It took me about a year, on and off, to finish my novel, The Most Important Thing. I think it will take me just as long to master the art of successful self-publishing.

I chose to be an independent author. Of the various reasons behind that choice the ones that sealed it for me were the countless accounts I read online of people getting an agent but then not selling their book. There were stories of people who were lucky enough to sell their books but then getting zero support from the publisher or even worse, the people who have great books just collecting dust on a shelf because of no interest. The odds didn’t seem to be in my favor at all and yet I still sent out query letters.

You might ask why, if I was so dead set against traditional publishing? The answer is a simple one. I never put all my eggs in one basket. While I waited for responses to the handful of letters I sent out, I prepped my book for publication. This led me to the first thing I learned about self-publishing. Delegation.

Delegate Everything You Can

If I were to do it all over again, I would hire someone to edit my book. Not that I wasn’t capable of doing it myself or that the people who volunteered their time to me weren’t awesome but I would have preferred not to have done any of it at all. I questioned every single choice of word, turn of phrase and scene progression until I wanted never to write again. I’m a perfectionist but there came a point where I had to say, “Good enough” and walk away. Unfortunately, good enough doesn’t float with Type A.

After the entire editing process was complete and I had waited sufficient time for my queries to come back, I published. I put my book on Amazon with very little fanfare. I don’t have a huge following so I didn’t think the book would benefit from presale hype. More importantly, I was eager to get it out there. Sometimes eagerness leads you to make common mistakes.

Always Check Every Single Aspect Of Your Proof.

If I can just take a moment here to admit that sometimes, not often, but sometimes I am prone to bouts of stupidity and this was one of them. I am not tech savvy. It’s not that I don’t want to learn, it’s just that my brain is so full of kid stuff, writing stuff, music lyrics from obscure 60s British pop artists, and randomness that I’ve learned from watching too many documentaries that I can’t fit anything else in there. That said, I still should have double checked that the file I uploaded to CreateSpace was the most up to date version of the book. It wasn’t and yes I sold copies of the incorrect versions. If this should happen to you, you can fix it. All you have to do is upload the new copy and the system will take down the old version. Problem solved but I’m still kicking myself for it because, perfectionist.

Once I cleaned up that mess, I could focus on marketing my book. I was already a participating member of a few blogging communities so that helped somewhat. I had a group of friends who were eager to help me share the news of my book release for which I am very grateful. Unfortunately, I am not a gregarious person and my network is very limited. As a result, I’ve had to find some books to help me navigate the world of marketing.

Admit You Are John Snow When It Comes To Marketing Your Book.

I’m woman enough to admit when I know nothing and this is one of those occasions. When in doubt, research. Through my research, I’ve come across a few books that have been very helpful thus far and I hope by sharing them it will at least give you a good place to start or help you discover something you may have missed. They are, Discoverability, Write. Publish. Repeat., Let’s Get Visible, and Successful Self-Publishing. The first two of that list being my favorite of the bunch and the most helpful to me. I cannot stress enough the importance of doing your research because you never know what Google might lead you to especially if your genre is different from my own.

The Power Of Facebook Groups

I won’t lie to you, I don’t think Facebook sells books in the way I think or maybe you would even think. At least for me, I used to think that if I put an ad on Facebook, someone clicks it, lands at your book’s page and buys the book. Yeah, what rose-colored glasses was I wearing on that one? The power of Facebook as I see it now lies in the connections I made and am making through the fifty or so Kindle and ebook groups that I have joined. These are all connections that have so far led to reviews, book promotion and pretty much leading me in the right direction. I would suggest that for whatever genre you’re in, even while you’re writing your novel, join the groups, form relationships and help others. Good juju always comes back to help you later.

After doing all that, I’m now back at the beginning of the process, writing a book. It’s funny how everything in life is cyclical. Only now, I’m working more productively through the discovery of Scrivener. I have to admit it is hard to get back into the routine of writing while simultaneously trying to promote. I can see why some people would rather traditionally publish or not publish at all. Six-figure deals aside, not having to do everything and just write, is a nice perk. While I don’t regret my decision, it is a lot harder than I first thought it would be but nothing worth doing is ever easy.

I wish you luck and I hope this post was helpful.

Sharing is caring and Happy Writing!

M.E. Matthews

P.S. If you happen to have an incorrect copy of The Most Important Thing, e-mail and I will send you a signed replacement for free. It only refers to hard copies bought between 2/10/2016 and 2/26/2016.