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Lessons learned (so far) from self-publishing
As I painfully wend my way toward being able to announce the release of my first novel, Viral, I’m accumulating experience and learning as I go. Here are just a few of lessons I’ve learned, with more to come, I’m sure!
- You wear a LOT of hats. Since this is a side gig and one I’m trying to do at a pace that doesn’t take over my life, I’m trying not to stress over any one part of the process. But there are so many pieces to manage in self-publishing! Besides writer, editor, and proofreader, I’m also my marketing/publicity/sales rep, my designer (well, I would be if I weren’t lucky enough to be getting family help), my bookkeeper and, as soon as I get my print version made, my bookseller.
- But I don’t need a staff or publishing house to get help. So far I’ve gotten an author sketch from Fiverr, photography for this site and my social media accounts from Unsplash, and distribution from IngramSpark. Plus advice and assistance (and design help) from friends and family. I do what I can by myself, and when it’s out of my depth, free and cheap resources are out there.
- There are so many decisions to make! One of the hardest for me has been deciding on price. I only want to make a couple dollars per copy sold, but there are so many things to consider that I’m not sure the prices I set will even let me break even, let alone gradually make up the money I’ve spent so far. I’m essentially thinking of this novel as the learning-curve book; right now I’m definitely planning to publish another if only to take advantage of all these lessons learned!
- But you can keep it fairly low stakes. Except for the ISBN, which cost more than I expected, there are lots of cheap options. My author sketch cost $12 and the photography is completely free. It cost less than $100 to set up my ebook and print book with IngramSpark.
- You can start this process without doing much research, but you may have regrets later. The most obvious and embarrassing case in point: I wish I’d researched the name “Viral” before getting so far along that I don’t want to go back and change it. There are like a million books called “Viral”! Oh well, my next novel will have a more unique title. Learning curve.
So, yeah, I don’t have a satisfactory answer to my original question. Putting my writing out into the world, it’s one of the biggest issues I come up against, and will continue to wrestle with. My sex scenes often contain moments of doubt, awkwardness, discomfort, and hesitation along with the fun and pleasure. The same goes for the writing and editing process behind them!
