Du Barry Books- my self-published projects on Amazon KDP

How this came to be...

Books have been my passion ever since I learnt how to handle them, and they have always made fantastic presents. As I grew up, I began forming my personal interests spanning from fairy tales to history to mythology to religion, and few other dispersed themes here and there.

With this grew my passion to know more, and to share my knowledge and my point of view of anything which took my fancy or grasped my complete attention! As I reached my 20's, writing began to form a big part of my liking, and since I also love drawing, I felt I possessed the complete package to make my own books; me and my books, my books and me! 😄

My first attempt was to translate select folk and fairy tales by authors Charles Perrault, Hans Christian Andersen and the Grimm Brothers into my mother tongue- Maltese- but unfortunately I had very little luck in expanding in such a tight local market. Most publishers refused my drawings since they had their own illustrators, and when delving into the self-publishing world it cost a pretty penny when comparing profit. Therefore I had to find other sources to make my dream come true.

I was then introduced to self-publishing online, but again I had to explore to find the best means that suited me and my lifestyle, which is when I stumbled by Amazon KDP!
Whilst it is mostly associated with Kindle, KDP also has the facility of publishing paperback books online. It took me a while to get used to uploading my work onto the system, but slowly I think I am getting the hang of it.
As I began imagining my shelves bearing my own work, I then thought 'what should I call my book line?', and bam! Du Barry Books came to mind!
Why Du Barry Books? Well, Du Barry is my most favourite historical personage, of whom I purchased various biographies, and I find all of them fascinating even though they more or less say much the same thing! Still, I fell in love with her and her life...even though she ended up losing her head under the guillotine blade during the French Revolution! 😨 

My first project...

For my first experimentative take, I decided to play with a safe subject which I felt extremely comfortable with....Mermaids!

A Book Of Mermaids on Amazon

I decided on creating a book with light information but heavy with pictures, something to please the eyes- especially mermaid lovers like myself. I made a mix of full-colour and outline designs for those who wished to colour-in. Below are a few of the designs one would find in this book:

& for my second project...

I kept with the marine theme, and having been inspired by a cute Moby Dick painting I saw online, I chose the title Classical & Mythological Marine Nemeses as my next theme. 

This book has a select compilation of creatures from mythology, religion and famous novels which dwell in the depths such as Moby Dick himself, Hook's Crocodile, The Kraken and Leviathan, and which have haunted or entertained humankind throughout the ages. It was very interesting to research and learn as I went along...

Classical & Mythological Marine Nemeses on Amazon

As for my third project...

I still kept with the world under the sea, but went on to create a sweet children's short story of my own. I made up a group of fishy friends who went on a search adventure for one of their friends; I would think it would be a nice bed-time story for youngsters 😊

What Happened to Seamus the Starfish? on Amazon

& what about future projects?...

'Will you be publishing only mermaid and sea-themed books?' I imagine you'd ask...well, I must admit it is indeed a favourite subject and I won't stop...but no, I do not plan to keep only to sea-related stories. 

I am planning on working on books relating Greek myths, children's famous and classic fairy tales, and a bit of history too...not to mention a series of historical pets, starting with none other than my beloved Madame du Barry 😁

For my future published works, you may wish to visit my Amazon author page.

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