My Kindle Publishing Journey Update #1

How To Achieve Goals You Set For Yourself, One Task At A Time

In late April I began this blog as an experiment.

An experiment to document how to start something important, something of value.  Maybe nothing of any worth to someone else, but something of incredible value to me.

It was about starting something, my kindle publishing journey, and seeing it through in a public medium - this blog.

So what's in it for you? 

To Achieve Goals You Need To Set Goals

My experiment was to see if I can get some readers to share in the journey of taking a risk, in this case self-publishing some short stories through Kindle Publishing.

It was about becoming vulnerable and naked.

My thoughts, my words out in the world to be poked and prodded, judged by anyone that wanted to judge it.

And this blog was started with the idea that if I could do it, anyone could do it.

Maybe not write stories and publish, but maybe write a business ebook, play with acrylics and start painting, or perhaps take a guitar and strum a song.

Not to be famous, not to become rich, but just to do it.

And if there was interest in monetizing your art, then perhaps this blog could help you find your way.

Just like I did.

A Man With(out) A Plan -Kinda, Sorta

Truth be told, my whole approach was what I like to call "The Spaghetti Solution".

Throw things at the wall and see what sticks. In other words, I would try a number of different techniques and see what creates any kind of traction.

We all know that a plan can help you get where you want to get to faster, but what if you're unsure where it is that you're trying to go?

How do you plan for the frontier?

Columbus sailed for India when he crashed into North America. It wasn't even on his map.

So this blog was started with an idea, getting stories written and published, but the how and where it was going was the unknown.

And I wanted to share my discoveries with you, the reader.

But that would presume that somebody would read it.

Does Anybody See This Blog?  

What if you wrote something and nobody read it?  What if everyone hated it? 

It's been said that you can't please anyone if you're trying to please everyone. 

The only way to be sure it had the chance to be read is to publish it.

Write it.  Then rewrite and edit it.  Format it, find cover art and publish it.

That was my going to be my process and I'd figure out the rest of it as I went forward.

As I mentioned earlier, I began this blog to detail my experience with taking short stories and self-publishing them on Amazon's Kindle program with the idea to inspire myself and anyone else reading to create a path and follow through.

In other words, I wanted to detail my experiences, offer some tips for anyone reading the blog (is anyone reading?)  and to document my experiences in real time.

All with the concept that if I could do it, so could you.

Now That My Story "The Ballad Of John Walker" Is Available On Kindle Publishing, What's Next? 

This experiment of mine isn't finished.

I published one story with the idea of publishing a few more.

A slow drip, drip, drip of stories to be released over the course of the summer and beyond.

The Ballad of John Walker was just the beginning.  (Click the link and download your copy now!)

In the week and a half that the story was published, it's been downloaded a few times.  Lots of clicks - upward of 200 clicks at about 9% conversions.

Not great stats obviously. But better than if I never put it out.

My next story should be out sometime around the 4th of July.  Maybe before, perhaps just afterward and I'll try to create a cross-promotion for it, and document how it does.

Whether you're a writer, an artist, musician or looking to start your own business, get off your ass and do something.

Joe Strummer of The Clash used to say that the future is unwritten.

So sit your ass down and write it the way you want.


What are some of your goals?  What plans do you have in place to see them happen?  Leave a comment!