I’m glad you clicked on this link. You are probably figuring how to go about publishing your book or asking yourself, “What the heck did I get myself into?”.
Hello writer, you are not alone.
I was excited to start the journey of writing a book. However, I never thought I would have to do it myself. I had hopes that a traditional publisher would tell me what not and what to do, but . . . I stumbled upon self-publishing on Youtube and decided to hop onto the self-publishers wagon. With the invention of multiple publishing platforms, thrilled to be publishing in minutes, my dreams would come to pass. It had always been my goal to publish a book. Realizing I had the power to do so, it took me a while to understand the system behind it.
Looking back after publishing two books, there are some things I should have known, things I have learned, things I will be sharing and things I am still learning. I am glad you are embarking on this journey and are learning these things alongside.
Writing the book is not the end, but the beginning of madness.
Margaret Adetimehin
No one told me that when I drop my pen, or in this case, close my laptop, that madness would begin. It takes a lot of steps to publish your book. You have to self-edit, find the right people to work with, find an editor whose style works for you, send to the editor, follow up on the editor, work on book cover design, work on marketing plans, what kind of strategy to use, think of working and tweaking your character arc and a whole lot of other stuff. There’s a lot that goes into self-publishing a standard novel. A novel that can compete with traditionally published books.
You’ll get to a point where you think, “This story is not good enough.” You will be tempted to rewrite, (rewriting works too but you need to know when to stop). You will rewrite from the beginning, from scratch! It never ends.
From me to you, don’t stress yourself. Trust the process. Find out the basic steps and discover what it takes to self publish. Reserve positive energy.
If books can make you sick, you’ll be surprised whose will.
Margaret Adetimehin
When self-publishing your book, there’s a high chance you will get sick. It’s not just sick with migraines and backaches but you would actually get sick off of your own work!
It is similar to the first point. You would read and re-read. Write and re-write. Going through your book over and over again might get you sick, to the point you feel the story is useless, probably stupid. Once you get to this stage, know you’re on the right track. Do not be disheartened, we that have gone on before you are here for you. Do not fret, the feeling is natural. My suggestion is that you reach out to book lovers on bookish platforms, tell them to give you feedback, this works better than reading your book a million times.
Editing A Book Will Never End.
Anonymous
We’re writers. Every tense, every line is important. You’ll edit, the editors would, the proofreaders would, it will never end. It’s funny that some errors would still find their way into the final book. Trust me, it’s okay. I have seen good books with something similar. Ensure your story is great and it will slide by.
No one would buy your book?
You
I was paranoid I will sell only one copy of my book. A year has gone by and it’s still being bought by individuals I might never meet.
Know and own the reason/purpose why you’re writing your story. Make your story and characters interesting. Get a good editor on board, and I promise you, with the right marketing, you might become a bestseller.
You have to create author platforms to reach your readers and to build credibility.
What some self-published authors preach
If you have read other blog posts on how to reach your target audience, one of the best advice is to build your audience. Create an author’s platform. Yes, this is true, but you need to have the zeal to do it if not you’ll burn out. Swift advice is to look for a platform that works for you, create content that would pull your would-be readers. YOu can also find a niche, where people talk about books, like Reddit, Nairaland, Quora, etc. You don’t know where your next fan might be!
What shall it profit an author to sell to only known people?
Margaret Adetimehin
Forcing family and friends to buy your book won’t give you much joy
as a self-published author. Your cousin is not into romance, neither is your father into how to grow a business in ten days. Market to your target audience and watch your book make an impact. Offer free copies of your book to a niche; your new/old book targets young adults? Join a Facebook group that has young adults in there, give out limited copies of your book for free. A free copy that comes with reviews though, nothing truly comes free.
Running promotional ads works magic
Margaret Adetimehin
When I launched Nine Hours Till Five, I remember random people met me on the streets, asking me about my book. I’ll get notifications that they want to feature me on their blog or stations. It keeps flashing bfeore them till they are convinced they want to get their own copy. I spoke more about this on Youtube.
I wish I had known these things earlier, before I decided to self-publish my books. I made some mistakes; I beat myself about some things, I still have sleepless nights, but the panic and anxiety attacks have reduced. Now that I know these things, I celebrate my little but big wins.
Dear self-publisher, you’re not alone. Stick to me for more details on this blog. Let’s share our journey together. By the way, I can help you with your ISBN purchase (in your name) and Book Layout. Feel free to contact me.
