

"You wrote these? (Five minutes of crosstalk). Hey, congratulations and GOOD LUCK!"

**********

"Say, sport, where's Clementines?"

*************

"Hey, you, where's the public restroom?"

---------------------------------------

Then, my absolute favorite response once the table was folded up for the weekend and I was back at home to contemplate my wounds...

(Friend on Facebook, since, back then, I continuously published when, where, and what times I'd be out shilling my newly published creations)...:

"..Hey; how'd sales go.

Me: (Honest answer from my place of siting in front of boxes of [prepaid for, no matter the discount] UNSOLD merchandise).

Facebook Friend: "Well, way to put yourself out there!"

Me: "..."

So, honestly, tabling was a hassle with zero response; and 2020/...21 took festivals off of the table anyway. I had to go elsewhere...

ONLINE

I had been promoting/boasting/begging on my Facebook all along. I had individual Facebook Pages dedicated to each of my books. Around the 6th book, I finally just created my "Kent Brindley-Author Page" to post my book links, do videos about each new book release, and post my "Wix" account with all of the Amazon links to my books.

Simple, right?

Facebook friends: 1000+

Friends and family with any interest in even JOINING my Author Page: <200.

"Ask-The-Author-Fridays," a kickback, lite feeling tone to invite questions and invoke responses? One friend once wrote five questions to me; which I then burned through in about a month when I spread them out on a weekly basis and hid them amidst questions that I had written to MYSELF.

"Live readings" from selections in "Voices: The Stories We Each Live and Share?" No real response.

Posting online to show off my boxloads of my own books just begging to be signed for their new owners and shipped to new homes? I did this maybe 3 times per season since CoVid hit; nary a nibble until...

"Hi; are your books on Audible or Kindle?"

(No to Audible, some on Kindle; and HOW is this getting rid of boxes of books that I have ALREADY PAID FOR; IN MY POSSESSION and READY TO BE SIGNED AND SHIPPED TO NEW OWNERS???)

Videos for new book releases? I sold maybe two by trying this last February. Maybe every other time I show off a new book, I sell about two or three.

So, where am I today? Just a guy on Social Media, fighting to participate in NaNoWriMo, trudging my way through putting ideas onto page, and, now, posting my "meh, propoganda" to a brand new resource.

I'm still learning the ins-and-outs of self-promotion. It's a valuable skill for ANY local artist to promote themselves just enough to get a deserved pat on the back without driving people away. Oh; and I'm learning an important lesson in who to trust and who not to when one of the publishing companies I used then SOLD my contact information and I'm STILL inundated with phone calls and emails about "self-publishing a book" that's already BEEN self-published. (Just enough ego-stroking language can fall into those emails to try and trap an aspiring artist; I know the difference now).

Oh, and for YOUR benefit, as well as my bemusement...

"Hey; are you still writing?"

"Yep; I just released book number...[I think 14 if not 15 was released last Monday]..."

(Blinks in astonishment that the answer is no longer five).

"Yep; I post to social media EVERY TIME I release a new one/when one's coming. They're all on Amazon. Thanks..."

**This is NOT to turn myself or anyone ELSE off to writing. Maybe it IS time that I sent out another piece of work to be looked at for TRADITIONAL publishing in hopes that THAT would earn me some kudos and, one day, be beneficial to me as a RENOWNED artist. If anything else, maybe it awakens memories from other young artists and we can now crack a smile about this and share a laugh or exasperated sigh together.**

...Oh; and putting up with some of the behavior from my place in town at festivals? Little did I know that it was preparing me for the members in my current profession as a local Locker Room attendant; with that fancy "Writing" Bachelor of ARTS...

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Thank you for your time. WRITE ON!