Of all the mistakes self-published authors make, I think 99% of them come from lack of patience. This might be the actual most common mistake, because the reason authors think rules don’t apply to them isn’t an “I’m better than the others” attitude, but an “I need to get out there now!” attitude.
It’s so easy to want to publish now because what if someone else has a similar idea? What if your friends think you’re all talk if you don’t do something already? Well, you could argue that everything has already been done before, and no one is really paying that much attention to what you’re doing.
We as indie authors have a responsibility to uphold a high standard. People tend to think “self-published” equates to, well, crap. So, for writers who want to self-publish, understand that the inside perspective has very high expectations. If you throw something thoughtless, out to the public, you’re doing the entire self-published world a huge disservice. Far more so than a bad traditionally published book, of which there are many. I know, this is utterly unfair. Trust me, I know, and it frustrates me too. But the general population just won’t see as many issues with traditionally published books, because of how they’re presented.
So, try this exercise in reading like a writer, and whenever you crack open a traditionally published book, imagine it was written by someone who’s bio sounds something like this: “She is a first time, debut author who self-published because I want to share this deep emotional love story with the world," or something along similar lines. It'll shift your entire reading perspective.
I know it’s not helpful to just tell you to “be patient.” But since I’ve been reworking “The Mansion’s Twins,” I can’t help but wonder, if I’d had the patience back then, where would I be now? I can only really help you with my own experience. I did not take the time to seek out a great cover before I published. I heard advice of scenes to shorten or remove, and characters to cut, but I thought, not only will that be difficult, it’ll take time I don’t have. Post-publishing, I quickly learned that I should have taken the advice I received. But if I had, I would have needed to delay my publishing date, maybe be another whole year, and that just wasn’t okay with me. So, I’m making up for it now.
Some might say if you don’t take this extra time, you don’t really care about your book. Other authors will know that you do care, you’re just excited. Being excited is great. Especially if you’re new to the process, and it’s your first book, you’ll be very excited, and very impatient. I won’t say the excitement disappears, but there’s nothing quite like that beginning phase of the journey. Enjoy it. Don’t be afraid to stay there for a bit, and have some fun. You’re learning, and there’s a whole lot to learn. Patience really does pay off.
It’s so easy to want to publish now because what if someone else has a similar idea? What if your friends think you’re all talk if you don’t do something already? Well, you could argue that everything has already been done before, and no one is really paying that much attention to what you’re doing.
We as indie authors have a responsibility to uphold a high standard. People tend to think “self-published” equates to, well, crap. So, for writers who want to self-publish, understand that the inside perspective has very high expectations. If you throw something thoughtless, out to the public, you’re doing the entire self-published world a huge disservice. Far more so than a bad traditionally published book, of which there are many. I know, this is utterly unfair. Trust me, I know, and it frustrates me too. But the general population just won’t see as many issues with traditionally published books, because of how they’re presented.
So, try this exercise in reading like a writer, and whenever you crack open a traditionally published book, imagine it was written by someone who’s bio sounds something like this: “She is a first time, debut author who self-published because I want to share this deep emotional love story with the world," or something along similar lines. It'll shift your entire reading perspective.
I know it’s not helpful to just tell you to “be patient.” But since I’ve been reworking “The Mansion’s Twins,” I can’t help but wonder, if I’d had the patience back then, where would I be now? I can only really help you with my own experience. I did not take the time to seek out a great cover before I published. I heard advice of scenes to shorten or remove, and characters to cut, but I thought, not only will that be difficult, it’ll take time I don’t have. Post-publishing, I quickly learned that I should have taken the advice I received. But if I had, I would have needed to delay my publishing date, maybe be another whole year, and that just wasn’t okay with me. So, I’m making up for it now.
Some might say if you don’t take this extra time, you don’t really care about your book. Other authors will know that you do care, you’re just excited. Being excited is great. Especially if you’re new to the process, and it’s your first book, you’ll be very excited, and very impatient. I won’t say the excitement disappears, but there’s nothing quite like that beginning phase of the journey. Enjoy it. Don’t be afraid to stay there for a bit, and have some fun. You’re learning, and there’s a whole lot to learn. Patience really does pay off.