Behind the Scenes: What It Really Means To Self-Publish Today - Part 1
Self-publishing is full of roadblocks, hard work, and tough decisions. In Part 1, Joseph Cruey explores what it really takes to write, edit, and publish your own book, before hearing from other indie authors.
The self-publishing world is a tricky one. It’s filled with roadblocks, obstacles, unexpected outcomes, and so much more. In one way, it’s like a new frontier, promising freedom and control over your work and career. On the other hand, it's filled with dangers of being buried in a sea of other work, and being outclassed by professional publishing companies, and being ripped off by scammers. In other words, it's tough being a self-published author!
And going even further beyond that, it takes a lot of effort to write a story to begin with. There’s so much work and effort and heart that goes into writing a story, especially if it's fiction. Even in non-fiction, the amount of time needed just in research alone is unbelievable.
What it takes
When you sit down to write a story, often it begins with a simple idea. Maybe it’s a single character, a single scene, or a single spark of inspiration. But that alone isn’t nearly enough to create an entire novel. You have to dive into writing an actual story, which requires numerous characters with unique voices, problems, and resolutions. There’s dialog to consider, plotting and pacing, prose, flow, and so much more. And once the writing is finally done, you’re hit with editing, revisions, proofreading, formatting, cover design, interior design, social media, promotions, marketing, advertising, launching the book, criticism, and looking ahead to your next project. It’s honestly A LOT to think about. Thankfully, these are usually broken into much smaller steps, allowing us authors to focus on one single step at a time.
Then, you’ve got some decisions to make. What formats will you upload? Ebook, paperback, hardback? Will you use Amazon KDP? Ingram Spark? A local print shop? Will you try to land a literary agent? Will you do all of this yourself? Do you even have the skills? If not, will you hire someone to help? Do you have the funds for that?
What Do Other Authors Have to Say?
I’m just one self-published author, so don’t just take my word for it.
I’ve taken the liberty of interviewing several other self-published authors, and I’ll list some of their insights, experiences, and lessons learned in the next part of this series.
📌 Stay tuned for Part 2: Voices from Indie Authors, coming in two days!
Joseph Cruey, also known as Ink Fist Joe, is an author of dark, morally driven fiction and a freelance writing coach dedicated to helping aspiring authors bring their stories to life. Through his work on fiverr, he provides blog writing, editing, formatting, and one-on-one guidance to writers navigating the path to publication. His debut novel, "The Wraith of Magdalena" is available on Amazon. You can also catch some of his blogs on Cottagestead.
