Why Self-Publishing Was My Best Decision

It's the weekend! *confetti* Welcome back, good people of the blogosphere! Today, we're talking about self publishing and why it was my best decision ever. I know not everyone wants to self publish, but for me, it was the only way forward. Hard stop. So, let's not waste a ton of time up here and just get to it.

Wait! I forgot to say: Be SURE you're around next week. I have a super-awesome surprise for you all that has to do with AI and audio. :)

Now, let's dive in. Grab your cup of Jo and get comfy.

There are a ton of things to navigate in the Indie world like cattiness, theft, and scams, but those all take a back seat to the benefits (at least, they do for me). 

I mean, I write because I have to. If I didn't, I'd go stark-raving mad. There are all these voices in my head that tell me this and that. I can only shut them up by creating (this goes for art, too).

When I'm down or stressed, I take out my frustrations either on the keyboard or the canvas. I'm sure a lot of you are the same way.

Because it's an outlet, it can't become something I have to do. If I went with a traditional publisher, I'd have deadlines and people telling me what my cover should look like. Or even telling me how I can and can't format a book.

I did mention I'm also Type A? Oh, no? I am. Judging by the very detailed list of help topics on this blog, you probably knew already.

That Type A has a lot to do with why I can't go trad. I need control without deadlines. When I do have a deadline, I lock up, unable to do anything at all. If someone tells me my cover has to be such-and-such way, I get jittery and nervous because I rarely like designs other than my own.

I get to blog about whatever I choose, and I don't have someone telling me which book signings I can attend. If I screw up, I only have myself to answer to. I could go on, but I think you get the point.

Being an Indie is freeing. I get to write what I want when I want. Who wouldn't want that?

Not to mention the royalties are all mine. I don't have to give a publisher $0.99 out of every dollar I make. I get the whole $0.35 when I sell a $1 book. Win. I also don't have to pay back any signing bonus. Win.

Now, I'm not pooing on trad authors. If they can do that, more power to them. Anyone who can see a deadline and hit it is amazing to me. Anyone who can navigate the world we live in without getting cancelled and dropped by their publisher because of something they write? Impressive.

In other words, I made the best decision for me when I went Indie. That doesn't mean it's the best decision for everyone. After all, it's expensive to do what we do.

Which are you? Why did you go that route? Share! I'd love to discuss it. :)

I hope you got something out of this post! Be SURE to come back for the fun next week.

Well, that's all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Biggest Mistakes I've Made as an Indie Author

Happy Friday, y'all! Today, I'm going to tell you about some of my biggest pitfalls as an Indie author. These are things I wish I'd never done, things I did that I regret doing, and things I hope you learn something from. If you do end up doing these things, make sure you understand that it may not work out when you sign up for whatever it may be or hire whomever. I'd say 100% of the time, these things got me absolutely nowhere and cost me time, readers, and money.

Ready? Oh, I know you are. Grab that coffee and a notepad; you're gonna want to write these down.

My smallest mistake was believing I could handle all the marketing of all my stuff alone. I couldn't, but I also simply needed the right tools to help me along and a good schedule for sharing my stuff. I had one but didn't have the other, and my work suffered because of it.

Just above that on the rung was believing friends and family would help me with those things. Yeah, that didn't happen either. Would you believe I got a call from a sister who asked me how to buy my friend's book on Amazon when I knew damned good and well my sister hadn't read half of what I've written? Yeah. That's now my expectation. Bitter? Me? Not at all. It's just reality, and that's okay. Did it make me curl my lip? Yes, but I won't hold it against her.

Above that, we have losing my newsletter. Y'all, I'll be honest, I just didn't have the energy to keep up with any of this stuff after I lost my mama and Covid lock down happened. Because I couldn't write, I baked, and I sent that stuff via my newsletter, but then I lost my son. I kind of withdrew from everything and turned to art (you can see my sad gallery here). It's been a rough couple years, but losing that newsletter hit hard. That was over 500 subscribers strong.

One step higher, and we see letting that damned troll get to me and shutting off the blog. Sure, I still popped in to share books that were new, but it wasn't the same, and I know that. I'm not sorry because I am actually human, and those comments did actually hurt. Now you might understand yet another reason I make people log in to comment now. In addition to the spam. Spam was BAD. Anyway, I'm losing my train of thought. Back on the tracks, you!

Up another rung and we have joining boxed-freaking sets. They cost money most of the time, and I have yet to have had a good experience with one. I stopped doing them. With the first, there were sixteen authors, and each one was supposed to share and promote the others. I was quite a way down the ladder, but I did my part. Other people didn't. By the time it got to me, people had already pulled their books down. It was a mess. For the second, it was personal because it was supposed to be a boxed set for MS research. Our organizer ran off with the money. I EVEN MADE A SEPARATE DONATION. Boy, if I ever run into her...

Go a bit higher and you find shutting off from socials for as long as I did. It's not easy coming back from that, and I missed a lot of the booms the book world saw during that time. BookTok was a huge one. It's nearly impossible to get your audience back. I mean, I get it. Trust is gone. I was just going through some shit.

Not writing my novels is the next on the list. Though I have been doing things here and there (like the second Recipe for Redemption book), I'm not anywhere near as productive as I used to be. I have a list of ideas and nothing to show for it. Several books are nearly done, but I can't seem to find the time to finish them. I took on a job for a while working for a company as their marketing manager, and while their business grew, mine shrank like male anatomy in an ice bath. Go figure.

Now, my biggest mistake as an Indie author was not putting my money in the right places. I went through a couple stints with a couple of PAs that got me nowhere (that was costly), and I didn't put money where it might have helped me. I wasted a lot on swag and crap I gave away when really I should've used it to sign up for tools I needed to help my marketing and anything else that would've bought me time. Time for a writer is everything.

It takes a lot of time to do what we do. It takes a lot of luck to be successful at what we do. I feel like I have a whole other life to live, and I just keep aging like some tree. I've been a mom since I was very young, and my kids are now out of the house. Do I have time to do what I want to do? No. I don't. I'm gonna fight like hell to get it back though, and this time, I have a world of experience in my pocket.

Maybe my biggest mistake was not inventing a time machine. Doya think?

There you go. These were my biggest mistakes as an Indie author. Have you made any of these? Did you get anything out of this post? Drop me a comment and let me know.

Well, that's all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo