still figuring this self-publishing thing out
There are thousands of ways to write, publish, and become an author. And do anything, really.
This newsletter is not a newsletter about writing or the publishing industry, but from time to time, that subject might creep into one of my posts. Is that okay?
I’ve been writing and learning about the insane world of publishing since about 2011. I don’t remember exactly when. I could go back and look it up if I really needed to know, but that would take a LOT of effort, and… well… I’m just not about that today.
Anyways… (That’s a word my daughter uses when a conversation goes off topic and she wants to bring me back around to the subject at hand… Anyways, with an extra “s”. No idea why she adds that extra “s”. But she has for as long as I can remember. She’s 21.)
Anyways…
The publishing world can be a huge, complicated city like New York or Paris, difficult to navigate, and with streets and alleys that you want to avoid, but with views and experiences that are so rewarding that the adventure to explore such cities is SO worth it.
I’ve experienced the good and the bad of being a writer. I’ve experienced the thrill of writing novels that I’m proud of—books I got so excited about writing that I lost myself into the story for days, weeks, months at a time. Those books and the hard work it took to write and publish them put money in my bank account. Not that it was about money, necessarily, but being paid for your time to produce something that others later enjoyed is definitely nice. And a girl and her family need to eat, right?
I’ve also experienced the bad of publishing. Like the time when I wrote a book that readers claimed to want, paid to have the book edited, purchased a cover for the book, then after publishing said book, I wrote two more books to go along with it. And then a lot of crickets. While my most dedicated of readers (hey, guys! y’all rock!) bought and read the series, the series barely paid for itself in the first year. It certainly didn’t add to my bank account. And I honestly can’t tell you why the series didn’t sell. It received great reviews. The stories starred a character that everyone loved from another series that did sell A LOT—a character “everyone” screamed for me to write more about. The stories fit within the romantic thriller/suspense genre I’d been writing in. It. Just. Didn’t. Sell.
Does it really matter why that series didn’t do so hot? I don’t think so.
When you’re writing and publishing novels, you have to learn to let go of the books that you’ve sent out into the world.
And while I absolutely HATE comparing my books to babies being birthed… (Why do people do that? I promise that writing and publishing my book didn’t hurt NEARLY as much as birthing one of my children. Also, I don’t love any of my books like I love my children, so it’s a stupid analogy.)
Anyways…
… I am going to draw a comparison of letting go of a book or series to letting go of an 18-year-old you’re releasing out into the world. It’s a tiny bit like that. (I’m cringing just writing this analogy, because, again, I don’t love my books as much as I love my 18-year-old.) But at some point, we have to trust that we did everything we could to give that book (or series, in this case) the best upbringing that we could, and we have to let go.
And like we never fully let go of that adult child, we continue to monitor how they’re doing and encourage them to be the best that they can be.
Where was I going with all this?
Oh yeah… There are thousands of ways to write, publish, and become an author.
You can write to agents, and if you find one, you can have them pitch your book to editors and publishing houses. This process can take years (no exaggeration)!
You can self-publish books yourself. You can upload your books to Apple Books, Amazon to be read on a Kindle, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and Google Play.
You can skip Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and Google Play, and only upload to Amazon and enroll your books into Kindle Unlimited.
You can serialize your books on WattPad, on your own website, or inside a newsletter subscription service. (There are more ways to do this, but for simplicity, I’m only listing these.)
You can pay a service that will “self”-publish your books for you.
There are probably other ways I’m forgetting right now. And we could further break down each item listed above into its own set of bullet points and choices. And eventually we’d reach the thousands that I claimed in the subtitle of this post.
So… what is my point?
There are so many ways to do so many things in this life. Writing and publishing is just one of those things.
There are also thousands of ways to connect with people.
We connect in person (when it’s safe to do so—we are still in a pandemic situation).
We connect with each other on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, SnapChat, TikTok, etc.)
Thanks to a global pandemic, we’ve started to connect more via Zoom and other video chat services. We did this before Covid-19 struck us like a Copperhead snake… (Copperheads don’t just bite once, they bite again and again until you distance yourself or cut their heads off). …But happy hour on Zoom with friends that live ten minutes from your house instead of the neighborhood watering hole became more normal in 2020.
We connect via newsletters like the one you’re reading now. I hope that you and I can connect in the comments from time to time, whenever something I write strikes your fancy. Or you can simply hit reply if you’re reading from your email inbox.
With so many ways to do so many things, how do we decide the best path? In the case of connecting with others, do we split our time between all the different social media platforms? (That sounds exhausting! But I know people who do it.)
Do we spend time writing books, producing podcasts, being present on social media, writing and connecting with people on a blog or with a newsletter, etc.? I know from experience that this is exhausting, especially if you’re attempting to master multiple platforms within each category.
Just writing this post has shown me a bit more clarity on what I need to do in my own life and creative world. I never intended to be everywhere for everyone when I began the creative journey. And I’ve made many mistakes on the road to publication and in my attempts to connect with readers—mistakes that have taught me how to do things better.
Until next time,
Heather