So, my standards might be low, but I’m incredible proud of what I consider to be my latest achievement. This week, my self reflection journal with daily journal prompts was published on Amazon! It’s available in both a hardback with a matte finish and a paperback with a glossy finish. And here it is in the flesh on Amazon.co.uk! It’s also available in paperback in eleven other Amazon marketplaces around the world, and in hardback in eight others.
In self-publishing marketplaces such as Amazon KDP, journals like mine are categorised as “low content books”. These are essentially books, notepads, and journals designed to be populated by the user. However, I’d argue that mine is slightly higher content than most others in its category. Plus, the limited content it does contain came from carefully thought-through ideation and selection. Let me explain.
Why did I decide to make this reflection journal?
I’ve used many different types of journal as part of my growth journey over the last few years. Some of my favourites include:
- The 6 Minute Diary, which I used several years back to transition away from my time-intensive bullet journaling hobby
- The Gratitude Journal from Clever Fox, which I used as my second journal after I started gratitude journaling last year
Both are solid examples of premium journals, and I’ll probably buy both again at some point in future. Ultimately, most journals only last around three to six months, and variety keeps it interesting!
However, after recently completing the Self-Care Journal from Clever Fox, I found I was looking for something in my next journal which simply didn’t exist. One the one hand, I love the way that some of these journals break your daily journal page up into inspirational sections such as “today’s goals” and “things I’m grateful for”. However, I often find that there’s too much space for some parts and not enough for others. In particular, I often found myself wanting to write more freely about my day than I am given space for.
Why would a blank reflection journal not do the job?
So, you might say “use a blank journal?!” And I tried that too. And while there were parts about the freedom that I loved, there were days when I wouldn’t have as much inspiration, or would find myself missing the prompts that more structured reflection journals would provide. I would even end up searching for journal prompts online in order to help me write something meaningful or challenge myself to dig a little deeper.
What I struggled to find was a reflection journal which gave me a full page per day to write whatever I wanted, but also gave me some light-touch daily inspiration to keep me moving in the right direction even on less inspirational days. So, I decided to create one myself!
What makes my journal different?
So, my journal doesn’t have boxed out sections and subheadings for you to complete within the constraints of the box, with lots of wasted whitespace around the boxes, and even more inside the boxes which are too big for your needs. On the other hand, my journal isn’t a completely blank and empty page to fill in every day without any guidance or inspiration whatsoever. Instead, my journal provides a blank date line at the top of each page (ensuring the journal is undated and can be started at any time), a full page of lines for free writing each day, plus a unique daily journal prompt at the top of each page.
And the best part? With the journal prompt, you can take it or leave it! It’s not it’s own box or section of the page. It doesn’t mean you leave a big blank space if you decide that today’s prompt isn’t for you. You can read it, write about it, answer it, or ignore it and write whatever you want about your day. As I mention in the start of the book, this is Your Journal, Your Way.
What’s it like in the flesh?
Today, the author copy of my hardback version arrived! I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. I knew the quality would be pretty good as ultimately it’s Amazon printing my book! They take several days to approve each version, so I had to believe that the printed copy would be decent. But still, as I’m a complete amateur, I was concerned that my design wouldn’t be good enough to look good in its printed form, whoever was printing it! However, I was very pleasantly surprised when I finally saw and held my finished product.
I’m still awaiting the paperback author copies so I shall keep you posted, but if they’re anything like the hardback copies I’ll be pretty chuffed!
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