Are you ready to be your own publisher?
by Rachel Hauck, @RachelHauck
A few weeks ago I sat down to dinner with nine authors at various publishing levels and experience.
Two were traditionally published. Three were formally traditional but had gone independent. Three were with small publishers as well as writing independently and one was just starting out as an independent.
Here’s what I heard over and over at that table. “It’s work, it’s work, it’s work!”
Two of the ex-trad authors were doing very well! One had a huge newsletter list and larger readership. The other had strong marketing and technical chops as well as writing a series that hit big with a niche fan base.
The small press and indie authors, well, they struggle. One of the indie authors who also wrote for a small press was doing well but she wrote erotica for years. Another niche market.
But most of the indie authors struggled. A lot. How do you find readers?
That’s a tall order even for traditionally published authors. But the publisher has sales and promotional channels built with years of experience. The indie author has to find those all on her own.
The two successful indie authors at the dinner work their tails off. They plan their year with detail and strategy, including what books they are going to write and when.
They create their publishing deadlines which includes writing, editing, proofing, covers, and promotion.
The independent author wears the hat of author as well as publisher. And there are a lot of chores to be done once you become your own publisher.
Despite all the stories and testimonies we hear from indie authors—Amanda Hocking, Bella Andre and Jon Konrath—of fame and riches, going independent guarantees you nothing but hard work.
There are advantages of going independent. You set your own deadlines. You write what you want. You keep the lion share of the money—once you start making money. You own the rights to you stories. You have total control.
If you strategize well and work hard, you can build a readership by producing consistent, good material.
Writing a book is hard. Writing a good book is even harder. Finding an audience is well, scaling Mt. Everest.
There’s so much “noise” out there in the book world, all vying for the reader’s attention. According to Out:Think, there are approximately 1,000,000 books published a year. Yet book sales are down. With the demise of the brick and mortar book store, Amazon is the number one book retailer in the world.
Your voice is one of millions trying to be heard!
Don’t be discouraged! You can still find success. But just know the odds. Let it inspire you to write well. Very well! Nothing beats a well-written story.
Here’s a few things to consider before publishing your book independently.
- Do you have a solid, doable plan? It’s fine to write a book and think, “Hey, I like this. The book is pretty good.” It’s another to walk the long trail to publication. Don’t just toss your book up on Amazon to “See what happens.” Get a plan together.
- Do you write series? In the indie world, series reign supreme. The more books in a series the more you’ll sell. Plan at least six books in your series.
- Can you release quickly? Another trademark for indie success is releasing books often. It’s a great way to generate interest and readership. So write the first three or four before releasing the first book in the series. Have them in the bank, ready to go. While they’re releasing you can write the last two.
- Hire a good editor. Rewrite. Hire another good line editor. Take another pass. Hire a good proofer.
- Hire a good cover artist.
- Open your wallet. Don’t be cheap. Budget about $2000 for editing, proofing and cover.
- One of the biggest take aways from my dinner with the writers was the marketing and social media challenge. It changes all the time. You have to keep up. In some ways an indie author needs to be 60% marketer and 40% writer.
- Start your social media channels as soon as you can. Follow authors and industry people. Engage in conversation with and build relationships.
- Don’t worry about your “brand” or “tag line” until you’re further down the road. Just write a good series.
- Have a solid web site. If you can’t afford a fancy one or one done by a web designer, go clean and simple.
- Study web sites and book covers of successful authors and mimic them.
* Bonus tip: Focus on building your newsletter. Social media changes too much and there’s no guarantee they are going to see your posts. But a newsletter goes straight into their Inbox.
Now, go write something brilliant.
Tenley Roth’s first book was a runaway bestseller. Now that her second book is due, she’s locked in fear. Can she repeat her earlier success or is she a fraud who has run out of inspiration?With pressure mounting from her publisher, Tenley is weighted with writer’s block. But when her estranged mother calls asking Tenley to help her through chemotherapy, she packs up for Florida where she meets handsome furniture designer Jonas Sullivan and discovers the story her heart’s been missing.
A century earlier, another woman wrote at the same desk with hopes and fears of her own. Born during the Gilded Age, Birdie Shehorn is the daughter of the old money Knickerbockers. Under the strict control of her mother, her every move is decided ahead of time, even whom she’ll marry. But Birdie has dreams she doesn’t know how to realize. She wants to tell stories, write novels, make an impact on the world. When she discovers her mother has taken extreme measures to manipulate her future, she must choose between submission and security or forging a brand new way all on her own.Tenley and Birdie are from two very different worlds, but fate has bound them together in a way time cannot erase.
New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal best-selling, award-winning author Rachel Hauck loves a great story. She serves on the Executive Board for American Christian Fiction Writers. She is a past ACFW mentor of the year. A worship leader and Buckeye football fan, Rachel lives in Florida with her husband and ornery cat, Hepzibah. Read more about Rachel at www.rachelhauck.com.