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Jessica Urlichs on Self-Publishing: Advice for New Authors & Poets
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Before I was an author
Hi everyone!
I am Jessica Urlichs and I am a self-published and published author based in New Zealand. I live in Christchurch and am a mother to three young children.
Before becoming an author, I never really knew what I wanted out of a career. I did a course in bookkeeping when I lived over in Australia and did some accounting work. I moved onto EA work for a Marketing Manager for a Pharmaceutical company before we made the move back to Christchurch. I then found a job working in Human Resources.
So, I have always flitted between different areas without ever really finding my passion.
A dream turned reality
Writing has always been a huge one for me, ever since the young age of 5. I had this dream I would become a poet one day, but it never occurred to me that it actually might come true.
When my second born was 6 months old I decided to put some of my very big feelings into words, which turned into poetry and prose that I decided to share on social media through a separate account.
For some reason, sharing the very raw emotions of motherhood felt easier to do in front of a bunch of strangers than with the people I knew.
But over time I grew such a supportive community who made being vulnerable so much easier, in turn, I think it gave them permission to be vulnerable too. After my collection began to build up one of my followers actually suggested I put them all into a book.
This had never occurred to me, all I really wanted to do was tell my stories and hope that it reached those that it needed to. But the idea kept floating around in my head until I decided that maybe I would just self-publish. I reached out to a writer friend of mine in the UK who had published through Ingram and KDP, there weren’t really any outlay costs so I decided there wasn’t any risk in trying.
Publishing during a Pandemic
I published it right at the beginning of the pandemic. To be honest, I thought it might mean it didn’t sell at all – but I think it was the time a lot of new mothers needed those words the most.
My self published books👇
- From One Mom to a Mother,
- All I See Is You and
- My After All
are through KDP and Ingram which means Amazon, and most online book retailers through Ingram.
Mistakes were made...
My biggest mistake was not hiring a professional editor. I cannot even count how many times I noticed an error or was alerted to one (mortifying). Even myself, my husband and then my Mum wasn’t enough! It can be so easy to miss little things.
If I was to self-publish again I would hire an editor without a second thought!
Steps to self-publishing
I didn’t do any courses, but I watched some of the tutorials online and connected with authors I respected and became friends with online.
I would highly recommend reaching out to someone who has been on the same journey. It’s helpful to get little tips and tricks along the way, like:
❓whether you want to be exclusive to KDP?
❓whether you want to just go through a local printer instead?
❓what should you charge your wholesale price at? How does this affect the mark up price online?
… there are a few things you learn along the way.
Do you have an idea for a book but not sure what to do about it?
Well then – be sure to watch Laura’s FREE webinars on Getting Started with writing a children’s book!
Self-publishing Vs Traditional Publishing
Comparing my self-published journey with my [traditional] publishing journey is quite interesting because I have put a lot of effort into both.
I guess because I have created a large audience to market to I will never truly know what method works best for sales, being self-published, or published?
My [traditionally] published books:
👉are through mainstream stores
👉exceptional in the quality
👉enter different charts and get in front of a lot more people👀
Having said that, my first self-published book still remains (at this stage) to be my most gifted book to mothers and you have full control of your self-published works (and your royalties are a lot more).
Moving forward
I do have more books in the works, but due to how busy things have become as a busy mum of 3, I am staying with my publishers for future opportunities. But I may have another self published book of poetry in me yet!
From [first] book idea to publication
I would say from the [book] idea to it being read would have been 6 weeks, possibly less! I can’t remember exactly, but usually when I get an idea in my head I get onto it pretty quickly.
It was such a surreal feeling, a huge accomplishment but also a sense of nerves, like … will anyone even want to read this? Which I think is pretty standard having self doubt as a creative!
Being able to call myself an author just didn’t feel real, it was an amazing moment and one I had dreamed of.
The hardest thing about self-publishing
Hardest thing would have just been navigating it all on my own and hoping book stores would want to stock it. You wear many hats when self-publishing but the best thing is how rewarding it all is, that real feeling of achievement of having done it all yourself!
My Advice
🗣️Speak to others who have self-published if you can
🔎Do your research on other authors in your genre and their journey
💰Spend the money for a good designer for your book cover
👏Remember to celebrate your success each step of the way!
You never know where your journey may lead and what opportunities may arise.
You can find and follow Jessica Urlichs on socials: Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok & Pinterest.
You can also visit her website where you will find the nitty-gritty details on all of her books, cards, merchandise and one of her latest achievements – lullaby songs! 🎵
Article & images kindly supplied by Jessica Urlichs.
Jess’s books have made it into two categories in our There’s a Book For That blog:
This post may contain affiliate links. If you buy something through our links, we may earn a small commission.
Meet Jessica Urlichs
Jessica Urlichs is an international best-selling author and poet from New Zealand. She writes honest and heartfelt poetry that connects with mums EVERYWHERE (including myself). I trust you would have come across at least one of Jess’ poems via social media – her content is shared widely due to the relatable nature and articulate words she uses to capture the ups and downs that is motherhood and postpartum.
She is a mum of three and before being ‘picked up’ by traditional publishers, Jess started out as a self-published author!
Read her article below to find out how she did it! But first…
Koala Lou by Mem Fox
Jessica's favourite book from childhood?
Jess' kids favourite picture books?
At the moment, in this house it ranges from Mincecraft to Peppa Pig and Bluey. Of course the kids do enjoy reading my books The Rainbow In My Heart and Let Me Be Frank too.
The Indie Author Diaries
If you’re interested in sharing your self-publishing story for our Indie Author Diaries blog series, get in touch today!
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