5 Things I Wish I’d Done Before I Published

[image error]

Now, I’m not usually one to look back at past mistakes and actually care that I made those mistakes. In fact, I’m more of a, “Too bad, move on,” person. My selfishness, my maliciousness, and my utter lack of concern over the bad things I’d done is absolutely hideous.

However, today I’m talking about what I’ve learned since publishing The Dressmaker’s Secret last year. So you won’t make the same mistakes. I’m a good person. Yay!!!

What are these mistakes then? What would I do before I published if I had a chance to go back and do it all over again?

Weeeell …

1: I would publish in the summer of 2016 instead.

This would have given me more time to edit, more time to learn about self-publishing and formatting, more time to think, “Is this really the cover I want to stick with?” etc.

I needed more time … but I decided, “The time has come to stop thinking and start doing!” But if I could go back, I’d tell myself to wait half a year.

2: I would get on Goodreads, Facebook, etc.

I feel like I wouldn’t have made half the mistakes I made if I’d actually taken the time to socialize with other self-publish authors on various social media sites before I published.

I should have sought guidance, as well as encouragement. I should have made friends and gotten to know people. This would also have given me some extra marketing time.

Remember: you start marketing before you publish. Not after.

I would have been a bit ahead of the game if I’d done this. But did I? Nope.

3: I would have a blog tour.

I didn’t really know about blog tours when I originally published TDS, but now I know. And I really wish I’d published it with a blog tour.

I put a lot of faith into these as a marketing tool, and they’re a lot of fun, too. (By the way, signups will be open this Saturday when the cover reveal happens! Excited? I know I am!)

4: I would order proof copies.

I had to edit TDS twice after I published because of all the typos, grammar mistakes, etc. The originally published draft was a mess … and I didn’t submit the cover correctly, so it was all blurry … and some of the formatting was off.

So, I’d order proof copies. This is cheap and easy to do on Createspace, and it would have rid me of so many problems.

5: I would learn about my genre.

Historical fiction. Who knew that such a thing existed before they published a historical fiction novel? Well … uh … it wasn’t me.

That’s right. I learned about my genre after I published it when I went to the library, picked up a random book (The Silent Governess by Julie Klassen), and realized I had to read more of this amazing genre … and that all along I’d been writing it. *jaw drops*

So yes, I would have begun marketing my book as historical fiction from the beginning and found my niche early on.

There you have it, folks … five things I would have done before (or concerning, I suppose) publishing.

Mistakefully,

~Kellyn Roth~

Bloglovin’ · Pinterest · Facebook

p.s.

If you’re published, what stupid mistakes did you make the first time around (if any) ? What would you tell yourself if you could go back in time?

Do you now think me a complete idiot? Or just a moderate idiot? (Seriously, though, there was no way I could know most of that!) Is there anything you really regret (writing- or otherwise)? Do you plan on publishing some day? If so, how are you preparing (if you are at all)?