3 Tips for Self-Publishing Success

Success is one of those words that means different things to different people. For the sake of this blog post, I’m going to define success as “meeting or exceeding your goals,” whether that means making such-and-such amount of money a year, being read by X number of people, or simply putting out a finished book that makes you proud. That said, I know a lot of people dream of writing for a living, so these tips may slant things in that direction.

Note: this short list doesn’t mention cover art, editing, formatting, blurb-writing or any of the basics that have been discussed here and elsewhere before. I’m going assume you’ve already read that advice.

3 Tips for Self-Publishing Success

1. Hone your writing skills before you publish

In the early days of e-publishing, there wasn’t a lot of competition in the Kindle, Nook, iPad, etc. stores, and some people made it big largely because they got in early with decent stories or were the first to price their ebooks at 99 cents. By the time I came on the scene at the end of 2010, it was starting to get more competitive, with many more offerings in the e-stores. So many people were pricing their books at 99 cents that this was no longer a way to stand out. Today there are even more self-published and traditionally published authors with ebooks at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.

What does this mean?

You can’t just be there with a pretty cover and an attractively priced ebook — everybody has that. Perhaps as always should have been the case, the writing has to stand out.

Give yourself every advantage by honing your writing and storytelling skills before you publish your first book. I found online writers’ workshops to be a wonderful way to learn. Others prefer to take classes and/or to read books on the craft.

Whatever you can do, it behooves you treat writing as you would any other career. You have to study, to practice, and to get feedback from others before you’re ready to hang out your shingle.

You don’t have to be the best writer in the class (or workshop) to go on to make a living. I was sure never the type to win awards or contests. But, hey, sometimes the ones with the most talent are the ones who never make it. Be willing to keep learning and adapting, and don’t underestimate the power of the will to succeed.

2. Figure out what your unfair advantage is and exploit it

In the process of enduring this apprenticeship period, you’ll probably learn what you’re good at when it comes to writing. It’ll be partly based on your enjoyment of said thing and partly based on the positive feedback you get from peers and mentors (OMG, William, you write the best fight scenes!).

Maybe you have a knack for creating creepy horror scenes that keep people turning the page. Maybe you can craft characters that feel real and are so fun that readers enjoy hanging out with them. Maybe you write dialogue that would make Joss Whedon smile in appreciation.

Whatever it is, it’s up to you to identify this natural aptitude and use it to make your stories stand out from the competition. Example? Well, in my case, I love to write dialogue. I once had an English teacher suggest I look into screenwriting. I’m not the best at world-building, action scenes, or arranging the prose in a pretty way on the page, but I believe my characters and dialogue are strong points. So, I take advantage of that strength. I build scenes in such a way that my characters can interact with each other a lot. It’s rare for me to send a character off alone for more than a few pages, because I know the story is more entertaining when my heroes are doing things together. In other words, I believe a knack for writing characters and dialogue is my “unfair advantage,” meaning it’s something I can do in a unique way that other writers might struggle with (just as I struggle when called upon to create awesome, original worlds or to pen epic battles).

As we talked about, it’s a competitive market out there right now, so it makes sense to figure out what you’re good at and use that to your advantage.

3. Have an attitude of gratefulness instead of one of entitlement

I’m not one to talk about mindset a lot, and you’ll never catch me writing self-help books, but, based on comments I see on people’s blogs and social media channels, I think a lot of authors set themselves up for failure by feeling that they deserve a readership just because they wrote a book. Writing a book is the beginning of the journey, not the end, so here’s a rare mindset piece from me:

The wrong attitude

What, I only sold seven books this month? I went on blog tours, I handed out flyers, I tweeted a zillion times, and I bought sponsorships. I sent twenty review copies out, and I gave away free samples. This game is so rigged. All the successful people are only selling well because they got in early. So-and-so doesn’t deserve to be a best-seller. I’ve read his/her book, and it sucks. If the people that read those sucky books just read my book, they’d realize how great it is, and I’d be a best-seller.

The right attitude

Seven complete strangers bought my book this month? Holy smokes, that rocks! What can I do to make sure their experience is great? Maybe I can post some extras on my blog or give away some signed paperbacks. Maybe if I keep writing good books and continue to develop my skills as an author, even more people will give my work a chance. If I work my a$$ off, maybe in a few years I’ll have earned a readership large enough to support me as a full-time writer.

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Do you agree or disagree with any of my tips? Or would you like to add some of your own? Feel free to do so in the comments!

 

Related Posts:

Should You Price Ebooks at 99 Cents When You’re a New, Unknown Author?
Are More Authors Than You Think Making a Living Self-Publishing?
Indie Writing and Traditional Storytelling with Alan Dean