This is a guest blog. I’m always on the hunt for people with experiences of writing LGBTQ+ books to feature on this blog. If you’d like to know more, get in touch with me today!
Publishing success
I’ve been self-publishing gay non-fiction books for a while now and in the past six years I have had some success. My books sell regularly without too much effort from me and each month I am amazed at the royalties that come through. However, with the three-month time lag between a sale and the royalty payment, it is often hard to know if sales peek at any particular time due to an appearance on a podcast or a piece of social media engagement or if it is just people searching for the topics I write about.
I do not make a fortune by any means, or even a living, come to that, through my writing, but when I look back, I can see the upward trajectory. We all know it is a slow long haul and is often a very lonely endeavour, writing, publishing and marketing by yourself.
I have good contacts in the LGBTQ+ community and when we work together it always feels like we are making a change for good, but in between times and, particularly in the depths of winter, I feel it is all so hard and takes up so much energy, time and resources. Putting a strain on my mental health to the point that I question, is it all worthwhile? Of course, even if one person picks up one of my books and realises they are not alone in their sexuality and finds some solace and perhaps hope through my books, then my job is done. But I need to feel I am doing better at this than I am. Does this sound familiar?
Starting a group
Early on in my writing career I started a group for writers who wanted to self-publish but didn’t know how to go about that. The idea was simple – the group, with all its different and varied talents, would help each other to reach their collective and individual goals by sharing their expertise and experience.
It was very successful, but after two years, I felt I had gone as far as I could with it, and I wanted to move into gay non-fiction.
Could such a group for like-minded LGBTQ+ people interested in writing and publishing, particularly non-fiction, work just as well?
I miss the camaraderie, support and encouragement a collaborative band of individuals with the same mindset and goals can bring when they boost and help one another, creating new projects, new dialogue and new possibilities.
Who I’m looking for
With this in mind, are you a LGBTQ+ podcaster, editor, proofreader, writer, journalist, independent bookshop owner, theatre person or perhaps a film maker, vlogger or blogger who’d like to connect with others in our tribe?
Let’s start the conversation. Let’s band together and really support each other through the lows and highs, and get our voices heard by a wider audience.
Get in touch
Email me DavidLedain@hotmail.com or DM me on Twitter, Insta, FB or Linkedin @davidledain
Nick (he/him) is an experienced professional editor and proofreader, specialising in LGBTQ+ writing.
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