Fuck it. My First Book is Out.
I had nothing to lose.
“It’s only January.”
That’s what I told myself when I woke up one morning. January 19th, 2025. LA was burning. Trump would be inaugurated the next day. I was late on my rent. My bank account was overdrawn. And I woke up that morning with nothing to lose.
I had been thinking about this book for a minute now. I planned to release it last year on my birthday, September 2024. But that didn’t happen. There was a lot going on in my life, but when is there not. I had also considered preparing the manuscript for traditional publishing. But I never got around to preparing the manuscript. Over and over again, I was stalling and putting the project off.
Then I woke up on January 19th, 2025. It was a Sunday. There was absolutely nothing different that day. It was my day off and I just said to myself: “Fuck it. I’m publishing my book today.”
So I sat in front of that computer atf 11 am. I looked over the cover designs I had made last year. I started choosing poems I had written for the past 5 years, adding them to a formatted Word document. I edited poems, created a table of contents, wrote an acknowledgements page and an about the author paragraph. I logged onto my old Ingram Spark account and prepared the files, looked over the sample, and pressed submit. It was 9 pm when it was all over. I got up from the chair and rubbed my eyes. I didn’t realize how long I had been staring at that screen. My laptop was also just as tired, slightly overheating but having held on for my sake. I went to bed early and slept through what I just did.
Two days later, I received the an eproof of my book. I looked it over and found a few mistakes. I quickly corrected them and resubmitted my files. I got another eproof just the next day. I approved that one.
And today, my book is officially available to order.
It’s a really exciting prospect. Obviously, it’s also a nervewracking endeavor. I have to think about promotion. I have to think about marketing. Reaching out to bookstores for author events. Readings. Book signings, etc.
But it’s all going to be worth it. After all, this book is a labor of love. And as the world is burning down, I don’t have anything to lose.
Thank you for reading! As mentioned, the book is now available through multiple retailers! If you wish to purchase a copy, you can follow the links below!
Do note: if you wish to buy the book at a slight discount, be sure to follow the Ingram Spark link. Otherwise, feel free to buy it from the other two links at either Barnes & Noble or Amazon. Also, don’t be afraid to share the book widely! Everything helps!
‘Till next time.
