Sonja's Speculations

This is the third week I’ve written this blog and for some reason, there are many publishers showing up in my Facebook feed. So I think I’ll discuss the ones I ran across this week.

The first publisher I remember seeing in my Facebook feed is called Rocket. The web address for it is publisherrocket.com, and it was posted by a Facebook page called Kindlepreneur. This publisher promises to help market an author’s works. They also say their product will help an author choose which book to write next based on keyword usage on Amazon. I clicked on the ad and read the pitch for the product. It sounds great on the site, and I was curious so I clicked the “Buy” option to see the pricing. This one is $97.00 as a one time fee for a lifetime of access to the software. It is also called KDP Rocket, or Kindle Direct Publishing. KDP is the publishing house created by Amazon for independent authors. This software, in my opinion, is Amazon’s way of tying the independent authors to Amazon. There are several other places to publish independently, such as iBooks, Create Space, and Lulu. My first reaction to this ad was skepticism, and now I’m unsure of what to do in the future when looking for platforms to publish my work. The link for the ad is here.

The second ad I saw regarding publishing was for Book Baby. The ad says, “This FREE Guide will teach you three vital steps in early-stage book marketing to help build toward a successful book launch.” Another piece of software aimed at authors claiming to be able to market a book, I was more skeptical of this one after the first one. When I clicked on the ad, a pop-up window comes up with a form to fill out to download this guide. If it is free, then why do you need my name and email address? The link to the Book Baby Facebook page is here.

The third publishing type ad I ran across this week is for a Facebook page called Elite Blog Academy. After reading the page a bit, I discovered that this is designed to help a person make money from a blog. The link for the page is here. This product says it will help you make more money from a blog than would have been possible without the product. It sounds like another marketing scheme to me. This product is not available yet, and there is no pricing listed on the ad. By the time I’m done with this week’s post, I’m going to need a long hot shower.

The fourth way of digital publishing I want to examine this week is Kindle Direct Publishing by Amazon. The link to the Facebook page is here. This is Amazon’s jab at the big five publishers. Amazon wants to help independent authors publish without having to go through all of the hassles of using a print book publisher, or this is what they claim. I have two friends who are using KDP to publish their work because neither of them has the time to find an agent and become published traditionally. I am unsure which path I will follow, however, I believe I should finish the first draft before choosing between the two.

For the last part of this weeks blog, I’m going to discuss a post unrelated to publishing. It is a meme posted by a Facebook page called Empaths, Old Souls & Introverts, and I identify with the sentiment of this meme a lot. The link to the meme is here. The meme states, “Spiritual Women … will always attract men who need healing Are no longer taking patients.” I divorced my last husband because I could no longer be his healer/caretaker. I needed to find my identity without him. It has been tough going, but I’m not quitting. I posted this meme on February 21, 2019, and several of my friends have reacted to it, and one commented on it.

For this week’s analysis of the rhetorical situation, I’m going to use the meme I posted. The purpose of the meme is to make women aware that they are allowed to take care of themselves and not worry about others all of the time. This meme has been re-shared four times since I posted it, so it is being seen and discussed on Facebook now. I assume the writer of the meme decided she did not need to be a caretaker for someone anymore and wrote this meme to make people aware that we all have a choice in who we care for and about, and sometimes we should take care of ourselves before worrying about anyone else. Men (Or whoever is taking advantage of the spiritual person) should do the same.