This Is What It’s Like As A Self-Published Author
The challenges and joys of publishing on your own
“Don’t self-publish, whatever you do. It’s where your book will go to die,” an older gentleman advised me just the other day on Facebook. He hasn’t published anything yet and appeared to be unaware that I have seven books out (plus two more about to be released).
“Thank you for that wise tip,” I responded, chuckling at this old argument, yet acknowledging it’s not completely without merit. According to Alexa Bigwarfe of Write.Publish.Sell,
Most first-time authors who do not have a significant author platform will sell less than 500 books in the lifetime of their book.
Why? Taking into account that the book is well-written, professionally edited, designed, formatted, and produced (for the sake of discussion), this is mostly due to a lack of pre-marketing, author branding, and strategic, effective book marketing/promotion.
Why Me?
To help give you some insights into my experiences, here’s my deal:
I self-published my first two books, went with a hybrid for my third and fourth, had an agent and small boutique publisher for my fifth, and went back to self-publishing for my…
