Summary

An author has successfully leveraged their Medium articles to publish numerous books across various genres and topics, detailing their journey and the resources they utilized in the process.

Abstract

Since joining Medium in May 2020, the author has prolifically published 890 articles and short stories, which have been repurposed into over 20 ebook, paperback, and hardback books. With a creative approach, they have compiled diverse stories into cohesive collections, addressing topics from the meaning of life to humorous anecdotes. The author has also shared their self-publishing process, including editing, formatting, cover design, and the use of platforms like Amazon KDP. They have embraced a range of genres, from dramatic thrillers to musical history, and have expressed pride in their accomplishments, emphasizing the joy of creation and learning over financial success. The author's journey demonstrates the potential of repurposing digital content into tangible books, and they credit their mentor and the Illumination publication for their growth as a writer.

Opinions

The author is proud of their extensive body of work and the books they have published, regardless of sales figures.
They believe in the value of repurposing existing content to create new works, such as turning Medium articles into books.
The process of self-publishing is seen as both educational and rewarding, with the author learning new skills and enjoying the creative control it offers.
There is an appreciation for the element of surprise in reading, as the author's book is designed to be read in a non-linear fashion.
The author expresses gratitude towards their mentor, Dr. Mehmet Yildiz, and the Illumination publication for their success and development as a writer.
They endorse the use of various resources and platforms, such as Canva, Fiverr, and Amazon KDP, for their efficiency and effectiveness in the self-publishing process.
The author emphasizes the importance of a diverse range of topics in their writing, aiming to entertain, inform, and provoke thought in their readers.

On The Road To Success

Blazing A Trail For Others To Follow

Since I joined Medium in May 2020 I have published 890 articles and short stories. In the last three months I have created and published 20 ebook, paperback and hardback books from those almost 900 postings. As of today I have at least two more paperback books in the works and plan to publish them in the coming week. I estimate that my archive of published pieces have more than enough material to create up to at least thirty books in total! Here is an Amazon KDP screen shot of some of the books I have published so far.

Screen shot of books published on Amazon KDP.

A recently published musical history/biography out now on Amazon KDP.

A newly published book on the origin of our species and an eclectic mix of other highly interesting subjects.

The above recently published book came about as a result of collecting up a diverse collection of stories that didn’t seem to have any sort of generic home. Here is my rational in the form of an introduction to the book.

Introduction

This book contains a randomly written eclectic mix of short articles previously published in a variety of online writers’ platforms over the past four years. It is a vibrant collection, dealing with the origins, nature and the meaning of life on Earth, how we are all connected, and even touches upon proof positive of the existence of God!

The serious pieces are interspersed with some interesting and fun stuff, such as the importance of meaningless conversation and contemplating my IQ whilst sitting on a potty.

There is also a piece on the art of buying and selling cars, a commentary on the patently false, audacious claim that it is a man’s world, all lovingly complemented by articles on how to lose weight, dealing with a predominantly female mystery illness and how to make a delicious dish of pasta with pesto sauce.

The whole idea of bringing such a wide variety of subjects into one collection was to introduce an element of surprise and delight to the reader in an entertaining, informative, educational, humorous, and thought-provoking manner. And because the different chapters do not conform to any logical sequence, it is the sort of book you can dip into as randomly as you like, even beginning in the middle or at the end if you so desire.

Above all, reading of this book is as good a way to pass time as any, at a bus stop, on a train or plane, or cuddled up on a sofa at home. And hopefully, you may even learn a thing or two about subjects you have occasionally pondered upon. Enjoy.

Of course, I would be proud of what I have achieved to date, even if I did not sell a single book, although the books are selling. What I have discovered on this journey of self publishing is a new use for my extensive Medium archive of material.

What I have learned so far includes…

How to edit archived old postings into a series of over twenty completely new paperback books. How to format books for publication. How to design book covers. How to self publish finished books on Amazon KDP.

The resources I have learned to use include…

Pages. Grammarly. YouTube tutorial videos. Unsplash. Pexels. Pixabay. Canva. Amazon KDP.

My only financial outlay is a monthly subscription of about ten dollars to Canva, which is worth every single penny. I must point out that you can use Canva totally free of any charges, I just loved it so much I decided to upgrade to monthly subs for extra features.

I have also used what I would call a process of reverse engineering by having one of my books formatted for me by a pro, who I found on Fiverr, and then making note of all of the Pages settings he used. The books I have created using all of the above mentioned resources include the following.

Fictional novelas. Collected short stories. Collected Poems. Biographical and semi-biographical stories. Collected technology blogs. Musical history books.

The genres I have covered include fast moving dramatic espionage thrillers, sci-fi and the supernatural adventures.

The book below, Time To Kill, was inspired by a plethora of real life events which beset me and drove me to the extreme of wanting to do something drastic, which thankfully I never did, and never would do, except in a fictional story.

A new thriller in the process of being written.

One final note, I normally self publish this type of story on my own pub ‘Time To Shine On Self Publishing.’ However, this time I felt that it since the object of my purpose was to help as many writers as possible, it made sense to publish to a wider audience where I am better known, Illumination.

I am still a Consulting Editor for Illumination and since that is where I cut my teeth as a writer, I have a soft spot for that publication. I owe my success as a writer not merely to Illumination, but also a debt of gratitude to Illumination founder, owner and my very own Mentor, Dr Mehmet Yildiz.