Although I have kept journals and written reports for work through the years, I have never considered myself a “writer”. That word evokes images of well-known authors from the past and the present, not someone like me.

Recently, however, I decided to write a book about my son’s long battle with an extremely rare form of incurable lymphoma. During his illness I had kept a journal, and that was the basis for my book. Once the book was done I decided to copyright it before considering my options to publish. Being new to this industry, I was tentatively feeling my way through the steps I needed to take. Eventually I started checking into publishing companies. Many people told me to hire an agent; but with no promise of success, I was reluctant to do that.

Finally, I hit upon the Print on Demand companies out on the web. My next step was to actually find the best company to publish with. I bought a book online that rated many of the companies out there. What I found was interesting. You don’t have to pay a lot of money to be with a quality company.

The company I chose was BookLocker. I read that they turn away over 90% of the manuscripts submitted to them, but I believed in my book and decided to try. To my surprise and delight, they agreed to publish my book.

Once my book was published, the final step was to actually market my book. BookLocker gave me numerous helpful ideas. One idea was to have book signings. But everything I read insisted that you usually don’t sell many books at a signing.

I decided to approach my company about having a book signing at work. They agreed to it, so I made up posters and bookmarks and ordered 100 books. We have about 130 employees, so I was being optimistic. My company ordered cookies, and they set me up in the atrium outside the cafeteria and gym for two hours around lunchtime. When the final tally was in, I had sold 83 copies of my book, beating everyone’s expectations!

My life as an “author” has just begun, but it has already been rewarding in many ways. Hopefully the rest of my marketing ideas will be just as successful.

Linda Stechert is new to the field of writing. Her first book, Strength and Courage, has been getting rave reviews. She is a life-long resident of New Jersey, currently living in rural Warren County with her husband Carl. They have two grown children – Curt and Sheri. Linda and her husband enjoy traveling around the United States. One of Linda’s goals is to see all 50 states; to date she has been to 40 of them. You can find her book at: https://www.booklocker.com/books/2085.html.