So I did it!  I finally made the decision to self-publish my first novel, “Ignorance Is Bliss”, on Amazon.  It took me 3 years from when I wrote the first line of the book until I published it.

Truth be known, the book only took me 3 months to write – the first draft, that is.  Being new at novel-writing, the editing process has been laborious, to say the least.  Upon reading that first draft, my mother told me that there was too much sex in the book for her tastes, so I should probably get some friends to read it instead – this made me laugh!

So, I turned to two of my dearest friends in the world: Rachel, my Bajan friend who, like me, went to boarding school in England, university in London and then worked in London.  She returned to Barbados a few years ago; and Trisha, my Jamaican friend, who has lived in Germany for over a decade, but returns to Jamaica every year.  These two ladies read countless drafts, spent hours and hours, without any complaints to me, and have proven to be the most amazing friends.  Their input and advice were so valuable and if I ever become famous, it’ll be because of them!

There were others who read various drafts and gave me sound advice – Abby, Gayle, Sarah and Denise.  One of the biggest changes I made was the first name of my main character – Skyler Philipps was changed from Angela, because it was too old-fashioned, my niece, Sabrina, told me.

The excessive and unnecessary characters, who I had included in the beginning, as well as boring scenery details, were ex-ed, thanks to one of Writer’s Workshop’s editors, Philip Womack.  He also gave me some other excellent pointers: when starting a novel, throw the reader ‘in media res’ – into the middle of the matter, and he advised that I leave each chapter with unanswered questions, building up to climaxes, basically.

I, of course, read my book well over a hundred times, editing each time, not just storyline, but copy-editing.  Once I was satisfied, I went through the task of finding an agent.  Luckily, agents are very clear about whom they will represent, the genre, etc, and what they require.  Alas, I was unable to get an agent, even though all rejections came with positive feedback and encouragement.  I decided to lay this novel to rest and start on my second novel, taking into account all the advice I got the first time round.  I am now almost halfway through my second novel and I am editing as I write, both content and copy.

A few weeks ago, however, it dawned on me that I should, perhaps, take the advice of those who have been telling me to self-publish “Ignorance Is Bliss”.  What did I have to lose? I was unsuccessful in obtaining a publisher in the traditional way, so why not?  That’s when I went on Amazon and began the process of self-publishing.  It’s actually very easy, but I did make a few mistakes.  Firstly, I missed the part whereby you can check the exact format of an electronic copy before it is actually published.  I have subsequently made the changes and anyone who did buy the electronic copy beforehand can actually update their copy on Amazon by managing their devices and content, ensuring that the update icon is switched on.  I then decided to make a paperback copy available.  Amazon will print on demand.  Again, I missed the checking of what the inside would look like, because I was so concerned about the cover.  I was using my own acrylic on canvas painting as my artwork and I was worried about how it would come out on the paperback cover itself.  I ordered two copies of the book and I was thrilled with the outcome of the artwork.  That said, I had made the book too big (9 inches x 6 inches) and I had failed to change the double line spacing to single line spacing.  To be honest, this did make it easy for another needed copy-edit, but not the most ideal for carrying a novel in your purse.  I have subsequently made the necessary changes – the book is now 8 inches x 5 inches and has 381 pages.

I do hope that you will go on Amazon and buy “Ignorance Is Bliss” by Emma Dalton-Brown.  The electronic copy is US$4.95 and the paperback copy, ISBN 1973309246 is US$12.95.

*please note that you will see two paperback copies as the larger size (9×6 inches), which  I did create in the beginning, cannot be removed, though it does say that it is unavailable.