Hey! It's Not About Us is a new book I want to share with all of you. I have posted a blog entry about it already and you can know more about it here.
I just finished formatting the book the other week. I don't know if you're aware, but I also write stories, poetry, and prose aside from writing reviews and other entries here on my blog, and I self-published them, my own written books. hehe. For now, this kind of setup is economical for me and my craft, but of course, I also dream of hiring or having professionals to touch my books but now is not yet the time.
I would like to share the process before I release a book. I only came up with three simple and basic steps.
How to Self-Publish Your Book
1. Write your piece
Either you like to write fiction or non-fiction is up to you. You can't publish a book without written works. As for me, writing is an outlet for my emotions and thoughts. It helps me process my feelings most of the time and I also want to write stories that inspire other people. Right now, I haven't written any story like a novel and I have 3 pending series that I must and want to continue, but I haven't, I can't, or maybe I just don't have the right inspiration for those pending works. I've been meaning to finish them, but... just but... I just can't, for now.
And for my draft, I usually put them on my phone and laptop for offline and on Wattpad for online. The pieces included in this book were written from the year 2020 to 2021.
2. Create Book Covers and Illustrations
I use the Canva app and website for book covers and illustrations. Most of the book covers of my books are from Canva, thank you so much Canva! So for my latest book, I got these illustrations and photos from Canva and put a little personal touch, as in super little. haha. On the copyright page of the book is where I put the credits for Canva. Big thanks Canva! Love, love, love!
3. Layout and format your book
Using Microsoft Word, I format my book with the size 5 by 8, use a font style and size that are pleasing to the eye and also readable. I convert the final document to pdf as an e-book format of the book.
And now finally, It's Not About Us is out, today, September 14, and free for all of you to download, just click here and get 3 other books for free. Get them all for free on this special day!
Special shout out Pinunong Pablo! Happy Birthday!
You and the whole SB19 and your story inspire me to pursue my dream. Thank God, for your lives!
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
We humans make plans, but the Lord has the final word. We may think we know what is right, but the Lord is the judge of our motives. Share your plans with the Lord, and you will succeed.
One of the many struggles of humans is to surrender to God. As if surrendering shows the weakness and flaws in us we always want to forget and hide in the darkest part of our closet. That giving up our rights and entitlement to God would cause such loss of every right of our own humanity. That accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior would take away our freedom and liberty to experience life to the fullest. And a lot more misconceptions about God. All these may appear to be true to us if we do not know the character of our heavenly Father, our One True God, if we don't have a personal intimate relationship, there is a danger of believing all these lies from the enemy.
But God is gracious and merciful. He let us know what we needed to know and never left the essential wisdom and knowledge unheard of from Him. He uses everything and anything to deliver His will right to our doorstep, yet sometimes we tend to be insensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and most of the time, we are impatient. Yes, we are impatient selfish human beings, and our human nature leads us to compromises, and the worst, causes us to sin. We may have past experiences that hold us back and the trauma is still there, but I assure you based on my encounter with Christ there is nothing more redeeming and liberating than accepting Jesus in our lives, He gives us peace, He is the peace we all need to reconcile us with Father God.
Our existence in this life and in this world is not only for us, not solely for our own selfish gain. There is a greater purpose for everything. It is never just about us. We are designed to cooperate and submit to God's law. We are His workmanship and He already prepared us for good works.
Let me share with you Bible verses from Philippians 3:13-14: Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. These Scriptures always encourage me to continue and be intentional in my walk with Jesus. The Christian life is not easy, I can even imagine my sisters and brothers in Christ right now saying in unison that it is not just hard, it is impossible, and I couldn't agree with them more.
Now that all have been said and done, I would also like to share with you a story through the chapbook I mentioned from one of my vlogs. Yep, you read it right, I'm releasing a new book this year 2021. It's a poetry and prose collection or some might say it is a thought catalog, but I'd prefer to call it a journey of letting go and let God be God.
I present to you the book cover of It's Not About Us (But What If It's About Us).
Are you still lost?
I was lost until He found me. I am found. No longer lost. And from my journey of finding Him, He instead found me. I am grateful to be able to publish another poetry book. I intend that this book may glorify my God, the One who found me again. This is for Him. All for Him. For those who feel lost just like I was, may you find Him and be found by Him. He is your Shepherd, if you are lost He will definitely come and find you. May you be victorious in fighting your battles, just like I did. With Him all things are possible. May you also develop a personal relationship with Him. Know Him more, know Him better.
A little teaser from the book:
You can't stop me.
I will keep on moving forward.
You can't shut me out.
I will let my voice out.
You can't tell me what I am.
You have no right anyway.
I am what I am.
That's the truth you can never change.
I pray that this book may inspire others never to give up. I pray that you will endure all your struggles and overcome them. If you feel less, don't be. You are worth more than you can ever imagine. He redeemed us and paid the most expensive debt one can ever have. He loves you. Come to Him if you feel weary and burdened, He will give you rest. Peace and joy will overflow in your life. You are loved. So don't give up!
We're now on the 4th week of ECQ or Enhanced Community Quarantine in Luzon and many cities, towns, and provinces already declared LOCKDOWN due to the inflation of CoVid-19 cases in their respective areas. I hope you're doing fine as you read this and if not I pray that we'll be able to survive this pandemic safe and sound, in Jesus's name.
In line with the implementation of ECQ, many of us are stuck in our house. Probably at this point, you run out of things to do inside the safety of your home. Some of us are maybe taking this time as an opportunity to read all of our TBRs waiting in our bookshelves, and for some writers, they are making the most out of this ECQ to meet their deadlines. Same here! I am trying because for the past weeks, I was just binge-watching on Netflix and reading graphic novels.
After finishing Kingdom season 1 and 2, Crash Landing On You, some classic Ghibli movies, manhuas, mangas, alas, I have finally decided to make an e-book edition of 'I Found You'. You may pre-order now 'I Found You' on Amazon Kindle. Get it for $0.99 (now $2.99). Release day is on April 13. Don't forget to pre-order on Amazon Kindle now!
And I have another surprise for you on April 13. Tune in to my blog, Facebook page, or Instagram. Hope you get a copy of IFY.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
