Summer is officially over here in Australia, and for once I don’t mind that we are now into Autumn. This is the time of year that I usually start thinking seriously about my goals for the year (and wonder how those first two months vanished so quickly!). Laura the Explorer was released out into the world on the 24th January, and it was such an interesting learning process acting as my own publisher. It’s now been out for just over a month, so I thought I’d share some of the things I’ve learned – broken down into positives and negatives!
Positives:
- I am so impressed with Ingram Spark’s print-on-demand offering here in Australia – not only do the books look amazing but being able to order a box of books and have them printed and delivered to me within a couple of days (even without choosing the express options) is quite extraordinary. How much the publishing world will change with this new style of printing!
- Thanks to Ingram Spark, I was able to sell lots of hard copies of my book to friends and family & sign the books for them. Fun for me, fun for them!
- The ease of creating digital files with programs like Jutoh and uploading ebooks for sale across multiple platforms.
- Being in control of pricing, promotion, cover, description, interior etc. Basically just having control over everything
- Learning about publishing! This is something many people might not see the value in, but I view all knowledge and experience as hugely valuable and worthwhile, especially for someone wanting to make a career as an author.
Negatives:
- Apple iBooks. I knew I never liked Apple.
- Underestimating how much marketing would be needed! Yes, I’ll admit I’ve been focussed so much on production and ensuring I was making the best possible product that I didn’t spend much time on marketing. Part of this was deliberate – I was a bit unsure of the whole publishing process and I wanted to see how the books would turn out before I started promoting them.
- Assuming how many acquaintances would buy the book. This is an interesting one for any new author, I believe. We assume that old friends and acquaintances will check out our book, at least just for curiosity’s sake (after all, we’d do the same!). However, the thing to remember is that unless someone is already a reader of books (many people just aren’t) then they are very unlikely to buy your book.
- Assuming the friends and family who bought your book will help you out and write a review online. I’ve since heard from many other authors not to expect this. Friends and family may love your book, they’ll likely tell you how much they loved it and discuss it in great detail with you, but they will be unlikely to go online and share their views with the public. Why not? They just aren’t reviewers.
- Realising I’m really not very good at social media. This is a funny one, since I’ve worked for years in digital marketing! I know how to promote brands and products, but promoting myself as an author? Yuck. I need to get better at this.
Next Steps:
I’ve always viewed self-publishing and the process of becoming a successful author as a slow burn. Traditional publishing houses focus so much on the Book Launch and that key period around a new release when they drive sales. But once those weeks have passed? They are then onto The Next Book, and support will likely be withdrawn. My book didn’t really have a Book Launch, rather it had a rather quiet and subdued release. But the beautiful thing about books is that they are timeless. I don’t need to focus so much energy on driving sales Right Now. I’ve got months and years ahead of me to do that.
I’ve started trialling marketing ideas in the last month and will continue to do so for the rest of the year. For each activity I want to be able to see the return on investment and whether it has a direct impact on sales, which is why I’m not going to go all out and try and do everything at once. At the beginning of February I did a promotion with the Book Fairies for Indie Author Day, and copies of Laura the Explorer were left across Sydney and Perth for passers-by to find. I’ve also sent copies of my book out to a number of reviewers, and am expecting their reviews to be posted online in the next few months.
Above: the Perth Book Fairies leaving copies of Laura the Explorer around town
There are so many fantastic book promotion tools out there for indie authors to utilise – (I’ve recently discovered this extensive list) and I’ll be trialling some different things each month going forward and hopefully sharing some success stories on the blog!
What I’m working on
The sequel to Laura the Explorer is in the works, and I’m planning on having this complete and ready to publish by the end of this year. It’s been a slow start to the year with everything involved in publishing Laura the Explorer, as well as being back to almost full-time working hours at my paid job, however I’m slowly getting back on track with writing.
What I’m reading
I’ve read a number of amazing books lately, and here are some of my favourites:
Prism Cloud by Jeff Wheeler. I was lucky to receive an advanced copy of this book, and I absolutely love this series! Highly recommended for fantasy readers.
The Queen’s Poisoner by Jeff Wheeler. Since discovering the Harbinger series (above) I’ve also started reading the Kingfountain series too. Love it as well! Can’t believe I’ve never read Jeff Wheeler before this.
The City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty. A great start to a new series.
Legendary by Stephanie Garber. The sequel to Caraval, Legendary was just as beautiful and wonderful as the first book. The only bad thing I have to say about it was the amount of typos in the Australian print edition! Literally, so many typos! Even the main character’s name was spelt wrong at one point. How on earth that file got through to print without being proof-read, I have no idea.
That’s it for now! Hello Autumn, hello writing-productivity (fingers crossed), and until next time – happy reading (& writing if you are a writer!)
Main Photo by Hello I'm Nik on Unsplash