Don’t settle for less, and don’t excuse failures by claiming to have been aiming lower. Once you’ve set your sights on your publishing goals, don’t be stingy with your efforts. You’ll never be satisfied with your publishing efforts until you get straight with yourself about your goals. Find your tribe, and they will help you see the way forward toward your goals. ![]() If you want to be traditionally published, follow and learn from others who have. If writing best-selling commercial fiction is your goal, look for writers groups with experienced authors who are publishing steadily. Editor Louise Harnby describes what quality self-publishing looks like how you scale from there is up to you.įinding the right mix can be confusing, so surround yourself with like-minded authors. The higher your aspirations, the more strictly you should adhere to professional-quality production standards. ![]() Readers will turn their noses up at an obviously amateur production-if they can even find your book, a serious risk if your DIY marketing kung fu is weak.īut how much professional input does your project really need? That depends on your publishing goals. While you may be able to take a stab at certain tasks if you’re working at the semi-pro or hobbyist levels, professional-quality publishing demands professional-quality production. Surround yourself with good peopleīeing a self-publisher does not mean being do-it-yourselfer. You have books to produce and marketing and promotion to keep rolling, and if you slack, so will your visibility and your profits. Every manuscript represents an opportunity to improve your craft. Whether you’re semi-pro with a day job or a full-time author (lucky you!), once the matter of your profit is on the table, no more showing up to write when it’s convenient. No more hiding behind “ I’m an artist.” Even if your book gets traditionally published, you’ll be beholden to a level of professionalism that demands you know your way around the publishing industry. If you hope to recoup or make money at publishing, you have to come to grips with the fact that you’ve chosen to become an entrepreneur. You do it because you want to write and you want the books you publish to reflect your love of the art. There’s absolutely no reason to feel sheepish about spending your money on editing and cover art for your books. Who says writing doesn’t deserve the same kind of commitment? Hobbyists in other areas (cyclists, knitters, brewers-whatever) spend just as much on equipment, materials, travel, workshops . . . And treating writing like a creative hobby lets you work your writing around the rest of your life instead of feeling guilty for not doing it the other way around.Įven if you lose money self-publishing and discover that you’re not cut out to be an authorpreneur, if your goal is creative satisfaction and that’s what you’ve achieved, that’s money well spent. There’s absolutely no reason to feel sheepish about spending your money on editing and cover art for your books.ĭid you ever consider approaching writing and self-publishing as a hobby? It’s easy to fret over how much money you’ve spent self-publishing your books, but I’m not convinced the sum is much different from what the dedicated cyclists, fiber artists, or action figure collectors I know spend per year. Your publishing strategies should match your publishing goals. It doesn’t make sense to emulate the strategies and tactics that work for a best-selling traditionally published author if your goal is to turn out a self-published title every few years while holding down a day job. Edit, design, and market specifically to reach your goals. ![]() But when you know your own publishing goals, you get make the results even more specific. Are you a hobbyist? A semi-pro? An aspiring pro, a career pro? Your answer will determine how you go about writing, publishing, and marketing your books.Įvery author wants to produce the highest quality within their reach. The truth is that levels of success exist in publishing just as they do in other creative fields-and you can set your sights on the approach that fits your lifestyle and goals. But while the common wisdom tells us to shoot for the top, planning for more circumscribed publishing goals isn’t a sin. Can you imagine the extradimensional bliss of watching your book become the next hot thing? While many authors dream of being the next Mark Dawson or Hugh Howey, in our hearts, we all know how rare that kind of success really is.
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