Self-publishing: Kate's diary

I first began to contemplate self-publication earlier this year. I had never realised it was even an option until I heard about Amanda Hocking-I had been planning on jumping on the query-go-round with everyone else. However, I began researching and came across a wealth of information on the subject and eventually decided that self-publishing was what I felt to be right for me.

I've blogged several times on the topic, and how big the decision was for me. I was terrified that I was making the wrong decision. I still am. But at the same time I feel courageous, and there is a huge sense of freedom as well. It scares the life out of me, but it feels like it is worth doing.

I love the idea that I am in control of every aspect of the book-Its success or failure rests squarely on my shoulders. I like that I can try my hand at so many things that would usually fall into the hands of the publisher. But like I said, I'm scared. What if I make a complete mess of it? What if I can't do something that needs to be done? What if I end up with a complete piece of rubbish but don't realise because my betas are too nice to say anything critical.

I've decided that I want to chronicle my experiences, but I don't want to do so on my blog. I post some blogs about the 'business' side of things, but I would prefer it if I could keep it slightly more entertaining for my readers who aren't interested in that side of things.

I'm planning on updating this thread honestly about the peaks and pitfalls that I have/will encounter on my journey. I hope that one day this could be a resource to help someone else who is facing the tough decision between a commercial publishing house and doing it themselves, or at least someone will enjoy reading it.

The dreaded platform
Facing my fears
Why do I want to cry?

The dreaded platform

Warning: This post may sound particularly bitter, but I'm trying to be completely honest about all aspects of my publishing journey and bringing attention to your book is a big part of that.

I first blogged about my decision to pursue self-publishing on August first (I can't believe not even three months have passed) and from that point I began trying to build my platform straight away. I wanted to build enough attention so that when I released my book there were people waiting. I know it's never going to hit a best-seller list, but I want it to go out into the world with a roar, not a squeak.

I already had my blog, and I'd been using Twitter frequently since January, but that's about as far as I'd gone. In all truthfulness I don't think either of these ventures has been particularly helpful in building my online reputation. I have a small but steady flow of visitors to my blog, and just over 200 followers on Twitter, but I don't think I'm using these resources to their fullest.

On Twitter, for example, I have just over 200 followers, but of those only a tiny handful are people who are actually interested in me and my writing. The majority of my followers are either spambots or authors who haven't really got the hang of book promotion (not that I'm claiming I do) who constantly SPAM their followers with tweets to buy their book.

I'm not saying everyone is like that, but I'm a person, not a marketing tool. I'm not going to follow someone just because they followed me. I want to see that you're talking to your followers and posting other things of interest, rather than a constant stream of 'buy buy buy'. I know there's got to be a bit of give and take, but a lot of the self-published authors seem to take it a bit beyond a joke.

To be honest I don't understand why these people are following me? I haven't given any indication that I'm interested in reading their book, I'm not their target market, often blatantly so, and they're not mine. Most of the time they don't even say hello to me. It's just their way of trying to gain more and more followers and make themselves look important, even if there's no point because I'll never buy their book. I'd rather have a smaller number of loyal followers than all of these people who constantly follow, and then unfollow three days later when i haven't followed back.

FYI: If you're interested in keeping track of your followers you can use the nifty tool at www.who.unfollowed.me.

My blog, on the other hand, was generally only visited by those actually interested in me and my book. The problem I had though, was creating content that people would actually want to read. In the past I've used it as more of a personal blog, writing about my own opinions and experiences, and During the middle of this year the themes tended to run along the lines of writing, but these aren't what I want my blog to be about. I need to find a way to create content that keeps my readers entertained, content that they can relate to and will come back time and time again to read. I've decided that I need to be blogging about thing related to my books. Easy in theory, not so much in practise. I'm having a lot of trouble deciding exactly what to put on it.

After more research I've decided that I'm going to start concentrating on subjects related to my work. For example, my debut novel The Sphinx Project is about a genetically engineered young woman who is trying to escape the scientists who made her. Using this as a starting point I've decided that I'm going to start spending more time blogging about superheroes and, in turn, comics. I'm also looking at posting some small blogs about genetic engineering and chimeras, but I need to find a way to talk about them that doesn't go over their heads and still remains interesting. I've also begun a section read, reading, to-read where I briefly mention books I'm reading or planning to read, what I like about them and why I chose them.

When I started working on my platform I set up a Facebook page and, using its insights, I'm able to see some basic statistics about the people who 'like' my page. For example I know that fifty percent of my likes are women between the ages of 18 and 44. twenty-five percent are aged between 13 and 18, and the remaining twenty-five percent are either women over 44 or males. This has helped me narrow down my options even more and I've started a new section called Girl Crush Mondays where I discuss women I admire for some reason or other. I've used this section to cooperate with some other writers by having them guest-post on the blog. This helps them by introducing them to my readers, it gives my readers more variety, and it often means that some of the other author's readers find my blog too.

I've found the Facebook page to be the most helpful in the task of building my platform. It currently sits at 374 followers and it is growing every day. On Facebook those who are actually interested in my work can so easily keep an eye on updates and interact with me on the wall. I've found a great way to encourage activity is to promise excerpts and teasers as the numbers on the page grow. Through the Facebook page I can also interact with book bloggers and young adult literature pages who are all happy to help support a new writer.

The Facebook page isn't without it's spammers though. There are still those authors who expect you to like their pages in return for their likes. I want to scream at them that it's not about numbers (although it is, but worthwhile numbers). I'm not going to post a link on my page for a horror and erotica when my books are young adult sci-fi. My readers (for the most part) aren't going to crossover with yours and it's just wasting time. I want to post links to people and places that would be of interest to my readers, or reflect my personal values and interests. A lot of the time you see the same authors liking back and forth and it seems like (excuse the term, I can't think of anything else and it's appropriate for the context) a huge circle-jerk. I'm not saying there aren't some horror and erotica authors out there, I only used them as examples, but some authors just push and push and push.

So there you have it... Although a bit all over the place that is that for now. I hope it was of some interest to someone, and my bitterness didn't turn you off.

izanobu said:

I've found that the best way to build a platform is to have books available.

Good luck on your plan. I hope March and your launch go well.

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Thanks izanobu

And yeah I know, but I don't want to rush them and end up with a poorly edited book. Hopefully things take off when the book is available

MartinD said:

Kate, I missed the 'bitterness' part of your post. Are you bitter because you haven't built up more followers? Or bitter because so many spammers hit your Twitter link?

And...you haven't published your novel yet, right? Once you've published the thing and only four people buy it, then you can be bitter. Right now, you only seem to be bitter-in-theory.

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Haha really? I meant the bit about how some authors use social networking... Maybe it just feels bitter because I want to keep ranting about it so my feeling colour how I see what I've written.

Nope, it's set for release on February 28th. Still a while to go before that bitterness kicks in.

Perks said:

Just chiming in, I don't think it's bitter to be annoyed by social media spammers. You're fine.

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Thanks

I've been more of a lurker than an active participant for a while so I wasn't sure how close I was getting to that respect the other writers rule.

izanobu said:

Personally, while I think that some authors are able to use social networking like twitter and facebook to their advantage, the same way some authors form hugely popular blogs, I don't know that it is *necessary* for success.

In my own limited experience, only two things have bumped sales for me. 1) releasing new work and 2) making something free for a little while. My best-selling pieces are still under pen names with no platform (and no internet presence) as opposed to the name with traditional publishing history, a website, twitter, facebook, and a blog.

But I fully admit that I am not one of those people who can most efficiently build a following on stuff like that. I'd rather just write. Fortunately, the "more books" approach seems to work pretty well.

So if you hate the social networking stuff, don't do it. It isn't the only way to build readership.

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I wouldn't say it's necessary but I feel it's important for me as an individual, it makes me feel as though I'm accomplishing something while I plod through the last little bits before the release date. I can watch as the number of hits on my website goes up and I can respond to readers comments and it feels like I'm doing something. I wouldn't say it is imperative to have a blog, but I like having the interaction with my future readers.

I actually read a neat little article about selling without a platform, you should have a quick look if you have a chance: http://howtowriteshop.loridevoti.com/2011/10/self-publishing-book-covers-sell/

Carradee said:

Your one-line description of The Sphinx Project actually caught my attention and interest—I've written a short story on the same topic.

I'd say, for someone who doesn't yet have a book out, you're doing pretty well. I've had a book out since April—I now have 2 novels and 4 short stories out—and I don't even have 100 followers, last I checked.

Granted, I think that few if any of my followers are spammers.

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Hehe, thank you! It is something that REALLY interests me, it always has since I watched Dark Angel all of those years ago. I had a MAJOR freak out earlier this year when I found out it had a nearly identical storyline to a book that made all the big lists last year. I'd never read it, but since then it's undergone some pretty major changes (but that's for a later blog).

Thank you <little girl voice> My mommy says I have a knack for marketing </little girl voice>. I probably have a slightly easier task than most because I was already quite deep within the young adult genre online before I decided to pursue publishing, and am dealing with a lot of those 'fanatics' who become quite passionate about their favourite characters.

Lady MacBeth said:

Ditto that. I realize you want to self-publish, but this sounds like a good story. I'm curious, have you tried any agents?

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Thanks

No, I haven't tried any agents. I possibly will, somewhere down the line, and I have specific stories in mind for that if I do, but for now I'd like to try on my own. Now I can try my hand at it and say I did it from scratch, whereas if I were to trade publish before self-publishing I'd feel like I cheated. Yes I know it sounds daft, but I'm stubbornly independent and I know what I want. I even finished my cover design today and it is freaking awesome, if I do say so myself.

I know I might fail, but there is also a (incredibly) small chance I might do better than I dare to hope

kaitie said:

You know, I think that's a perfectly valid reason to self-publish. I'm sort of the opposite lol, but I completely understand what you're getting at. Good luck!

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Thank you

Lady MacBeth said:

Sounds like you're up for the challenge. Go for it!

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Hehe, thank you again

Facing my fears

I mentioned in my earlier post that one of the primary emotion I felt when I first decided to self-publish was fear. I was, and still am, scared. A lot of things contribute to the feeling, but I would say that they could all be grouped under the heading of am I good enough?

Is my writing good enough that people will want to reach the end? Will I catch all of those little mistakes that could ruin my readers experience and turn them off me for good? Can I make it look as good as those books I see on the shelves from the major publishers? Am I talented enough to draw the reader in so that they couldn't put my book down even if they wanted to? What if the story rubs people the wrong way and everyone hates it? What if, what if, what if....

This is one thing in which I envy authors who have followed the commercial route. They have their agents who believe in them completely.- people with the professional experience required to pick something amazing out of the slush and champion it to publication. Someone who is putting their professional reputation on the line for you and they believe that you are capable of earning you money.

This is one of the things I had to accept when I chose my path, but it just means that I am going to work even harder to make sure that my book is up to scratch. I am pulling out all the stops to make this as perfect as possible, which is hard when I am working with limited funds. I've had to find ways to make the most out of what I have.

To begin with, once I had finished my story I recruited a friend to beta-read it. With her help I refined it and then revised it again. I figured the more eyes I could get on the book the better, so I sent it out to an additional eight beta-readers who helped me fine-tune it even more. It was interesting to see what everyone thought worked, and what they thought didn't and the manuscript underwent some pretty big changes.

After this I began looking into professional editors. A friend of mine had enlisted an editor some time earlier for a slot in September, for a project that she had since put on hold. She offered me her spot, saying that she was just happy that she could help me and didn't want me to repay her the deposit. I felt a bit bad that she didn't want to be reimbursed for her deposit, but at the same time I couldn't look a gift horse in the mouth... Is that the right saying?

To begin with my editor was going to do a full critique; continuity, plot, line edits, but a short way in, and after a lot of thought, we decided that she was just going to work on the plot and storyline. With her ideas I am now in the process of making some pretty huge changes, including removing two characters from the story completely.

The editing cost me $283.25, which covered 101 pages of 'the works' and 114 pages of content critiquing. This is in addition to the $115 deposit. I'm incredibly happy with the work she has provided, she was worth every single cent.

Once I've finished with this round of revisions I'll be sending the manuscript back to my editor for line edits, for which I've already paid a $100 deposit. After this I'll be sending it to a new proof-reader who is looking for experience, before sending the completed copies to my lovely beta-readers again, and finally my mom. I'm hoping that by the time it comes to publishing the number of eyes that have been over this book will mean that it is as good as I can possibly make it. Although I am hoping that it turns out to be perfect I understand (although dread) that there may still be a few mistakes in the final copy, although I'm hoping close reading will minimise these.

The other major cost I have incurred while trying to make this book as professional-looking as possible.

Initially I had stumbled across a new cover artist who was looking to expand their portfolio. I was happy with the design to begin with, having only seen it on my 10 inch laptop screen, although I did have a nagging concern at the back of my mind that it wasn't quite right. I couldn't afford the fees charged by the artists I had seen to be creating the sort of covers I loved and didn't think I could create anything half-decent myself.

I now have a new monitor attached to my laptop, and with the higher resolution I can see that the quality isn't as high as I thought it was. I wouldn't feel comfortable providing this image as a cover for a physical book. This, combined with my worries that the artist might have difficulties creating future covers and the fact I wasn't completely happy in the first place led to me changing my cover.

I was lucky enough, at this time, to find an awesome artist who was selling off their high-resolution images for $50 a pop. The artworks were amazing and there was one that matched my story perfectly. I purchased it and decided that I would have a go at formatting it and adding the additional elements.

I downloaded GIMP a free image manipulation software similar to photoshop and set about fiddling around with it. I recruited friends for tips and consulted online tutorials and after eight hours I had completed my little project. I hadn't expected it to turn out as well as it did, and personally I think it's better than the professional version.

Although it is top secret for now I have showed my 'ladies' my three closest beta-readers, and my editor, and they all love it. I plan on releasing small teasers along with small excerpts from the text as the numbers on my Facebook page reach certain goals.

I haven't spent much time thinking about the formatting of the book yet, but it is something I will be looking into after NaNoWriMo is finished. I've had a friend recommend a certain woman who has very reasonable prices, and I've seen her name mentioned elsewhere, so I'm thinking if it is too confusing that I'll hire her to complete the work. I'm more cautious about spending money now, after realizing what I can do on my own, but I won't know until I have researched it a bit more.

Macca said:

I too would like to say good luck. I like how you've gone about this and the fact you have no illusions of how tough it will be.

I think I'm feeling the same sort of trepidation at the moment, as I've decide to self-publish too.

Thank you for sharing your experiences.

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Thank you so much. I knew from the start it would be difficult, but it seems to get harder as I move along. I can't wait until February to send it out into the world, just so that I can relax for a while.

Good luck with your self-publishing endeavours, I hope these blogs can help you in some way

merrihiatt said:

I think all authors have these thoughts in their head, espeially those who self-publish. I know I do. Do everything possible to put your best foot forward (which it sounds like you are doing), then remember this, every book is a chance to start again. Even if the worst happens (nobody buys the book, eveyone hates it, or you find errors later that were missed), you will learn and grow and use that experience to your benefit when you publish your next book.

I'm rooting for you!

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Thank you so much! I know that I can always start again, but I'd rather not have to

Balthane said:

First, I have to say how much your story intrigues me. I was interested in the YA genetically altered young woman escaping, but you also aded that it (if I'm not mistaken) has a sort of superhero feel. I adore comics and superheroes, so i immediately added you on twitter so I can make sure to pick up your book when it's released.

Thanks for being so honest about being afraid. When I decided to self-pub, I was constantly back and forth. I would be confident one minute and scared the next. I still feel that way most of the time, but I keep pushing forward. It's good to hear someone else was scared about self-pubing, but is still going forward with it.

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To be honest, as the book has evolved it's become a lot less superhero-y. I've pulled back the limits of her abilities to make her struggles seem more real. She (and her team) still have advanced abilities, but not to the point of superheroes any more.

Thanks so much for the follow! I hope you still look forward to the book without the comicy aspect. Have you read Vs. Reality by Blake Northcott? It's very much in the Kickass genre... It reads exactly like a comic would except it's a novel.

That's the whole reason I started this diary, because I've read a lot of blogs about it and more often than not the ones I have read focus more on the technical aspects of writing and publishing.

I've just started vlogging and I'm considering doing a couple about self-publishing.

Balthane said:

No, I haven't read Vs. Reality, but I'll put it on my to-read list not that you mentioned it. I did adore Kickass. I'm still looking forward to reading your book, even if it's less superhero-y. I always expect superheroes to be a bit more real in a novel in order for the story to have more depth. Have you read Thirteen Days to Midnight. It's on my list to read and supposedly sort of superhero-y, but dark and with deeper depth.

I'll check out your blog.

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Vs. Reality is a self-published book too, and there's a second on its way soon

Nope, haven't read that one yet. It sounds familiar, but it may just be something about the title. Let me know if you enjoy it

Thanks! My blog is a bit boring atm.. A month of NaNo will do that Getting back into it now though. I tend to avoid 'business' blogs on there too.