My thoughts on self-publishing
Some of you out there in Internetlandia® enjoy reading books, and a few of you have even gone so far as to say “Hey, since I love books so much, and writing one doesn’t look too hard (I mean, look at romance novels, right?) I should self-publish one!”
Well, far be it for me to proclaim myself an expert in self-publishing books, but I have done it, so I figured I’d share my thoughts surrounding the process, instead of talking about the mechanics of the process itself. If you’re looking for helpful advice in formatting and/or figuring out the publishing process, there’s already plenty of information on that.
We’re going to focus for a minute on the why of self-publishing, which is something not many people think about. If you’re serious about writing, this is going to be a litmus test. Either a) you’re going to get upset, or b) you’re going to recognize what you need to be doing. Hopefully I don’t upset anybody.
These are the questions you need to be asking yourself if you’re seriously considering self-publishing:
- Does my story really bring something unique to the genre?
- Do I trust myself enough to do my own editing?
- Am I willing to sacrifice the time, energy, and money to do it right?
- Am I publishing because I know it’s my calling, or because people think I should?
- Would I be willing to write multiple books even if I never get a dollar from it?
- What will I have to give up in order to do this?
If you’re honest, some of these questions will give you answers that may surprise you. I’ll admit, when I asked myself these, I was very shocked. We tend to assume a lot, but objectively looking at things will help solidify whether or you you should even be considering publishing at all.
Let’s break these down a bit. “Does my story bring something new to the table?” Well, obviously your story is unique in some way, but is it unique in the ways that matter? Cutting-and-pasting new characters into an old plot will only get you so far. It’s too predictable. What really makes the story and characters memorable is not their predicament (although creativity there is always good) but in how they get out of it. Think about it: MacGyver was interesting because of how he got out of sticky situations.
“Should I do my own editing?” If you’re emotionally invested in your story, you’re going to have a hard time with this. You have to be able to read a chapter and say “This isn’t working, it needs to be re-written.” Don’t kid yourself, it’s harder than it sounds. For my first book, I re-wrote the ending twice. I’m still not happy with it, but it’s acceptable. This brings us to the next question:
“Can I spend the time, energy, and money to do it right?” Are you an artist? Are you an editor? Are you a publicist? You need to be all of these things to do it yourself. Cover and jacket design. Formatting and layout. Editing. Promotion. All of these take time and money. I’ll be honest, I’m a fair artist, but for my next book I’m going to hire someone else to do the cover art. The actual writing took about two months; the editing, formatting, and publishing took over a year. I’m very confident with my editing skills, but I’m not a great publicist. Which leads to the next question:
“Am I publishing because it’s my calling?” Okay, this one, I’m going to get personal with. The truth is, you don’t have to publish everything you write. My wife wrote most of a book to help her deal with miscarriage and loss, and when she had gotten to the point where she had worked through her grief, she was done with it. Never got published, she didn’t even need to finish writing it, because she was writing it for herself. I’ve had numerous people tell me “You’re a great writer, you should publish a book!” But they don’t know how much work it takes, how much effort is required. Don’t do it because other people tell you to. It will take more than other people’s goading to finish something of this magnitude. It will require you pouring yourself into it to get a quality result.
If you’re writing to work through something personal in your life, I would strongly encourage you, don’t publish it. At least not right away. You will be too emotionally involved in it to give it the critical eye that a published work needs. If, however, you feel like you can write a story that 1) is entertaining, 2) can give something of substance to the reader, and 3) do it in a professional format, then you’re well on your way. The final piece to this puzzle is our last questions:
“Would I still write for free? And what will I have to give up to do it?”
If you feel that God has placed a burden on you to write a story for other people’s consumption, then you have all the reason you need. You still need to be realistic about it, of course, especially if you need help with editing and such. But if your calling is to write, you will not be happy doing anything else. That doesn’t mean you should write for a living! No, far from it. You will be able to write your best when there are no restrictions, no contracts, no draconian publishing house editors cutting out the heart of your book “to make it sell.” With self-publishing, you get complete control over what is in the story, for better or worse. You have to be willing to expose yourself to criticism. You have to be confident in your calling. You need to be willing to write for free, on lunch breaks, at night, in the morning, in the car when you’re waiting in the carpool lane.
Writing books for a living is a special gift for those who have put in years of hard work honing their craft. They have written and thrown away more work than I have written overall. They have made the mistakes, and learned from them.
If you’re thinking of writing just to make a living at it, you can stop now. That’s the wrong reason.
If you write because you love it, and you are fulfilling your calling, one day you may look around and say “You know if I changed a few things, I could possibly make a living off of my writing.” This is where you want to be.
Self-publishing is a great way to learn the basics of publishing, work on writing, get feedback, and learn the ropes. If you keep working at it and improving, eventually your writing will stand out above the droves of self-published drivel that is flooding the market now. Don’t be in a hurry. Develop your skills, do what you love, and when the time comes, you’ll know what to do.