Miss a post? Visit the main post for links to each day.
We’ve spent the last few days talking about tribes and how important it is to start building before your book is written. For many writers, the marketing side of self-publishing is no fun. You may fall into that category. All this talk of platforms may be enough to make you want to forget you ever even considered self-publishing.
Maybe you feel this way:
Self-Publishing sounds overwhelming and like a lot of work. Do you really think I can do this? Is it worth it?
Like most things worth doing, self-publishing is indeed hard work. It will likely take longer and require more of your energy than you anticipate at the beginning of the project. Many people dive into a self-publishing project with the idea that it’s a quick process of getting your words down and then putting it up on your site to sell. In reality, self-publishing done well is much more involved. I don’t say this to discourage you. On the contrary!
You can do this!
It takes commitment, hard work, and determination. (And obviously it takes more to release a full-length book than a short e-book, so adjust your expectations according to your particular project.)
But it can be done! I would not even be writing this series if I didn’t genuinely believe that self-publishing is a viable option for many people.
Hard work? Yes!
Within your reach? Yes!
In the end, it’s an incredibly fulfilling and victorious feeling to know that your words are available to the world in book form.
In the next days, we will shift away from talk of tribes and platforms to focus on other aspects of self-publishing. (We’ll come back to the subject of marketing later on.)
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During the month of October, we’re chatting about everything self-publishing—design, branding, marketing, formats—you name it! Pulling questions from Design by Insight clients, Re:Write Conference attendees, and you, we’ll take a look at what can often be a confusing and potentially overwhelming subject. Have a question you would like me to answer? Leave it in the comments!
Miss a day? Visit the main post for links to each day.
Hi Erin
I have a question about software. There are a lot of applications out there for writing from free to a couple of hundred pounds. They offer a variety of features too. I quite like the idea of multi-platform applications that use Dropbox or similar to sync your work between PC an tablet. Have you ever reviewed any that are available or seen any that help the self-publishing process?
Thanks
Robert
Robert, there are so many variables here. I use Apple products, so for me personally the natural fit here would be Pages and the iCloud. Depending on the particular devices you have, that may or may not work for you.
I have heard very good things about Scrivener, but I have not tried it myself. To my knowledge though, it does not have multi-platform abilities.