How I Self Published/Advice for New Authors.

     When I was young, I had many career aspirations. My first one was a vampire, which didn’t end up happening due to legal and moral issues. The second thing I wanted to be was a detective, although it was mostly due to my first fandom, Nancy Drew. Unfortunately, I had to give up on that one due to my shocking oversight of obvious details. Eventually, I realized I had a passion for writing that had followed me through my life, and I decided why not write a book?

 My father had an ancient chromebook that wasn’t used, so he gave it to me after I asked. I decided to bum off of the wifi at cafes and give this thing a try. The first thing I had to figure out was what genre I wanted to write. I’m terrible at writing romance, as I have the emotional range of a brick, but I decided I wanted to incorporate it in my first novel as a challenge. The main genre that I chose for my book was horror, which I’ve always been a fan of. Another thing about my writing style is that I find it impossible to write seriously, books without occasional comedic dialogue have always come across as dry in my opinion, so I decided to incorporate humor as well. So now, I had to write a romance, horror, comedy for my first novel. Easy!

     I finished my first novel at nineteen, just barely after my birthday. Here, my lack of insight I mentioned earlier came into play. Using a couple beta readers, I thought I could edit the book myself. It went about as well as you’d expect. After submitting to several agents and getting rejected (Potentially because of glaring grammar errors), I decided to self publish it. For those who are interested in self publishing, the keys are that you should purchase an ISBN for print copies, use Canva for cover design if you are creative, and always hire an editor. There is no way around that if you are hoping to make a name for yourself that isn’t tarnished. I wish I had known about that before publishing my novel unedited, as the revision process was tedious, long, and I could not erase a review that mentioned grammar issues afterwards. 

     I used Reedsy to hire an editor with experience in horror after taking my novel off the market temporarily for the final revision. The experience was pleasant and set me back $600. I didn’t hire her for any editing except grammar, since the plot was something I was fine with. It will cost more if you want edits and suggestions for the storyline and potential plot holes. The issue was my sales were completely dead! After submitting my book to several reviewers and not getting a response back, I decided to do something bold. I changed my cover design completely, using a website called PlaceIt. I had to pay for the design, but it was merely pocket change. Suddenly, I started receiving an outpouring of sales. 

     Eventually, the sales died down again for the most part. This is an unfortunate part of self publishing, which no author can get around….you have to do the marketing yourself. I market my novel through social media, occasional instagram ads, and by writing articles on this block right here! Even if you write a fantastic novel, it doesn’t matter if nobody knows about it. Putting yourself out there is scary, but in this day and age self publishing is nearly impossible without social media accounts dedicated to your writing. 

     Another thing that is important to remember is that on average, self published authors make around $500 per book. That’s why it is important that you continue writing and start the next book a few months after your first book, if you’d like to stay relevant and pursue profit. If all you want is to say you published a book and have it available for friends, disregard that. Not everybody is in it for the profit, which is actually quite admirable.

     Here’s the fun part where I self advertise! My first novel is A Soul Made of Cinders, and it is available online where books are sold. I’m running a temporary deal on the kindle copy on Amazon for $1 in the hopes of receiving reviews. Preferably good ones, but constructive criticism is important for authors to grow. It’s about a woman who is feeling trapped in a dead end life, until she is defended from her boyfriend at a halloween party by a stranger. Things start to change as she pursues a friendship and something more from the gothic man, all while a murderous stalker she didn’t know she had grows closer by the second. It borrows from campy slasher stereotypes, while touching into deep topics such as depression, self loathing, and the meaning of evil itself. 

     Thank you for joining me on this blast from the past. I hope my article was able to help you in some way, whether it was with motivation, planning, or wasting time on the toilet. 

-Faith