I talked a bit last week about how self-publishing is not a walk in a park.
But that’s not true. It CAN be a walk in a park… If you’re walking alone, it’s three in the morning, the park is pitch black, you’re in an unfamiliar country where you don’t know the language and can’t read any signs, there is native wildlife that wants to eat you, and anyone else you happen to meet there has a 50/50 chance of stabbing you or running screaming away from you like you’re carrying the plague. Maybe you are carrying the plague, just because this metaphor needs to convey a certain message.
And the message is that this shit is terrifying. And a world of unknowns waiting to jump out at you, trip you up, or otherwise potentially ruin your chances of a good launch or a good selling period.
Amazon rankings are cutthroat. Apparently. And you can find fifty million guides on how to game the system so you can Sell Millions And Win At Writing. (Some day in the future, I’ll make a post about how much I loathe that writing about writing (except it’s not about writing it’s about selling) is such a huge thing.) Then you have to worry about Amazon ratings and reviews, but not only that! Goodreads and Bookbub ratings as well! And reviews. And you’ve gotten together your ARC team so you can guarantee X amount of reviews upon launch, right? And you’re definitely soft-launching your paperback so you can have verified reviews for your ebook’s launch, right?
It’s a nightmare of gaming the system, technical jargon, and hyped-up competition.
Not to say that there aren’t nicer aspects. There are a lot of communities for authors—if you can track them down and have the energy to partake—and a lot of support systems, too. Reddit (r/selfpublish) has actually been a stunningly good resource for me, both to read others’ posts, and to post myself and get feedback or answers. (I know the popular opinion of redditors, but hey, there ARE dedicated communities to things out there, and those are nice to find.)
I’ve heard good things about BookTok (TikTok for book people), BookTube (Youtube for book people), Bookstagram (Instagram for book people), writeblr (tumblr for book people… get the picture yet?) and more. Twitter in the writosphere is a numbers game, but at least I know how to use Twitter. I technically have a Facebook page, too, though outside of these automated blog post notifications, I don’t use it, because Facebook sucks. More than other social media, even.
The point is, you have to find somewhere you can scream, and then utilize it. Because self-publishing is a screaming match with yourself. There’s so much to do for it—literally everything, actually—and the image of a “successful” author is someone who can somehow do everything perfectly at all times. They make videos, they write blog posts, they do a podcast, and they somehow publish three books a year.
It can be done, but it also tends to create burnout for those who try to emulate it. It’s the same with any other kind of social media thing for creatives: you will burn yourself out trying to do it all. Even if it seems like others are Doing It All, they really aren’t—they have a team with them, manage to schedule things so they look more active than they are, and so on. And let’s not forget the golden rule of social media consumption: everyone is always ever posting their best stuff. It creates a rosy peek only into the surface level.
So, as with everything else in life, you need to pick your battles to tackle self-publishing. It’s exactly like owning a small business. (Except with even less immediate or quick profit.) It’s so easy to get overwhelmed in this industry. It’s even easier to get into a too-competitive mindset with other authors, or compare yourself unduly to them.
Here’s a neat not-secret that will hopefully take the edge off of the self-published author concerns: readers like to buy multiple books. One sale for another author does not take away a sale from you.
Find the groups, places, sites, or clubs that are supportive, kind, and welcoming. Ignore the social media mess where you can. You’ll still have to walk through that pitch black park where you feel totally lost, but just take it one step at a time, and keep in mind that there are millions of others wandering there, too, and they don’t all want to stab you.
