Something I have learned.

I know that this is not the end of the year, and we are a bit in advance for the New Year's resolution, let alone consideration about this year.

The fact is that October 2019 marks the anniversary of my career as an author.

In October 2016, just three years ago, at this precise moment, I was finalizing the preparations for publishing my debut novel.

I was quite excited about it, and I considered one of the biggest leaps in my life.

Indeed, there have been many leaps I had done. From the day I decided to leave my country to study abroad, to the time when I moved away to another country, following the promise of a job. Then, to the decision that it was perhaps about the time when I published my novel too.

Little I knew at that time about the things I needed to take into account, and it was not just the question of putting something on the internet. It was a question of building my brand, growing my name, and being part of a growing community of writers, whether seasoned or newbies like myself.

I have found an incredible and supportive community ready to give all sorts of advice to bring my novel to the eyes of the readers.

I had many doubts, and some I still have. Something was clear to me since the beginning, I wasn't interested in having a contract with any publishing company, not big nor small. I understood since the beginning that this meant two main things: sharing a cake that might be not big enough and have no words on the creative process. 

In some cases, this would have meant also restricting my say in what and how I wanted to write.

I am a rebel by nature, and I have never accepted people telling me what to do or how to do things unless it was me asking for advice.

I have read many comments of people bashing indie-authors. They claimed that since they are not represented by any publishing houses, they are not worth the attention of a readership. For what I saw, the quality and content can be equally missing in both indie and traditionally published. (I have in mind a few examples, but I am not going to list any of them here).

One big lesson was to build a community, and I have found out that by sharing more than "buy my books," I could grow my list of followers. Those might or might not buy my books, but the more they are, the more I get visibility.

Hence, social media is not really a place where I sell something, but it is a place where I build something, namely connections and brand.

The biggest lesson, anyway, arrived this year after a series of lectures about different kinds of ads. I have tried AMS and BookBub ads, and although I still have a lot to learn, I got results.

I started to study, really taking time to go through all the material I have accumulated and classified 'for later review.'

Well, I guess this is the time when I finally start to review the accumulated material. That is something else I have learned, which is trying not to procrastinate excessively. Nowadays, life is hectic, and we have thousands of things to think about and to do. Nevertheless, I want to try and find the time for my growth as an indie author.

It might take time, but determination can perform miracles.

Will I be able to honor my propositions?

We will see, and I will keep updated. I will also update any progress, whether this could help someone in the same situation.

For now, I just wish you all a great weekend, and stay tuned for next week's blog!

Ghana, the Africa's golden child.

Africa is a rich and diverse continent, where you can find almost everything. Yet, some countries are plagued by corruption, wars, and exploitation.
My blogs are not generally aimed to advertise one or another place; I don't get money from travel agencies to sell a product. Rather, I would like to give an informative and, as accurate as possible, experience about this wonderful continent, full of marvels and contradictions.
After the days spent in Togo, it was the time to move forward with our travel plan and reach the next destination: Accra.
Ghana is well known for being a very rich country, famous for the cocoa plantations, wild honey, textiles and of course, gold.
The first impression we had about the city is that the infrastructures are more developed, which gives to the city a western image, still keeping the beautiful African identity. The beach is something you really want to indulge in, although it is quite far from the heart of the city, the place you want to visit to have a taste of Ghana's life.
When during the day, the beach is a place for great sunbath, surfing, and fun activities, during the night, the beach transforms itself and hashish and marijuana dominate over the scent of the sea.

We reached our hotel, which was located in a convenient area where also all the embassies had their sees.
Despite being also very close to the airport, we didn't get any troubles with the air traffic noise, as one might imagine. The city is very well kept and offers many interesting sights, one of which is the market in the center of the city. That is a place you need to see, as we got lost in the middle wondering where we should have gone to reach the main street. The only landmark we could find was the Sun and the knowledge that the beach was in the South-East direction. Merchants were shouting from their stands, music played all around, scents of grilled food, fish, spices filled the air. Although the place was crowded, it was one of the most interesting experience to walk around and witness the heart of the city beating with enchanting tunes.

The market doesn't have fixed boundaries, it can stretch for streets and squares and slowly its boundaries blend with the normal streets gradually fading away.
Nevertheless, the Market experience was something we kept as a one-day experience, as there were so many more places to visit and to see.
As we explored the city, we had to walk for quite long distances every day, however, we also needed sometimes to call for taxi drivers, and there you need to bargain as much as you can. The prices are not fixed, they are decided, depending on how the taxi driver feels on that day, or who is asking for a ride, (is it a woman or a man, is she/he young or old, is a foreigner or a local). That considered you might have a very expensive ride for a couple of minutes drive and a very cheap one for one hour drive. You need to bargain and be ready to have a nice walk if you think the price is getting out of control.
Another problem with taxi drivers is that they seem not to have any idea about their city. In many cases, we needed to navigate them to the places we needed to go, and I found it hilarious that we knew Accra's locations better than they did.

Walking the streets gives anyway the great chance to take nice pictures of the surrounding and of the wildlife, like the colony of fruit bats that lives happily within the city.

It is also interesting to see all the important sites like the presidential palace, which was quite close to our hotel and gave a nice view both during the day and night.

Together, of course with the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and memorial park, which is located in downtown Accra. It is dedicated to the prominent Ghanaian leader Kwame Nkrumah. The memorial complex was dedicated in 1992

and is situated on the site of the former British colonial polo grounds in Accra.

With that, I hope you have enjoyed this short tour of Accra. I will return next week with another pearl of Nigeria, where our loop journey ended with the visit to the Conservation Park. Don't miss it!