Why Self Publish? (Continued)

(Continued from Part 1)

Not long after publishing Blood for Wolves - and I really do mean not long - I got responses. I thought to myself, "I guess I should make an author Facebook page..." Maybe 20 minutes after creating said page I had a reader pop on to tell me they loved the book. That surprised the heck out of me. Not that they liked the book (but that was pretty cool), but that they had somehow found it out of all the other books out there, read it, and then discovered my FB page with such speed. The numbers for sales were pretty surprising too. I supposed it was because somewhere my book was being shown on some Amazon "Just In" page that I hadn't seen (and still haven't so who knows?).

I also discovered my book in some interesting places when Googling it several weeks after it came out. I found it at:

A USA Today web article
Once Upon a Time Book Blog
Maryse's Book Blog
Romance Lovers
Brightdreamer's Book Reviews

I hadn't contacted any of these people and requested they do anything - post my book or review it or anything. And it's other places as well, lists that included new releases, places that list books when they're for free (since I offered mine for a free on 5 different days), Goodreads lists (and I didn't even put my book on Goodreads - someone else did), and yes, even places that hijack your book and give it out for free download. And no, I wasn't mad about that. Not at all. Because 1.) If that's how they want to get their book, then nothing I can do will stop them, and 2.) I'd already given away over 3,000 free downloads anyway. Why would I flip out over a handful of unauthorized downloads? Metallica flipped out over Napster - meanwhile Paulo Coehlo pirated his own book in other countries. Who came out on top?

Am I an amazing bestseller? No. Do I need to do more marketing myself? Absolutely. Does it matter that some of those links above are just little personal blogs? Heck yeah. Because even if one person looks at a blog and decides to buy my book, that's one more sale, right? And if they like it, they might tell others about it, which leads to more sales. Those places are a part of your reader base, remember, so don't ever think them beneath you or meaningless.

Since publishing, I have learned a lot of things I don't think I would have found out otherwise. Do I still want to break into traditional publishing? Of course I do. I see it as a massive challenge. Will I ever be able to? We'll see. As of right now I'm revising another book in my Figments series to hang out with Blood for Wolves and will simply go straight to the electronic shelves. I'm also very seriously considering e-publishing my science fiction novel as well under a different name. Because at this point - why not?

Life is so short, and that's one of the big reasons I don't have a problem with self publishing anymore. In the past it could tarnish your reputation with agents and editors - give them a negative impression of you and your work. But those times are slipping into oblivion. Even if they weren't, a lot of successful e-published authors don't care becuase they're making a nice bit of income from their digital sales. I think, what might happen tomorrow that no one ever gets to read some of my other books? Why am I holding back? Just because one too many editors said no? Sometimes they have finite spaces to fill and can't pick all the books they might want and hand out the old, "It's good - but we can't market it right now" stuff, or some other reason they can't use your story. Authors have heard countless reasons and excuses over the years. Now there really aren't any.

Just remember - don't put out your first draft. Have good readers examine your work and be willing to hear them tell you it sucks. And don't cry and hide under the bed when they say that. Suck it up and get back to work. Kill all the typos and grammatical errors. Fix pacing and adjust characters. Erase scenes if necessary. Don't know where to turn? Seek out writing groups or workshops. Take a class if you have to. If you think your work is the best thing since sliced bread, know that it's not. Or at the very least, that someone somewhere won't think so. Be ready for negative reviews and grow a thicker skin than you think you had. Work just as hard - if not harder - before hitting that self publish button because you won't have agents or editors to make you tweak things or discover flaws. You have only your fellows, yourself, and that's it. In the end, the books all end up in the same place - the readers. And you want it to be the best book it can be.