Take the Leap

When I first decided to put my book up for preorder in September (2023), I wondered if I had made the right decision. I had never run a preorder campaign that far in advance of the release date. And I was wondering if I could keep the momentum up. In my experience, people forget after a while, and the excitement fades.

Still, I took the leap of faith and put it up anyway.

The result is a book that has been selling every month since September and is currently a #1 New Release on Amazon for the ebook edition. The book doesn’t officially come out until the end of next month (Feb.).

“What if I fail?”

“Oh, but what if you fly?”

There is a common belief that if you give too much of your book away, people won’t be interested.

While I don’t think you should reveal everything, I do believe that talking about topics related to your book never gets old and, in that sense, you can never give away too much information. You can never know too much about your topic. You can never over study. The more you know, the more you can give.

And the more you give, the more interested people become.

This is my first nonfiction book about Black history. My other books cover these topics, but they are fictional. The nonfiction authors I admire and respect and who have done well with their launches all have something in common. They all educate their audience on their topic.

Whether in the form of a story and lesson learned or just putting fun facts out on social media, they have garnered interest in their books by talking about them.

My biggest worry is not knowing enough, which (from a not-so-positive end) sometimes causes me to shrink. However, from a positive end, it keeps me searching, reading, and studying to show myself approved. It keeps me humble and hungry.

So, I thank you for supporting this work and I hope it inspires you to take the leap on whatever that might be. You might discover that you can fly!

I’d also like to remind you that we are ONE week away from closing preorders! If you haven’t yet, you can grab your paperback, hardcopy, or bundle at the link here. You can also find the link to the ebook on the site and more information about the book.

We are one week away from closing preorders for Black History Facts!

Order Your Copy Here

The Top 2023 Self-Publishing Platforms for Writers (Aggregators and Retailers)

According to Kindleprenuer, a vetted and well-respected platform for self-publishers headed by Dave Chesson (who has listed me among its Ultimate List of Best Book Review Blogs under Yecheilyah’s Book Reviews), these are some of the best platforms for writers who self-published in 2023. (I put them in my own order, though, lol.)

Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (Retailer)
IngramSpark (Aggregator)
Barnes and Noble Press (Retailer)
Draft2Digital (Aggregator)
PublishDrive (Aggregator)
Apple Books (Retailer…direct access to Mac users)
Bookbaby (Aggregator)
KOBO (Retailer)

But what’s the difference between a retailer and an aggregator?

Book retailers are platforms where you can upload your book directly to their site and sell on their market. These are your Amazons, B&Ns, Kobo’s and more.

Book aggregators are third-party platforms where you may submit your book, and it will be distributed to book merchants all over the world. It is one of the simplest ways to get your book on practically every online retailer’s website without much effort. Draft2Digital and PublishDrive are two of the most prominent book aggregators.

What I Use

Amazon has an 85% market share over all these platforms, so I will start with Kindle Direct Publishing to get my books on Amazon.

While other platforms, such as Bookbaby and IngramSpark, can send your book to Amazon, I have found it best to use Amazon for Amazon to decrease the chances of my book not showing up or being out of stock.

However, I opt-out of expanded distribution while on Amazon, which will put my book into Ingram’s database under Amazon. I want it under my own company.

After I upload my files to KDP, I head over to Ingram.

Under my own Ingram account, I publish my book to IngramSpark. I have not done this with every book, but I have done it with my last two and in the future. I do this for easier distribution to bookstores and libraries but under my own company name (Literary Korner Publishing), not Amazon.

This is where having bulk ISBNs comes in handy, as you will need one for Ingram different from what you used on Amazon. Ya’ll know I don’t do free ISBNs except for with ebooks.

Then, I log into my account on Draft2Digital and upload my files there to get my ebook on all major online retailers—however, I opt-out of Amazon since I have already uploaded my book there separately.

I also have yet to use their print book version, now available for authors who want to use the feature. I only use them for the digital version of my book so if you’ve tried their paperbacks let me know how it turned out! How’s the quality compared to KDP?

When it’s said and done, I’ll have my book available on Amazon, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, and everywhere books are sold online with the option to get it into bookstores, libraries, and schools.

Save this post if you plan to self-publish in 2024 and let me know what has worked or not worked for you!

Covering My Head: On Grief

2020 was very challenging for me for reasons unrelated to the pandemic. As I reflect, it was difficult not only because of the tragedies themselves but also because of their proximity to one another.

I remember when I got jumped on as a teen by a group of girls in Chicago. Another quickly followed each blow until I could do nothing but allow myself to fall to the slippery floor of Nicky’s Restaurant and cover my head. They were too fast. The least I could do if I didn’t have the time to throw a punch was protect my face.

I walked away from that fight, blood trickling from my scalp. When I arrived at the hospital, it was so crowded that the blood had dried by the time I saw the doctor. I sat on the edge of a bed in the hallway while the doctor pierced me with the surgical stapler. I was not under anesthesia, but it didn’t hurt. It simply felt like pressure.

The staples dissolved and I healed nicely. I finished school and went on with my life like nothing happened. The scars from that night are invisible.

That’s how it feels to grieve the events of 2020 when I lost my mother and suffered multiple miscarriages in the span of a few months, each blow coming too fast for me to recover fully.

And I wonder if I am just balled up on the floor, covering my head to protect my face.

On Fear

I don’t exist out of thin air.

I didn’t just pop up out of nowhere teaching this through Google and YouTube University.

I teach this because I’ve lived through it.

And, while much of what I discuss is well-known on the tail end of 2023, it wasn’t when I first started. Self-publishing has been around for ages, but Print-On-Demand was new, and no one was talking about it, let alone their journey.

Without that first book, there would be no I am Soul or any other book.

I self-published my first book in 2010, and it was trash.

But I was 23 and unafraid.

There is something to be learned from young people.

The content was good, but the production was poor.

I knew nothing about editing, book cover art, or proper formatting.

Every mistake that could be made by self-publishing a book, I have made it and then some over the years.

But even though the book was far from perfect, I still sold copies. And even though I didn’t know what I was doing, my youthfulness had armed me with the boldness to put it out there anyway.

“Take the risk or lose the chance.”
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I remember being at my in-laws house in Memphis. My husband had told my nephew:

“You can do anything if you believe it. You can climb that wall if you wanted to.”

Do you know what this five-year-old did?

He proceeded to climb the walls.

The fact that he could fall had never crossed his mind. And if it did, he didn’t care.

As we age and experience the brutality that is sometimes this life, we become more afraid.

This causes us to overthink until fear paralyzes us into not taking action.

And now, we are afraid to move forward because we are afraid to fail. In many ways, this also means we are afraid to learn!

“The fear will become your weakness if you don’t overcome it.” – Yecheilyah
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I cannot say if I would have taken that leap of faith, the proof of what is not seen, had I known everything there was to know about book publishing. It would not have been perfect enough for me.

The most insightful lessons you will learn is through doing the work.

Don’t let overthinking paralyze you into not taking action.

Check out more Indie Author Basics articles here.

Preorder Your Copy of Black History Facts You Didn’t Learn in School Here!

Poetry Myth: “I Have to Perform My Poems to be Relevant.”

One of the MAJOR misconceptions about the poetry industry is that you have to do spoken word to become a prominent figure.

Performance poetry might be the most popular, but there are other ways to be profitable.

Artists like Rudy Francisco, Jasmine Mans, Prentice Powell (who was recently nominated for a Grammy), Obbie West, and others are dynamic spoken word artists I could listen to all day.

But it is not something I am passionate about doing myself.

I enjoy spoken word and have done it, but I don’t want to make a career out of performance poetry.

I am much better at reciting than performing, and I have learned there is a career in them both.

Reciting and performing poetry are two different areas of expertise we can discuss later.

Poets, let me free you today!

You can write and publish poetry books.

You can recite your poetry before an audience instead of performing it. In the same way that spoken word artists get paid to perform, you can get paid to recite!

You can get paid to write poems for others, organizations, and even movies. Think Poetic Justice. Maya Angelou wrote the poems Janet Jackson’s character Justice recited in the movie.

If you are serious about turning your passion for poetry into a profitable business, I invite you to join The Poetry Business Network.

The Poetry Business Network is a global community where poets learn how to do more with their poetry and create a poetry career.

In this community, you will learn…

How to transform yourself from an individual to an entity (business)
How to start your poetry business step-by-step
How to launch your poetry business step-by step
How to audit your poetry business (if you already have a one)
How to build your brand on a national and international scale
How to identify what services to offer
How to create predictable income with your poetry
How to create, offer, and distribute your own merchandise
How to determine what signature experience you will be known for
How to create your own platform people will be attracted to

And the best part? Membership is FREE (for now! Get in before that changes).

Visit us online at The Poetry Business Network to join.

Submissions for this year’s poetry contest is coming to an end soon! Get your poem in on or before Thursday, November 30th!

yecheilyahsannualpoetrycontest.org

Join Our Past Winners!

Yecheilyah’s 1st Annual Poetry Contest Winners 2017

Yecheilyah’s 2nd Annual Poetry Contest Winners 2018

Yecheilyah’s 3rd Annual Poetry Contest Winners 2019

Yecheilyah’s 4th Annual Poetry Contest Winners 2021

Yecheilyah’s 5th Annual Poetry Contest Winners 2022

We Get Better at Writing by Writing

When I was a child, I always carried a diary, journal, or notebook, and I would write about what was happening in my life each day, with dates and everything.

When my cousin got jumped so badly that one side of his face was swollen, I wrote about how terrifying it was to see him like that.

When I graduated eighth grade, but my twin sister didn’t, I wrote about the guilt I felt for having to leave her behind and how nervous I was to start High School by myself.

I wrote everything down, from the boys I had a crush on to the ways my mom and aunts pissed me off. (I was an angry kid.)

It is why I can tell you what my thought process was like on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, because I wrote it down.

I can still feel what it was like watching the Twin Towers collapse like a dissolving palace of snow and what 14-year-old me was thinking at that moment.

I can tell you I was dumbfounded and full of nerves. I had never seen anything like this before that was not in a movie. And they were saying now we are going to war.

War? Will large army tanks cover the streets? Will soldiers greet me at the door? Will I ever go back to school? What does war look like on the soil of the United States? The only wars I knew were my own.

“God bless America,” I scribbled.*

*I laugh at that now, but I was so serious back then, lol.

I didn’t know it then, but I was doing something powerful.

It didn’t really sink in until I was an adult, but writing regularly allowed me to develop writing abilities and maintain my goal of being a writer by keeping it at the forefront of my mind. And even if my friends and siblings dabbled with other careers and hobbies as I grew older, my objective remained constant.

I was to be an author.

We can read all the books and blogs…

Follow all the writing tips and advice…

Listen to all the podcasts…

But the only way to improve at writing is through practice, and the only way to practice writing is to write.

Should You Put Your Book Up for Preorder? It Depends.

What is a preorder?

A pre-order is when you make a book available for purchase before its official release date—typically a week to a year in advance.

Traditionally, publishers have books available for preorder as early as six months to a year in advance. They do it because strong pre-sales tell retailers the book will be in high demand, affecting the number of books stocked at stores and allowing them to make bestseller lists.

Self-published authors can learn from this, not necessarily to make the bestsellers list but to gauge interest in their new book and give them time to market/promote it.

I believe studying the traditional publishing model can help Indie Authors become better self-publishers in some areas, but that’s a conversation for a different day.

By putting my book up for preorder, I have not only made early sales but already have a bookstore interest in stocking it. (I am also aiming for schools. We’ll see how this goes!)

Reasons for setting up preorders depend on your marketing strategy, which could be:

To gauge interest in the book based on preorder sales
To increase sales ranking
To get the proof copy of the book into the hands of early reviewers, bookstores, and organizations
To give you time to market /promote the book (on/offline)
To prepare your audience for the next book in a series
To build excitement and anticipation

Preorders that tend to do well

Authors with several books published and larger audiences tend to do better with preorders because they already have people waiting for their next book.

Even if the author has a small audience, preorders can be good if the book is in high demand. It is one of the reasons I put my black history book up for preorder so early.

I’ve built up enough hype and awareness for the book that people were already looking for it on Amazon and asking where they could buy it. Putting it up for preorder ensures I take advantage of the opportunity to catch interested readers while the book is on their minds.

Authors writing a series also do well. They might offer the first book at a discount and then have the next book on preorder. People who love the first book in the series will likely buy the next one.

Preorders that don’t do as well

First-time authors who don’t have an audience do not always do well with preorders and might benefit from just releasing the book. As stated, preorders are more useful for experienced authors because they already have an audience.

It is also not a good idea to set up preorders if you’re not able to commit to a publication date in advance.

The most important thing to remember is that you have much more flexibility and creative control as an independent author than if you were traditionally published. You can play around with different strategies and see what works.

Cover Reveals

Cover reveals are fun and all, but they serve no real purpose if people can’t buy the book or preorder it on the spot. I recommend holding off on showing the cover until you are ready or almost ready to accept orders.

Promoting Preorders

Although preorders are a beneficial marketing strategy for some authors, it is also a lot of work. Here are my top tips:

Consider running your preorders for a shorter time than the traditional model. Just because your celebrity authors release books on preorder a year in advance doesn’t mean you have to. We are Indies. We do what we want. (*wink*) Yours can be as short as two weeks to a month before release. Also for Amazon, the preorder only counts on the day of the order. This means that the longer the preorder period, the harder it is to sustain a high ranking on that book. (If your goal is to achieve a high ranking.)

Preserve most of your energy for when the book is out. Too many authors get hung up on the release date and wear themselves out. Remember that your book will sell for weeks, months, and years afterward, so pace yourself. If your preorders are through Amazon, you still receive your royalties per their regular royalty payment schedule after your book is published anyway, not before.

This is my first experience running a lengthy campaign, but I’m saving most of my energy for when the book comes out. Those of you who know me are aware that I rarely do anything without a purpose. Because I anticipated my schedule would be hectic toward the end of the year, I postponed the release until the new year. I’ll put it to the test and, of course, report back!

	JR on Black History Fun Fact Friday…
	JR on Black History Fun Fact Friday…
	Felicia Denise on Born Worthy
	kegarland on Born Worthy
	Yecheilyah on Born Worthy