I came across The Ordinary's Markup Marché campaign. I made my own version for pregnancy books, using made-up covers.

Someone called me the e.l.f. Cosmetics of independent publishing last week. I am choosing to take that as the highest possible compliment.

Aloe vera eye mask on. Decision made. Maternity Abroad is now enrolled in Kindle Unlimited.

I paid close to ten thousand euros for my daughter’s birth because I did not understand how health insurance worked in Portugal. That is how this started.

Turns out Annette and I had been circling the same territory from different directions.

Every pregnancy book I read before my daughter was born told me what to pack in my hospital bag. None of them told me that not understanding how health insurance works in a foreign country would cost me close to ten thousand euros.

I checked the domain for Maternity Abroad expecting the usual high price. It was €4.99. What looked like a coincidence turned into a surprising realization about search, visibility, and how a book can quietly shape its own corner of the internet.