About Laura Kortum
Author, Book Formatter, Publishing Coach. Not necessarily in that order… The 21st Century Author is my vision towards a comprehensive overview of what it takes to self-publish in the current publishing environment. Whether it’s your first book or your 10th…
About Me
First things first, my name is Laura, nice to meet you!
I started my online career as a web designer, back in the day when you still had to know HTML and CSS, and you spent a good portion of your day looking at just code…
Then in 2012, I discovered the self-publishing movement. My interest in publishing was purely technical at the time. you see, eBooks are also made up of HTML and CSS code. It didn’t take me long to adapt my web design skills to online publishing and I quickly learned how to upload eBooks to various retailers. Paperback formatting followed soon after, along with basic graphics design and publishing project management.
The first thing I published was a friend’s non-fiction book and I never looked back.
Around the same time I rekindled my childhood love for writing short stories; a passion which had fallen by the wayside over the years, and started writing and publishing for myself. Romance was my flavour of choice. But, throughout the years, I’ve continued offering book formatting services to other authors alongside my own writing. Simply because I enjoy the process. And every so often I would get a client who didn’t just need help formatting their manuscripts, but also would appreciate being able to talk through the whole process with someone who had ‘been there and done that’ themselves.
I’ve been through a lot over the last 12 years. Between client work and writing my own books; switching genres and figuring out new systems; staying on top of industry developments and changes; getting audiobooks produced and even translations commissioned. I’ve seen the rise of Kindle Unlimited, the death of some small eBook retailers and resulting loss of income, and of course the regular upheaval that happens in the publishing industry, whenever some retailer suddenly changes the rules on everyone.
It’s been a roller coaster ride for sure!
12
Years of Experience
100s
of Books Published
The 21st Century Author is my attempt to quieten the noise of all the conflicting advice that gets doled out to first-time authors. The Gold Rush of the 2010s is over and we’re an established industry now. That means that in order to succeed, you need a good plan and even better advice…
Get expert help !
Sometimes it can be a great help just to talk to someone who has been through the same process before. Someone who can help you figure out where to focus your energy (and your budget!), so you don’t end up wasting your hard-earned money…
Who am I to advise you, you ask? I have been involved in the self-publishing industry for over 12 years now, and helped numerous debut as well as experienced authors publish their books.
2012
After 8 years as a freelance web designer, I learned to apply my coding skills to eBooks and started offering eBook formatting as a service to clients.
2013
Got more serious about writing and publishing my own work alongside client work. I was now able to call myself an author!
2015
Entered new genres and started figuring out the marketing side of the publishing industry. Also: Audiobooks, Paperbacks, Translations and multi-author collaborations!
2022
Launched 21stCenturyAuthor.com and began publishing a series of writing and publishing non-fiction books to share more of my knowledge and experience.