Beyond Writing: My Publishing Team

There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.

Ernest Hemingway

I have bled all the words out of me for Roughing it in Africa. I wrote and edited and wrote some more, then had my publisher go over the book again for another round of edits. But those edits are now done. With the writing done, the hard part started. Time to collect my team. Publishing team that is.

Pulling a Book Together with a Publishing Team

As much as writing is a challenge, I like to think I am reasonably good at it. I have been practicing for years after all. You are supposed to get better with practice. So with the bulk of the writing done, I knew it was time to start the harder part; formatting, design, and marketing of the book I created.

Publishing Consultant

How big should the margins be? What should we use for the cover image, fonts, and sizing of it all? How do you get an ISBN? These were questions I leaned heavily into my publishing consultant for. Sure I had ideas, but Marcia was far more expert in that field. So after she read my little pet project, she took the reigns and together we went about building the physicality of the book. ISBN and dealing with Amazon and Ingram are all her though.

With Marcia onboard as part of my publishing team, it was time to add a few more faces. Marketing is a whole other enterprise and I turned to some other folks for that.

Website Design

In stepped some more experts to help. Thankfully, I meet a lot of people through social media marketing. I needed a helper for building a website but I knew just who to talk to. While you can design your own on plenty of free sites, I wanted something a little more polished. Iron Rhino was the perfect solution and agreed to help build exactly what I needed. I can’t tell you how terrific they are. I described what I wanted and presto, a glittery new space to call home for my book materialized. Ultimately, you will see changes here when we figure that out, but know it is well on its way. You will be the first to know when the website and new blog formally launch.

So, while I bled on the page as I wrote my book, there are so many more hands in it now. I am grateful to Marcia, Chris, Eugene, and Ryan for their help and heavy lifting behind the scenes. Between you and I, I now have a book and website where you can find Roughing it in Africa when it launches on June 24th.

Review Crew

There are yet more people involved now too though. You can’t promote a book without a few glowing reviews. Am I right? After a sweet plea from me, I was blessed to have several people agree to dive in to read the book and provide early reviews. You are part of my publishing team now Corrie, Darin, Rick, Margarita, Nancy, Rebecca, Suzanne, Daisy, and Ryan. I hope you like my words and can muster up a few of your own to make me shine!

Speaking of marketing though, that last step falls back into my lap again. It is kind of what I do after all. Post to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Plus blog. Time to put on my marketing hat and think of the book as a client—separate from myself and worthy of promotion to the fullest. If I can do that for clients, why not me too? Here goes;

Roughing it in Africa

After spending months cooped up in never-ending lockdowns, are you in the mood for adventure? Have you ever dreamed of far-off lands, exotic animals, or the opportunity to meet interesting people through a slightly different lens? Come with me as I take a trip down memory lane to meet long-lost family, explore a continent I had always dreamt of seeing, and sit with me as I reflect on how those people, places, and adventures shaped not only the country of my father’s birth, but me also. Ten months is a long time to adventure and ten countries offer an awful lot of roads to travel.

Grab your backpack. Let’s go!

Get your copy of Roughing it in Africa by Katherine Krige on Amazon starting on June 24th. Available in paperback and on Kindle as an e-book. Support adventure! Support the arts! Support me and my team, plus your dreams and mine! Let’s go!