Paula Omokhomion is a Master of Public Policy student at the UC Riverside School of Public Policy, though she’s fairly certain that won’t be forever. She holds a B.S. in Public Health Nutrition from UNC Chapel Hill, where she also minored in Creative Writing (Fiction) and graduated with highest honors for her 120-page thesis novella, New Age Taffeta.
Paula developed her skills and love
for writing fiction in a very, very interesting Nigerian boarding
school, where the lack of television meant she had to invent
entertainment for everyone else. She loves reading manhwa, watching
Indian TV dramas, listening to music, and writing short stories.When not
doing any of those or in the classroom handling R code, she’s refining
her LinkedIn or taking Instagram selfies.
She lives in California with her family,
including her two fellow triplets, and is currently dreaming of a future
PhD in public health—and maybe another novel.
Visit her website or connect with her on Facebook and Instagram.
You self-published your latest book, Shape of the Sun. Would you please tell us why you chose the self-publishing route?
I really didn’t think the traditional publishing route matched my intent for SOTS which was a small and independent work. I believe I wanted it to feel more tight-knit and with me having more creative control over the process. The work was written on Wattpad and I had a community of readers which gave it sort of like a homey feel. Going traditional publishing felt analogous to going corporate from home.
Take us through the process. You had an idea for your book, you wrote it, then you decided to find a publisher. What were your experiences with that? Or did you decide to self-publish without looking any farther?
Oh yes, I didn’t actually try to find a publisher. I’m not really certain why but I wrote Shape of the Sun intending to self-publish it.
What different online stores carry your book?
Amazon, Selar, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and other stores like Vivlio and Thalia that distributes to European countries.
On the other hand, self-published authors have the edge over traditional books in the regards that the author has all the control. I’d like to begin with your cover. Did you make it or did you have someone else design it? If you had someone else, can you tell us who it is?
I made the cover by myself on Canva.
So where do you see self-published authors making the biggest mistakes overall?
Getting excited and falling into the trap of scammers. They are literally everywhere, ready to take advantage, and I almost fell victim to one. In addition, being afraid to market your book.
What do you believe the biggest advantages are when self-publishing?’
Self-publishers have control over the marketing and perception of their book. In addition, you also get to develop your own social media skills and interact with other indie authors.
What was the hardest challenge for you to self-publish your book?
I believe that it was navigating the artists and also marketing. At first, it does feel somewhat embarrassing to ask someone to buy your work, and that’s why its important to love your work first. You have to be confident you at least did something good to brag about it.
Did you get someone to format your book for you or did you do that?
I actually formatted it all by myself and Draft2Digital actually made the process very easy because you can preview your work before publishing. So, I was able to see and conclude how I wanted it to look.
What steps are you taking to promote it?
I got an excellent artist for my book and posted the graphics and Trailers online for the public to see. I think it helps that I originally have a sizeable social media following (not too much haha), so I got eyes on it. I also got some independent reviewers to see my work and post some video reviews on social media. I paid for two social media ads too that increased my follow count, so that worked in that way.
In addition, I am on this excellent book tour and I also reached out to some book reviewers with Youtube channels for an interview. Also threads is such an excellent resource because many people ask for book recommendations there. I put all this information on my website, so when people check on my academic stuff, they also see my book.
Do you have any advice you’d like to share with other self-published authors?
I’d advice them to get a threads account and make efforts to respond to recommendation requests and flaunt their work. In addition, joining a collective like the Indie Author Collective allows you opportunities to find other indie authors, have your work be SEO optimized, and take advantage of any stuff your kindle events that they have.
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