Hi, my name is Kate Haselton. I am a full time student at Emerson and a part time Lush employee, but that isn’t all.

Hi, my name is Zona Haselton. I am the author of my young adult fiction novel, Vengeance, which is now available on Amazon.

Being able to hold my own writing bound in a book is both a dream come true, and a bit strange to say. I am 20 years old, a sophomore college, but I am a published author. It is a weird thing to tell people, but it is something that I am so proud of that words don’t describe my emotions. Being able to say that I am a published author is something that I have dreamed of since I was in 7th grade. It brings me stupid amounts of joy when I hold my book in my hands and flip through the pages and see all of my original words. It is something that I never thought would happen, or at least, happen so soon. It is absolutely insane.

Still, there is something that I must confess. Self published authors do not get the best of reputations. Though many people do see self publishing as a viable option for authors to get their start in the literary world, there are still many people who believe that self publishing is for “wannabe authors”. There are many people who think that if you are self published, then you are someone who does not care about the craft of writing and instead simply care about the money.

Well, it is time to dispel those rumors right now. Being a self published author does not mean that you are in it for nothing but the money. In fact, it is actually just as difficult to make a living from your writing no matter which route you decide to go down when it comes to publishing. Also, being a self published author means that you own your work. Nothing goes to the publishing company, and it is your work for you to do whatever you wish with it. When you send your work to a publishing company, it is very possible that they can take your work for their own, but they can also take your work and kick you off the project entirely. They can take this piece of writing that you possibly dedicated your life to and completely change it around just so that they can make money.

Self publishing is still more difficult to do than traditional publishing though. With traditional publishing, you get everything from a marketing team to a design team. Everything is done for you and all you need to do as the author is sign the contract. When an author self publishes, the designing, editing, marketing, and everything in between is all up to them. You as the author are left to do everything on your own with very little guidance.

So, when I published Vengeance, it was up to me to do everything on my own. I had a friend take the photo and design my cover, and I had another friend edit the entire thing, and I also read through it two other times to edit it further. It isn’t an easy process, but at the end of the day, Vengeance is still my book. It is published under my name and everything is exactly how I wanted it to be. Being a full time student at a college that is a big fan of assigning a ton of work, holding a part time job, writing for school organizations, and also being a self published author who has to keep up with the marketing behind making my novel take off, is not easy. Still, it is worth it just to hold my book in my hands and tell people, “yes, this is my book that I wrote when I was a sophomore in high school and four years later it is published. Yes, I am more proud than words can describe.”

Let me know what you think! I always love to hear what people think about the subject. Also, you can buy my book, Vengeance, on Amazon! Be sure to order your copy today!