What I’ve learned self-publishing two books

Lessons from an indie author who has sold a few thousand books.

I didn’t want to wait. That’s really all it came down to. When I finished my first novella, I wanted to put it out into the world. I wanted people to read it, to criticize it, to sit with it in their homes and understand the story I tried to tell.

What I didn’t realize was how much effort it would take to get people’s attention. The concept of building a readership was foreign to me. I didn’t understand what it took to get a single fan from outside of my network to buy a book. But I was committed to the process and that was key. I knew in my mind that nothing would stop me from pushing towards my goals. If you’re of the same mindset, then keep reading.

Expectation fuels your preparation

Being naive was a wonderful thing. Seriously. In my mind, there was nothing stopping me from selling tens of thousands of books. I remember my friend congratulating me when Thoughts of a Fractured Soul was finally out. I asked him why he’s congratulating me when I hadn’t yet sold a single copy.

Naive or not, my expectations lead to me being prepared. I had a goal and that goal was to sell a bunch of books. While I may not have been aware of the effort, I still created a strategy to reach this goal.