Interview with Shauna Richmond: Who considered Self-publishing the Best Alternative.

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This digital era is the one where one can explore and pen down their idea; where one can even get paid for their write ups and finally see their dreams getting fulfilled. Through communication we can make people aware of the facts, take them to another fictional world, guide them by making them aware of common mistakes and then provide the solution. 





Self-publishing has paved the way for these modern world authors, from novelists to poets, from health specialists to a fashion influencer, from finance to cook books. Anyone can literally become a successful author through Amazon KDP, providing the authors a lucrative way to earn. Today we are here again interviewing a self-published author Shauna Richmond. In this way I will get to know about her success story with the series of books she has published.





1) What led you to begin your journey as an amazon author?





I originally had a publisher for my first book. Due to a lot of communication problems, I eventually left them and opted for KDP. It was the best decision I ever made. I have a lot more say over what happens with my books now and I earn more in sales with amazon than I ever did with my old publisher.





2) Can you brief us about how KDP works?





For every new book of mine coming out; I have to make up a new file for it which is so simple to do with KDP. They pretty much have everything done for you; all you need to do is enter in the details. I input the name, the genre, target audience, blurb and cover of the book as well as the manuscript itself when that is finalized. 





Once all that is set, I can set up pricing, release dates and promotions. All are no more than a button click away with KDP; it is really such a simple system to use. With KDP, I can track my sales and even know how many people are reading my eBooks.





3) What were the challenges that you faced during the publication of your book?





Marketing is one of the biggest issues every author has to face. There are so many talented authors wanting to get their books noticed. Trying to make yours stand out can be a real chore.





4) Can you tell us about your costing in the whole process?





It's actually not that expensive with KDP as everything with them is free to do. They even have a range of covers you can use for free if you cannot afford an artist. I have my own cover artist that I have used since I chose to become an indie author so it works out at about €250 per cover for me.





Editors, if you can afford them, costs around €700 minimum. They are out of my price range to use for every book but I know a few authors who have paid that easily. And at least another €300 for marketing of net galley alone.





5) Is there anything inadequate that you found in their services? Like many authors have this issue of hardbacks and pre order sales...





I haven't uploaded anything to go to hardback. Although I noticed on a few of my books that when I upload the manuscript and go to preview it on the screen, the formatting can be off on some things which makes it really annoying. But in general it's an easy fix. Pre order sales for me again would be all down to marketing not KDP itself.





6) Have you opted for any KDP integrated automation?





No, I haven't just yet. I am actually working on audiobooks at the moment with ace. It’s on my to do list though and I would love to experience and actually gain something out of it. 





7) Can you interest the audience in brief about the content of your book and will there be a sequel?





I have two series based in the same world. The “Raghnall Series” is about a family of cursed Vikings trying to find out the truth about their family's massacres. The prequel to that series is the “Olden Chronicles” which follows Catherine, a young berserker on her journey that starts the wars off that we see in the Raghnall series.





 There will be a coven sequel as requested by my readers. The world itself keeps growing. It's full of magic and mythical creatures, romance and gore...depending on the book. I try to put a bit of everything for everyone and listen to what my readers would like to see.









The prequel “Shattered Steel: The Olden Chronicles Part 2” will be coming in 2021.





So, this was Shauna Richmond; author of four books delivering her experiences as a KDP author. The journey from a traditional publishing to that of self-publishing was quite fast and her best decision. All her efforts to be an acknowledged Indie author is commendable. She even chose to try AiHello's Amazon integrated PPC automation in order to boost up her book sales. 





Amazon KDP comes forth as the best platform to be a recognized self-published author. As I have earlier hypothesized about the digital world where there is an increasing demand for eBooks apart from hardbacks and paperbacks; the need for marketing your book also increases. Being a new writer, there are many who are not aware of these technical terms or can’t spend that much. So, don’t cast down yourself with all these technical terms as all these can be operated by one platform. From engaging your target audience to that of bidding, all can be done in an automated way by AiHello. 


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