About two months ago, I self-published Sobornost through Kindle, Pub It!, Smashwords, and Kobo. Here's my take on my experience up to this point:
The pros
-I published a book before I turned 40 which was a nice birthday present to me.
-I have readers in the UK, Russia, Pakistan, and Nigeria, so I can technically say I'm an international...seller? (What do you call yourself when you're not a best-seller?)
-I have received a few fan e-mails.
-A book club contacted me to say that they picked my book for their December pick. I'm sitting in on their discussion (via phone) later this month.
-I've learned enough about myself that I'm comfortable writing another book. I began outlining it a few weeks ago.
The cons
-I'm still obscure in that I'm hovering at only 50 sales across all markets.
-I'm still learning what works wrt promotion, so I feel like I'm lost in the woods without a map.
-Getting blogs to want to review your stuff is a lot harder than you'd think.
What I've learned
-Some advertisement actually does work. In fact, here's a tip: If you're going to spend money to promote, let your first dollars go to The Frugal Ereader. I got good results from them and will be going back to them in the future.
-GoodReads is invaluable.
-Get a proofreader before you hit publish. Before I published, I sent my mobi file to a friend of mine who owns a Kindle, and she spotted some things that I was able to clean up before going live.
-Get as much editing as you can afford.
-Get a good cover artist.
My advice to budding authors at this point is this: If you have the time and patience, get an agent and try the trade route first. I have learned very acutely the value of agents and publishers.
The pros
-I published a book before I turned 40 which was a nice birthday present to me.
-I have readers in the UK, Russia, Pakistan, and Nigeria, so I can technically say I'm an international...seller? (What do you call yourself when you're not a best-seller?)
-I have received a few fan e-mails.
-A book club contacted me to say that they picked my book for their December pick. I'm sitting in on their discussion (via phone) later this month.
-I've learned enough about myself that I'm comfortable writing another book. I began outlining it a few weeks ago.
The cons
-I'm still obscure in that I'm hovering at only 50 sales across all markets.
-I'm still learning what works wrt promotion, so I feel like I'm lost in the woods without a map.
-Getting blogs to want to review your stuff is a lot harder than you'd think.
What I've learned
-Some advertisement actually does work. In fact, here's a tip: If you're going to spend money to promote, let your first dollars go to The Frugal Ereader. I got good results from them and will be going back to them in the future.
-GoodReads is invaluable.
-Get a proofreader before you hit publish. Before I published, I sent my mobi file to a friend of mine who owns a Kindle, and she spotted some things that I was able to clean up before going live.
-Get as much editing as you can afford.
-Get a good cover artist.
My advice to budding authors at this point is this: If you have the time and patience, get an agent and try the trade route first. I have learned very acutely the value of agents and publishers.
