THE STORY OF WHY MY BOOKS ARE ONLY SOLD ABROAD AND SOME OF WHAT I HAD TO DO TO BE AT THIS PLACE WITH THEM SELFPUBLISHED

THE STORY OF WHY MY BOOKS ARE ONLY SOLD ABROAD AND SOME OF WHAT I HAD TO DO TO BE AT THIS PLACE WITH THEM SELFPUBLIS

EVERYONE KNOWS HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO GET PUBLISHED WHATEVER THE MATERIAL YOU HAVE. IN MY EXPERIENCE TRYING TO GET MY MATERIAL OUT I'VE HAD TO GO THROUGH SOME OBSTACLES. AT FIRST PEOPLE GAVE ME NAMES OF PERSONS WHO COULD POSSIBLY MAKE ME A BETTER WRITER. UNFORTUNATELY, ONLY TWO PERSONS HAVE SAT WITH ME TO REVIEW A FEW OF MY WORKS BRIEFLY. HOWEVER, HAVING HAD THE REQUISITE SKILLS, IT WAS NOT HARD TO WRITE. STICKING TO THE TASK WAS THE REAL CHALLENGE. YOU CAN HAVE ABILITY YET BECAUSE OF A LACK OF PRACTICE YOU NEVER BUILD ON IT. HAVING WRITTEN EXTENSIVELY, IT WAS CLEAR TO ME I WAS GETTING BETTER. THAT WAS THE FIRST STEP. NEXT CAME THE DILEMMA OF PUTTING MATERIAL TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST OFFERING. I DECIDED TO WORK WITH THEMES AND ENDED UP WITH 6 COLLECTIONS DRAWN FROM THE LARGER BODY OF MY WORK SO FAR OVER A 4 YEAR PERIOD.
HAVING DONE THAT, I LOOKED FOR SOMEONE TO EDIT MY WORK. I CONTACTED AN ENGLISH TEACHER AT MY ALMA MATER WHO WAS NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE PROJECT.WHEN I PUT MY FIRST MANUSCRIPT TOGETHER AN ENGLISH LANGUAGE LECTURER AGREED TO WORK PRO BONO BUT LOST INTEREST IN THE FIRST PROJECT. I REUNITED WITH A LONG LOST COUSIN WHO WAS A DOCTOR AND HE HAD THE FIRST COLLECTION EDITED. HE PLEDGED TO HELP ME GET OUT THERE WHEN HE SHOWED UP OUT OF THE BLUE AT MY WORKPLACE. HE EVENTUALLY TOLD ME AFTER HAVING THE MANUSCRIPT EDITED PROFESSIONALLY HE FOUND A PUBLISHER BUT FOR THE REASON THAT HE USED HIS HELP TO SPEAK DOWN TO ME AND BEHAVE AS THOUGH I WERE OBLIGATED TO PUT UP WITH HIS AIRS, I TOLD HIM AS OF OUR CONVERSATION I RELIEVED HIM OF ANY OBLIGATION HE MAY HAVE FELT TOWARDS ME. PRIOR TO THAT I WENT THROUGH THE PROCESS OF FINDING A PUBLISHER FOR MY WORK. I FIRST GATHERED NUMBERS FROM THE DIRECTORY FOR ESTABLISHED PUBLISHING HOUSES, MOST OF WHICH TURNED ME DOWN. I THEN EXPLORED SELF-PUBLISHING IN JAMAICA WHICH PROVED TO BE AN UNDERTAKING MUCH DEEPER FINANCIALLY THAN MY POCKETS WHEN A LOCAL PRINTERY THEN A PUBLISHING HOUSE AGREED TO PUBLISH THE FIRST COLLECTION BUT AT A VERY HIGH COST. AFTER THIS I SUBMITTED MY MANUSCRIPT TO AN EPUBLISHER IN THE UK WHO PRAISED MY WORK HIGHLY. SHE WANTED HALF OF THE COST UP FRONT. I ASKED MY MOTHER AND A FEW FRIENDS FOR LOANS TO NO AVAIL. AFTER THAT I HIT THE DIRECTORY CALLING BANKS AND SMALL LOANS AGENCIES TO OFFSET THE COST. NO ONE WOULD LEND TO ME FOR I WAS UNEMPLOYED. EVENTUALLY I WAS LED BY A YOUNG MAN TO AMAZON WHERE I SAW A LINK TO CREATESPACE, AN AFFILIATE OF AMAZON THAT PROVIDED AN ONLINE PLATFORM FOR SELF PUBLISHERS. AFTER ABOUT TWO WEEKS FAMILIARISING MYSELF WITH THE VARYING TASKS I GOT THE HANG OF IT. I HAD TO FREQUENTLY WALK IN THE BROILING SUN FOR WEEKS OVER A MILE TO MORANT BAY AND BACK WHERE THE PARISH LIBRARY WAS SITUATED TO DO THE WORK. I WAS UNEMPLOYED AND HAD NO MONEY TO BACK ME UP AS I'D QUIT MY JOB BECAUSE OF UNFAIR TREATMENT MONTHS EARLIER. OFTEN I HAD NO FOOD FOR THE WHOLE DAY SOMETIMES AND ONLY A FEW TIMES WOULD I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO BORROW OR GET A LITTLE MONEY FROM FRIENDS. ALSO, THE COMPUTERS AT THE LIBRARY WERE DEFECTIVE AS WELL AS THE INTERNET CONNECTION VERY POOR AND UNSTABLE. THAT RESULTED IN MY ENTRIES CRASHING SOMETIMES RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE UPLOADS. THIS PROVED VERY TIME CONSUMING AND FRUSTRATING. BUT I DIDN'T HAVE A COMPUTER OF MY OWN. I HAD TO GO TO THE LIBRARY EARLY AND BEG FOR TIME EXTENSIONS VERY FREQUENTLY. THEY WERE ADMITTEDLY VERY ACCOMODATIVE. NONETHELESS, I KEPT ON. TO DATE I HAVE 6 PUBLISHED CHAPBOOK LIKE COLLECTIONS ON ESTORES FOR SALE. I HAVE WRITTEN FOR YOU ALL TO KNOW THAT IT WAS BECAUSE OF A LACK OF OUTLETS IN JAMAICA THAT I SET MY SIGHTS ELSEWHERE. I EVEN APPROACHED THE LARGEST DISTRIBUTOR OF PRINTED MATERIAL IN JAMAICA WITH A VIEW TO ESTABLISHING DISTRIBUTION AND WAS TURNED DOWN. I SENT EMAILS TO BOOKSTORES IN JAMAICA IN AN ATTEMPT TO GET THEM HERE. THEY EITHER DIDN'T ANSWER OR FLATLY REFUSED. I STARTED WALKING WITH MY FIRST COLLECTION COPY AT DIFFERENT TIMES AND SPREADING THE WORD ON FOOT. THIS DIDN'T GAIN ME MUCH TRACTION OR SALES. BUT UNDAUNTED I TRIED TO SPREAD THE WORD AS MUCH AS I COULD. I SENT OUT PRESS KITS AND SAMPLES TO RADIO AND TV STATIONS. THERE WERE A FEW SALES WHICH I WAS THANKFUL FOR BUT NOTHING TO EVEN GARNER ME A FIRST CHEQUE TO DATE WAS SOLD. I SENT OUT EMAILS TO FRIENDS. ALSO, ONLY A FEW BECAME INTERESTED AND EVEN VENTURED TO REPLY. I DECIDED TO TURN TO TWITTER WHERE I DID ALL I COULD TO CREATE BUZZ AND INTEREST. ONLY FEW SOLD. NOW HERE I AM ON FACEBOOK WHICH FOR A LONG TIME I FEARED BECAUSE OF THE NATURE OF THE SITE AND DESPITE COAXING BY FRIENDS I STAYED OFF STILL. NOW HERE I AM CREATING AWARENESS. I AM USING THIS DISCOURSE LET ALL ST. THOMAS AND JAMAICA KNOW IT WASN'T 'FOREIGN MIND'. INSTEAD IT WAS A LACK OF OPPORTUNITIES WHY I SET MY SIGHTS ABROAD. I WOULD USE THIS MEDIUM TO ASK IF YOU ARE HAVING TROUBLE OBTAINING THE BOOK LOCALLY, TO ASK RELATIVES AND FRIENDS ABROAD TO PURCHASE ONLINE FOR YOU. IT WAS NOT MY PREFERRED COURSE OF ACTION TO MAKE THE BOOKS ABROAD. BUT RATHER ROADBLOCKS ENCOUNTERED LOCALLY. THE MOST HONOURABLE ROBERT NESTA MARLEY EXPERIENCED SOMETHING SIMILAR IN HIS MUSICAL JOURNEY.