This week we’re joined by traveloguer Kandy Ostrosky, who turned her volunteering adventures into a book about her passion for travel and caring for animals. Kandy’s a prime example that just because you self-publish, doesn’t mean you have to do all the steps yourself. Find out who she enlisted to help her publish her book, and the valuable lessons she learnt through the process.

If you’ve ever thought out documenting your travel experiences in a travel journal, Kandy’s success story may be the inspiration you need to to keep taking those notes and documenting your story. One day you can turn these notes into a book to share with others.

Author Interview:  Kandy Ostrosky

How would you describe the type of books/genre you write?

Love, Travel, and Volunteering is a nonfiction travelogue diary entry.

What motivated you to start writing?

I journaled almost daily in 2017-2019, when I was on my trips. I journaled my travel and volunteer experiences for myself, and I didn’t think about turning it into a book until Jan 2021 when I had a lot of free time.

Tell us the journey you went on to get your books published (e.g. direct on your website, self-published, assisted-publishing, traditional publisher)

I signed up to self-publishing school, I randomly, came across a link to the site. There were good reviews about it so I signed up. I completed their program, which walked me through the self-publishing process. I hired 2 editors, a cover designer, and a formatter.

What publishing elements do you most enjoy and most like to avoid, and why? (e.g. design, marketing, formatting etc.)

• I really enjoyed the cover design part of the book because at that point, I realized that I am going to publish my book. As well, I enjoyed looking at the several covers, as each were so different. I did find this part of the publishing process a little difficult because I didn’t know which cover I should choose. As well, when choosing a cover is was important to look at the covers in top 100 best sellers in my genre, to ensure the font, colour, images on the cover were similar. Although, I decided to go with the picture of the monkey and me, instead of having scenery picture on the cover.
• I did not enjoy the editing process, as it was long and tedious, although when I received the final version of my book, I thought editing wasn’t as bad as I thought it was.
• I somewhat enjoy the formatting stage. It was fun being able to see the different fonts, knowing that is what my book would look like.
• I did not like choosing the keywords and categories because this was time consuming, although I didn’t mind it in the end.

With the hindsight of being a published author, anything you would have done differently?

• As a self-published author, I control over everything. I can change my book cover and add and delete things from my book & republish if I want to. As well, I can set my own price for the book, and I can change it whenever I want, or run promotions when I want.
• I would have only published 1 paperback, instead of having 1 black and white & the other coloured. This has a negative impact on the categories I picked for my book because the low-ranking categories I could have put under the black and white book, which would have increased my chances of becoming a best-sellers even more times, as right now I have been a best-sellers in 3 categories. As well, I would have had a better chance of becoming #1 new release in several other categories.
• I would have made sure my book was all written in 1^st person and that it did not go back and forth in tenses

What tips or advice would you give an aspiring indie author who is looking to self-publish?

• Find a good editor.
• Before you send your manuscript off to the formatter make sure it is exactly, how you want it, or you may have to pay to have it reformatted.
• Start building your launch team as a soon as you can.
• Make sure your book is written in the same tense.

What marketing or promotional tools or techniques do you use to reach your readers?

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTock, Amazon ads, promotional sites, word of mouth, and podcasts.

What impact do you want your books to have on your readers?

I want my book to encourage my readers to volunteer, to travel solo, to make a positive impact on the world, to learn something new that they did not know, wither it be about another country, or in the lessons learned that I include after each diary entry.

What is your latest book about?

There are travel and volunteer pictures from all the countries that I have visited – this will help bring the reader closer to feeling like they are travelling through that country

A portion of proceeds from my book will be donated to The Animal House Jamaica, a no-kill shelter that is non-profit. I try to volunteer at this shelter at least once a year.

What’s next on your writing journey?

I want to volunteer in Romania with dogs.

About the Author

Kandy is from Hamilton, Ontario. She has been a registered practical nurse since 2012 and began her career on a stroke rehabilitation unit. Currently, she works on a neurobehavioural unit.

Her love and passion for nursing and helping people created her desire to volunteer in underdeveloped countries. She began journaling her trips in 2017 and will continue to journal her future adventures, as she wants to create a second part of this travelogue.

• Website: https://lovetravelvolunteer.com
• https://twitter.com/AuthorKandy
• https://www.instagram.com/authorkandy/
• https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKandy

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