Hello! And Welcome! I’m Brittany, a self-published author with a few things to say!
Sense You’ve found your way here, I’ll assume you’re interested in the idea of writing your own book and putting it out in the whole world! And so, I’m here to share some secrets with you to make your journey a lot easier than mine was!
Over the ten articles in this series, you’ll explore valuable strategies and tactics that will help you chart a course through the wonderful, ever-evolving self-publishing landscape.
So first lesson. Learning it’s okay to pass the torch!
Navigating the land of self-publishing can be difficult. You get to wear a lot of hats, which can be a double-edge sword. Self-publishing gives you the power to choose your own path: you aren’t beholden to any publishers or book marketers, only yourself. However “With great power comes great responsibility” [I think that was Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben in Spiderman, but I digress]. In self-publishing, YOU will be responsible for doing everything a traditional publisher does for one of their authors.
So after you’ve written the entire book! You spent painstaking hours, weeks, months, maybe even years perfecting this work of art. Writing daily to create this masterpiece. Now you take off that well worn hat, and trade it in for an editor’s cap. You edit and edit and proofread and edit some more. Until you are satisfied that the grammar police won’t cite you for any infraction. And then you take off that hat, to put on your Art Director’s beret starting with the cover and making your way to the last page (for the 100th time). The book looks exactly how you want it, this is your last hat. But let me not confuse you, this may be your last hat but not your last costume change! You now have to pull on that blazer, and turn into a book-marketing machine!
Self-publishing is a lot. But there is a misconception when most hear self-publishing . You assume, you have to play every role. That all those hats have to fit perfectly on your head, the blazer snug on your shoulders, but loose enough to button.
It’s exactly what I thought when I started my journey self-publishing my book, Chasing Something.
But I was wrong. Just because it’s called self-publishing, doesn’t mean you have to do everything yourSELF.
Over the course of the next ten days, I will explain to you what it takes to successfully self-publish a book. Not only will you get a overarching view of the process, you will learn which hats (or blazers) of self-publishing YOU can be handled inexpensively, and which will go beyond your expertise, demanding the attention of a professional.
But don’t worry, even if you pass one of these hats off to a nice man who happens to know every citation and ever dictation in the ‘Oxford English Grammar’ book. You are still the boss!
And with that said, the next article in this series will start with the first hat.
One you might be all too familiar with, your writer’s hat!
Recommended Book: Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success by K.M. Weiland