Happy Wednesday! Today I’m talking about a few things I’ve
learned along the way of self-pubbing my first book, The Glass Gargoyle. Six
things…more or less, kinda sorta ;).
Please add your own!
1) Research and planning is necessary. Back in March 2014 I decided I wanted to have
more control over my work, so I decided I was going to self-publish. In a year.
Yes, you can slap anything up on Amazon in less than 20 minutes. But DON’T do
it. Your building a career here- take your time do it right. I hunted down lots of sources of info during
my year, I also found editors, artists and started the second book, The
Obsidian Chimera. Favorite book is Write.Publish.Repeat. Awesome- go buy it!
2) Set deadlines. I told myself ONE YEAR. Now, I barely made it, the book
came out March 25, 2015. But I did make it ;). Having a deadline was huge and
kept me running for it.
3) Plan for way more time than you think things
will take. EVERYTHING takes longer than you think. Plan your time and double
it. Seriously.
4) Be prepared for some folks to sneer. Self-publishing is moving forward, but there
are still snarky folks out there. Smile, move on, and get them the heck out of
your life as much as possible.
5) DO IT RIGHT. Hire editors, even if you have a
Ph. D in English- find great editors to work with! Line up some awesome beta readers
too- they are worth their weight in gold. Learn how to work with edits and
critiques to keep your voice, but strengthen the book. Hire artists too. Yes,
judging a book by its’ cover is “bad” but people do. I do. You do. Your readers
do. Find the best artist you can afford.
6) Accept shit will go wrong. Lots of it.
Constantly. Like all the time. You will be putting out fires on a lot of
fronts. Some you can fix, some you can’t. Know when you have done your best to
present a professional book and move on. If having a few typos, etc is good
enough for the big NY publishers, it’s good enough for us. Besides, you will always
find one more problem. Fix them as you can, then start playing “Let It Go!” from Frozen on repeat.
This experience has been life changing-seriously. I think
about everything differently now. And I
wouldn't change it.
Great post. Having recently self-pubbed, I completely agree with you on all 6 points. I do think, as with anything, it gets easier after the first run. Thanks for sharing this! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Carlene! I either have to laugh, or curl up in a tiny ball weeping uncontrollably....it was a close call :). Tell your friends to stand strong- they can do it!
DeleteThanks for coming by and commenting!
Marie- at day job, can't log on :)
SIGH...Ok, so JC's response got eaten and it put Carlene's here! I'll try and fix it at home tonight....
DeleteWhat I had for JC:
Thanks,JC! I really hope so! Book 2 comes out in JUNE!
Thanks for coming by and commenting!
Marie- at day job, can't log on :)
Great post. Having recently self-pubbed, I completely agree with you on all 6 points. I do think, as with anything, it gets easier after the first run. Thanks for sharing this! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for this funny and informative post today, Marie! I love the sense of humor you have about it! I'm sharing this with some friends who are just about on the verge of braving the self-pubbing waters and I think this will give them a good boost. Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Carlene! I either have to laugh, or curl up in a tiny ball weeping uncontrollably....it was a close call :). Tell your friends to stand strong- they can do it!
DeleteThanks for coming by and commenting!
Marie- at day job, can't log on :)
It's kinda like the first drawing you ever do. The end result may be what you want and people love it, but, for you, all the eraser marks are still there (even if cleverly hidden), the proportions could be better (even though it looks like what you wanted to portray), no one and I mean no one (but you) knows how much time it took to make something that looks so effortless on the surface. But writing, like drawing, should get easier with every attempt. You know what works and what doesn't now. The effort is still required, but now that effort goes toward the end product, not the mistakes. I have faith in you, Marie. Go get em!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sharon! The writing IS getting easier, I know my process now pretty well and know when to freak and when to say, "you got this!" it's all the other stuff involved that's got the learning curve right now!
DeleteBut I'm glad you have faith in me!
Thanks for coming by and commenting!
Marie- at day job, can't log on :)
Great post, Marie.
ReplyDeleteWhat I found most helpful, besides hiring an editor and beta readers, is learning to keep your voice. It's taken me years to do that, 'cause when you begin, you try to absorb every point of view you can get on editing, but eventually you know which critiques to accept and which not to accept.
Good luck with Chimera,
Susan
Very good point, Susan, and thank you! As writers, we are always growing, and "hearing" and understanding our own voice is one of the big things we learn.
DeleteKeeping your voice in the face of all these edits can be daunting.
ReplyDeleteWhen I finish my book, I'm going to check back with you to see who you used as an editor. I assume you were happy with him/her/them.
I agree, Ken. It's crucial to be able to tell when an edit is fixing something, and when it is destroying your voice. Good editors understand voice- always as for a sample edit!
DeleteGreat post! I've been considering self pub in the future and have been reading up on everything- thanks for sharing your self pub journey :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Maureen :). I can tell you it is an insane journey, but worth it :). Good luck on your adventures!
DeleteWonderful advice. Especially about hiring an editor. We can't see our own mistakes, so that is critical. And yes, readers DO judge a book by its cover. You have 3 seconds to win them over in a thumbnail. Just because you CAN make a cover, doesn't mean you should. Good job!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Morgan! :)
Delete