Yeah! Psychobabble, my fourth psychological thriller, is live on Kindle and Amazon! Equally as exciting, the paperback version will be available through Barnes & Noble and other book stores and libraries throughout the world! How did a self-published author get onto the bookshelves? Here’s the steps I took to make it happen:

• Asked Barnes & Noble how I, a self-published author, could get my books on their book shelves. Ingram Spark was their answer: 855-997-7275, weekdays 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., weekends 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. or ingramsparksupport@ingramcontent.com
• Viewed all (actually, just a few) of their videos, blogs, and templates, re: book size, book cover, retail price of book, wholesale discount to book store, geographical locations throughout the world to place book, etc.
• Set up an account with Ingram Spark, and then sent my developmental editor, copy editor, and book cover editor (Yes, you must assemble this team first; will discuss how on next blog) a link to my account so they could see what I could see.
• While my team worked on putting a publishable book together for me to upload to Ingram Spark, I hopped on Ingram’s website and completed the brief description, longer description, and other content required on my book.

DON’T DO WHAT I DID AND SCHEDULE A BOOK LAUNCH OR SIGNING BEFORE YOU ACTUALLY HAVE A HARD COPY OF YOUR BOOK IN HAND! Allow two to three months to get it all together, from developmental edit to publication date.

I didn’t understand that each time I made any type of change on Ingram Spark regarding my book, it pushed the publication date back at least a week. Then I had an eproof, and even ordered a paperback proof, before publishing.

JUST KNOW THAT YOU CAN DO THIS! I can’t tell you how many times I phoned and emailed Ingram Spark. Even though you might have to wait on the telephone for quite a while during the lunch or dinner times of day, they are super responsive and helpful. MAKE IT HAPPEN!