It\u2019s been a minute since I\u2019ve mentioned anything about my book, or novella because it\u2019s short \u2013 it\u2019s quite short. I\u2019d have to go back and check to see when the last time was and I don\u2019t want to do that right now. But if the question is am I still going to self-publish my book, the answer is yes, a resounding yes. What\u2019s more, hopefully I can do so this year. Perhaps that\u2019s being too ambitious, but I don\u2019t give a fuck at this point. The worse I can do is fail and I\u2019ve already done that, so hey, what\u2019s another go at it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Truth is, when I initially embarked on this self-publishing journey around this time last year, I had no idea what I was doing. Truth, truth is, I still kinda don\u2019t. I\u2019m still incredibly new to this and in an industry that has some variables, I\u2019m trying to figure out what\u2019s the best way forward for me. And truth, truth, truth is, I ran out of money. I had a short window to get everything done, based on my research, before the cash ran out. But my research was not comprehensive and other things sprung up that I had not accounted for, like my editor not being very good or editors turning down my work. Just the whole vetting editors process in general was kinda of ambiguous to begin with. You\u2019re essentially spending a lot of money to take a leap of faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The same is true of the book cover artist. That gave me the most anxiety because it was really hard to find an artist who had the skillset to do what I wanted within my budget. And even when I increased my budget in an effort to work with professionals instead of the students I\u2019d been reaching out to, turns out the professionals didn\u2019t want to work with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Funnily enough, one of the main reasons I decided to go the self-publishing route was to avoid all the rejection the comes with publishing the traditional way, only to discover that there is a whole lotta rejection in self-publishing as well. That is if you want to produce a book that rivals something that would come from a publishing house. I want a nice clean book, free from errors, well aligned and a beautiful cover. Of course the story inside has to be great, but I\u2019m pretty confident about that. I know there\u2019s always a possibility that readers won\u2019t agree. That would not be a good feeling. No matter what though, I will always love this story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I realized I wasn\u2019t going to make the book happen last year, it was so discouraging, so depressing. And when I get like that regarding a particular issue, it usually takes me a very long time to come back from it, if I don\u2019t abandon it all together. Remember, I wrote this book over 20 years ago, and only in the last few years or so have I decided to revisit it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m not going to wait 20 years this time. While I\u2019m still out of money and will have to wait a minute before I can finance this thing, there are still things I can do for free in the meantime. I can reedit it myself \u2013 there\u2019s always something to find. I can do research on editors and book cover designers and make a list of who I would like to work with so when the time comes I can just contact them. I can create a budget and do research on printing. I can come up with marketing ideas and how I\u2019m going to get the word out. I can create a rough draft of a realistic timeline. Finally, I can keep the faith and not get discouraged, be my own biggest cheerleader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be sure to check back for updates on my progress. In the meantime, if you\u2019re looking for a good story, just come back here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s been a minute since I\u2019ve mentioned anything about my book, or novella because it\u2019s short \u2013 it\u2019s quite short. I\u2019d have to go back and check to see when the last time was and I don\u2019t want to do…<\/p>\n