Becoming a Self-Publishing Author

Do you want to become a self-publishing author? I once asked myself the same question, and that curiosity led me to explore the world of independent publishing. What started as a dream eventually became a journey of learning, challenges, and fulfillment.

When I was little, I often wondered what it would be like to have a book of my own. I loved recording my thoughts and ideas, and I kept a diary from elementary school through college. Even during my college years, I frequently wrote letters to my friends, despite seeing them every day as classmates. I also attempted to write a novel several times, but unfortunately, I lost my drafts because my portable storage was corrupted at that time and I could no longer retrieve them. Fortunately, today we have many ways to save important files and documents securely online or in the cloud.

I remember in college, our English professor asked us to write a short story as part of the requirements to pass the subject. I submitted mine about a month later. When she returned all the short stories my classmates had written, she kept mine. She proudly announced that there was one story she would not return because she loved it, though she never revealed the author’s name. To my surprise, it was my story she kept. I was so happy because it meant I could truly write. That’s why I always wanted to write a novel, but unfortunately, I could never finish one. For some reason, I always lost my drafts, either the portable storage device was destroyed or my PC became corrupted along with the files. Eventually, I lost the interest to continue writing that novel.

But it didn’t stop there. Whenever I was alone, especially while commuting, I would always dream or imagine stories in which I was the main character. These stories were sometimes close to reality and sometimes pure fantasy. Of course, I was always the hero, never the villain.

I never imagined that the time would come when my dream of writing a book would become reality. It’s not a novel, but rather a short memoir about my sufferings and pains when I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. I never thought my first book would be non-fiction, and that it would center on my struggles. In the second edition of my book, When the Storm Breaks (formerly published as In the Midst of the Storm), I mentioned that my original plan was simply to write a letter to the ABS-CBN Maalaala Mo Kaya program. But I realized that the greatness of God in my life must be written in a book, not just aired once and then forgotten. Because I want to worship God for His goodness in my life, and I want that testimony to be remembered by future generations.

Enough with the long introduction. Now, I always wondered how a book is created. How does one become an author? Writing a thesis is different from the kind of book you can buy at a bookstore. When you write a thesis in college, after completing it, you take it to be bound, submit it to your professor, and eventually it ends up in the school library. But what about the books that are sent to bookstores and made available to the public?

I finished the first edition of my book, In the Midst of the Storm, and told myself I would only believe it was real once it was complete and ready for publication. While searching the web, I discovered Amazon KDP self-publishing. I registered and was surprised at how easy the process was. You simply fill out the form provided by Amazon KDP, and they even offer a free ISBN for your book. I designed the cover in Photoshop, and since I have many photographs, I selected one of my own as the cover image. After uploading my manuscript and setting the price, the process was complete. I had successfully published my first book, In the Midst of the Storm.

I printed around 70 copies of my book, all of which were shipped to the Philippines through the My Shopping Box platform. I sold them on Lazada, Shopee, and in person. The book is still available on Amazon, but I stopped printing it for local distribution after deciding to create a second edition and change the title to When the Storm Breaks. I hope you will purchase the book, it means a lot to me whenever someone chooses to read it.

This time, I learned that when publishing a book through Amazon KDP, you do not own the ISBN and cannot use it elsewhere. So I did some research and discovered that it is better to obtain an ISBN through the Philippine National Library. That way, you can use it on any platform, such as Amazon KDP or IngramSpark, and you can also apply your own imprint to the book. For example, you can list your name as the publisher instead of simply “Independent Publisher.”

Before you can get an ISBN for your book, especially if you are new to this, you must first register with the National Book Development Board to obtain certification as an author or writer. After that, you can register your book with the Philippine National Library to receive an ISBN. Once approved, you can proceed with publishing your book on Amazon KDP using your ISBN and your own imprint, rather than simply “Independent Publisher.” In addition, you may also find a local printer in the Philippines so you can produce physical copies of your book here. This makes it much easier to sell locally compared to importing books from abroad, which can be more costly. I will provide an update once my application for NBDB certification and an NLP ISBN is approved.