I suppose you could go and check out my About page, what with its carefully tailored descriptions and third-person narration. But where’s the fun in that? Since this is the beginning of my blogging over here, it only seemed appropriate to talk about how I got started with all this craziness.
I’m JD Monroe! That’s a pen name, and if you’re on the site this early in the game – congratulations for being an early adopter and liking me before it was cool – then you probably already know me IRL. (I have, like, tens of friends.) I currently have a young adult novel published under a different name. I chose to create a new name to draw a bit of a line between that work and my more adult-oriented work.
I’ve wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. Seriously, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to. That said, I never did any serious writing until my mid-twenties. The process of going from “someday writer” to “actual writer” probably warrants its own post some day, so I’ll keep it brief.
My first published novel (the fourth I wrote) was traditionally published in 2013 with a small press, but after some soul-searching and a whole lot of hype, I decided I was interested in the world of self-publishing. After talking with a whole bunch of authors who have been really satisfied with their choice to self-publish, I’m going for it. I’ve discovered quickly that it’s not quite as easy as I thought! In the last few months, I’ve learned a whole lot. I didn’t know just how much I didn’t know. I’ve learned, with varying degrees of mastery:
- approximately 0.00005% of what there is to know about small business taxes
- how to format eBooks – my next goal is to do it with less than 321 swear words
- how to format print books – considering I haven’t actually ordered them yet, no promises on the number of swear words involved
- how to make 3D book covers – thanks Youtube!
- how to spend eight hours “working” and accomplish NOTHING
- that the fastest way to get my house clean is to say that I’m going to sit down to write for three hours in the morning
But it’s a work in progress. (Aren’t we all?) So there’s a quick intro to moi. Got questions? Let me know in the comments what you’d like to hear about next time!
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