by DeAnna Jackson, SNHU Class of ‘21
The manuscript is done after several rounds of revising and proofreading. Marketing plan is foolproof. Books is formatted and uploaded. Everything is ready and nothing could possibly go wrong. Except…
Oops.
Several typos slipped through. Something went wrong with the formatting, and the tutorials didn’t say that could happen, so they don’t say how to fix it. The cover art isn’t aligned correctly. And the cherry on top, the fact that KDP doesn’t do pre-orders on print books slipped past unnoticed and now the print book is live but the e-book is still stuck in pre-order and people have already ordered print copies and now the e-book is being released a month earlier than planned so marketing goes out the window. Nothing has gone according to plan so, what to do now?
Breathe.
There are hundreds of tutorial on how to successfully self-publish, but they can’t prepare budding authors for every single instance of what could go wrong. Self-publishing is a learning experience. Planning is essential to having a successful book release, but flexibility is necessary to handle problems that may throw off perfectly laid plans. The scenarios I provided are things that happened to me as I prepared my debut novel for release and in the end, I did accidentally release a month earlier than I anticipated and have had to redo my entire plan. Did I kick myself? A little. Was it the end of my self-publishing venture? Absolutely not. Mistakes are going to happen and sometimes one has to roll with the punches and keep going.
Are there things I wish I had done differently?
Yes.
I cannot overstate how important it is to network with other authors, especially indie authors who have already started their self-publishing journey. Some pitfalls could have been avoided had I joined communities earlier. For example, I would’ve known that KDP doesn’t allow pre-orders on print books and my schedule would’ve been saved. Communities are invaluable when it comes to navigating publishing spaces. Any mistakes to be made, others have already made them. These resources are also great when new authors are in the planning stages of their releases. Can’t decide between publishing distributors and want to find a breakdown of differences? There’s a Twitter thread for that. Searching for the best ways to garner interest for works? The indie author with a decent amount of engagement wrote a free article. The tools are there, don’t be afraid to access them.
The biggest part of self-publishing is finding what works best for you. Sometimes it happens the first time. Most of the time, it’s trial and error and trying to strike the perfect balance between all of new skills that are being learned. Different distributors have pros and cons. Same with social media platforms and website creators. IngramSpark might be great for distributing print books to bookstores and libraries, but KDP has an easier user interface and more tools for formatting the inside of both an e-book and a print book. Instagram is great for graphics and moodboards, but Twitter is better for text posts. Research. Try new things. Try multiple things. Publishing a book is only part of the equation, and sometimes, it’s the easiest part.
How did I know I was ready?
I didn’t. If I had waited for a sure sign that I was ready, I wouldn’t be published right now. I had spent months planning and consulting my support system and eventually, I just had to take the plunge and give it my all. Can’t fulfill the goal of being a published author if I didn’t throw myself out there. Self-publishing is like jumping out of an airplane (an analogy for those of who are reasonably scared of jumping out of perfectly good airplanes). The parachute will work, but there is still fear that it won’t, and maybe one doesn’t land entirely on target, but they still land safely.
A book launch may not be the success one hopes—mine certainly wasn’t—but the fact that the book is out in the world at all, is an incredible feat, and it is only the beginning of the journey.
DeAnna Jackson is an author from Eastern North Carolina. She’s dreamed of other worlds since she was a child making potions out of mud, sticks, and roly-polys. When she isn’t writing, she is playing in video game worlds, corralling her small zoo of four cats and two St. Bernards, and lamenting about how time always slips through her fingers. You can find her on Instagram and Twitter for updates on what comes next. Find her latest book release on Amazon.