SELF PUBLISHING 2: Just write the bloody book....
It sounded simple from behind that glass of Fosters. 'You know what - I'm gonna use this lockdown to self publish! I've been promising it for years, I've got the books, I'm gonna do it!' Simple.
No.
You have to write a book, obv, then you have to design the cover, oh, no, you have to design two covers, one for ebooks and one for POD, then you have to find out what POD means (Print on Demand) and set up a Mailchimp account or a Mailerlite or Convert Kit account and Bookfunnel account to get a mailing list and send out freebies, and then a website through Leadpages or Squarespace and Wordpress or is it Squarepress and Wordspace or it could be Wix, then you'll need a facebook page and a landing page and an automation sequence and instagram account and a twitter handle and front and back matter and metadata and alpha readers, formatting, ISDN, reviewers, sort out categories, pricing... you get it.
I'm genuinely not being an old fart here, and the folks down at Mark Dawson's SPF really do deliver a comprehensive course in all things SP (Self Publishing). However I found myself not being able to see the wood for the trees. In fact I found myself not being able to see the wood for the bugs on the leaves on the twigs on the branches of the trees.
I dived in to the process, I watched lots of the tutorials, but very quickly I found myself adrift on a sea of comprehensive information with no landmarks. In short, I had no idea where I was. There were really helpful friends I could contact (Thank-you Carl Ashmore - author 'Time Hunters') but the truth was I was drowning in data and information. Imagine jumping off a diving board, but before you hit the water the walls of the pool recede over each horizon, and when you come up for air... you are totally at sea.
“Imagine jumping off a diving board, but before you hit the water the walls of the pool recede over each horizon, and when you come up for air... you are totally at sea. ”
So I found I went back to basics and created a kind of flow chart for myself. Key tasks, with other related tasks listed to the side. Then I began to see what the next big step was and how to progress to the all important launch date. Now, there will be lots of differing personal views on this, but for me it came down to this:
Just write the bloody book.
Or in my case the six bloody books. (more of that later) Then edit (with or without help) proof read (with or without help) and if you still have any friends by the time you've finished it try and get a few people to read it. Swallow your pride, do any changes that have presented themselves and move forward. Then and only then are you ready to move through the process to self publishing.
Now, I haven't helped myself by deciding to launch with a series of six books designed for reluctant readers - one of the hardest categories to self publish, so I have to do everything six times over but hey, I'm an optimist. Now I've got the bloody books written I can work out what Stage bloody Two is.
Small steps, that's the key. Don't try and do it all at once. Binge watching tutorials might give you an overview of sorts, but don't let it drown you.
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