What I wish I’d known before publishing my book

Self-publishing a book seems to be just as challenging as writing one; whilst writing the novel takes an awful lot of time, especially if you work full time and can’t give up in order to pursue your literary interests, what with the researching and crafting which needs to be done – and then the seemingly endless editing of drafts, it seems that self-publishing can be even more difficult. 

 Now there are several, hundred, videos and online articles about how to publish your book, yourself, via Amazon Kindle and Apple Books.  These can be helpful, but some assume prior knowledge; so, if you’re in the same position as I was – knowing absolutely nothing – I suppose my advice, should you want it, would be to research everything before attempting to self-publish.  The question, of course, is: how to do this? 

 Well, what I wish I’d known before I began even writing my novel, never mind the self-publishing process, is that there is a huge amount of encouragement and support on the Internet.  There is a hashtag, #writingcommunity, on Twitter and Instagram, coupled with the #amwriting movement; there are authors of every genre, ability, nationality, age, and professional level out there – all of whom love to talk about writing!  Not only will they talk about writing, follow you to “boost” your numbers, and occasionally retweet a pinned tweet which promotes your book to their own followers, I’ve found that most of them will offer advice willingly and freely.

 I am exceptionally lucky to be included in a group of lovely people, and talented writers, who share their experiences willingly about their writing, their progress, and their decision-making processes; they’ll even edit/leave feedback on each other’s work.  If I had my time over, if I could advise my younger self, I couldn’t suggest more strongly being part of a supportive group.  Joining in couldn’t have been easier, in fact, I’m not sure how I stumbled across the hashtag, but I’m glad I did.  All that’s required is having a look at the latest posts, finding a couple of questions or topics you find interesting, or want to answer, and dive straight in.  Because everyone is so friendly, people reply and you make online friends and before you know it, you’re part of the community. 

 I wish I’d known there was this wealth of information contained in the resource of other writers who love to talk about books!

 What else do I wish I’d known? 

 I wish I’d known it would be a better idea to get everything organised and up and running before self-publishing.  I am not certain I made a mistake in self-publishing my book as soon as it was finished and ready, but I do wish I’d had this website up and running to launch, and had done some research into adverts on Amazon and Twitter, and decided how much I wanted to spend before self-publishing.  I still haven’t decided this, but it’s on my list of things “to-do!”

 I also wish I’d known that, for me, editing with Kindle Create to self-publish on Amazon/Kindle is far easier than trying to edit on my iPad for Apple Books.  I don’t have a Mac, so Apple Books is hard to do for me.  This led to me taking down my book from that platform for a while, and enrolling in Kindle Select.  I’m not suggesting that it’s terrible, or difficult for anyone with the correct equipment, just that my technologically-addled brain struggled to cope! 

 I also wish I’d know about the term “beta readers.”  Beta readers, if you don’t know, are friends/family who will read your manuscript and offer brutally honest advice and feedback; I imagine you’d do the same for them if they’re a writer.  This can be, from my understanding, also called Critique Partners.  I gave my final draft to two people, whom I trust completely – both to give me honest feedback, and to not steal my work.  I did worry about this, and emailed myself copies of my novel at regular intervals just to prove that I owned the work.  Call me paranoid, but I suppose all first-time novelists worry about their intellectual property and copyright.

 I also wish I’d known that some of the people who checked chapters for me, during my writing process, weren’t the most adept at understanding the nuances of literature; they couldn’t see the sub-text and often made suggestions/comments based on only the words on the page.  Whist I completely understand that each reader will see differing levels of nuance, some will see the basic plot, others will see the metaphors and the symbolism – and that’s fine, reading should be available to all, on all levels – but when you’re asking them to read chapters for you, you should ensure they’re able to see the latter, rather than the former.  You need to know that other people see what you know you’ve included in your work, and why you’ve included it.

 I wish I’d known the limits and capabilities of the people who checked my work as I was writing it. 

 Until next time,

Louise.