BookLife Talks with S.L. Jackson

To prepare for the publication of his debut, Animal Instincts: The Urban Jungle, Jackson explored many options for marketing and promotion. He cautions self-published authors to do their research so that they won’t be taken advantage of.

How did you come up with the premise of your book?

I came up with my book, Animal Instincts: The Urban Jungle, thanks to a creative writing assignment I received decades ago, in fourth grade. The story was in my head for years, so I decided to write it in 2019 and publish it in 2020.

As this is your debut, what did you find most difficult about the writing process and how did you overcome it?

The writing process was easy; writing comes naturally to me. I’ve been writing music, movies, and stories since I was a kid. However, the process of marketing, promoting, and selling books has been difficult. You must be cautious spending money when you’re self-published, self-financed, and new to the industry. People will try to take advantage. The way I’ve been dealing with this is using referrals and doing a lot of research on what’s creditable and what’s not. I’ve also learned something that’s very important to any author: the publishing industry and the book consumer market require different forms of promotion. Being an “award-winning, bestselling author” doesn’t necessarily mean that you have good content, and that works the other way around as well. (Read More)