Interview with the author

How did I become an independent author (indie)?

Most people start their story with “I had that idea…” That’s nonsense -– you have an idea, I have an idea, everyone has many ideas. For me, it’s all Amazon’s fault: they made it look so easy for anyone to publish, so I also thought “why not”. I did have a great idea but still think I wouldn’t have tried the long and hard way, passing via agents and publishers.

The Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) process indeed was piece of cake. Writing a remarkable book was not. I had all the creative freedom in the world, was not pressed by deadlines, the Amazon KDP Community was great at providing guidance and support but it took a lot of efforts. And yes, there was that constant anxiety “is my book good enough?”, “will people like it?”, “will anyone notice it at all?” etc.

It’s so true that before one starts writing, one should read and read, and read… And I read thousands of pages about:

• Kindle publishing process itself (HTML formatting, editing, proofreading);
• creating an amazing paperback with CreateSpace;
• crowdfunding options (yes, I did that too with Kiskstarter);
• marketing and promotion…

It was a long and interesting journey and I’m so happy that I persisted and made it to the very end.

Now that I receive (mostly positive) feedback from readers; when I see my book in and out of the top 10 in its category; when friends, colleagues and strangers ask me to sign their copy, I’m really living the dream.

My warmest thanks to all readers, Amazon, CreateSpace and Kiskstarter who made it possible!

Sincerely yours,

Nayden Kostov