Monday, December 5, 2011

self-publishing: I wanna ride the wave

Self-publishing...I'm in. I want to do it. With a story almost finished, I plan to put it up as a self-pubbed book. Experiment, I say! Try things on, see what works.

Self-publishing is in a huge boom period right now, and I love that. It's only going to get bigger and bigger.
That's so exciting to me, in so many ways. The sky's the limit, the oyster is there for the picking, my future is in my hands, my fate and destiny are there for me to latch onto. Sweet, eh?

Recently got HP Mallory's How I Sold 200,000 E-Books, and I also have John Locke's How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months. Haven't finished either yet, but reading through them both, gleaning helpful tidbits, and focusing on my books. Their numbers seem like lofty sales, and they are. Which is really so cool! I find it pretty exciting, because honestly, I look at writing as a business. Do I love to write? Yes. Do I love to make up characters, worlds, plots, events, cool things on the page? Absolutely. And do I want to be able to stay at home (or in the funky little coffeehouse) and write and let my writing bring in money? Abso-freaking-lutely, I do. Been there with the 9-5 jobs. Been there with teh cubicle. Been there with the messed up bosses and weird coworkers and dull, listless life that made me wonder if that was all there was to living. Been there with dragging home after a day at work, being too mentally drained for anything but the boob tube, and wasting precious hours of my life. The Internet and modern technology (god, I sound like a fuddy-duddy when I say that, lol) are amazing boons to us all, and I feel pretty damn privileged to live now: This time, this place, and with the abilities I have. Sheer luck, really. Just have to remember to write, finish what I start, and then package and market the heck out of it.

I read a lot about self-pubbing, in general all over the Internet and on a few romance forums I belong to (such as Romance Divas, which is a really, really great place). Do my best to keep informed, learn things, see what others have tried. From that, I learn what works, what doesn't, and perhaps how to do it better sometimes. I believe this is all a part of my personal writing journey as well as furthering my career goals--it's like taking classes, brushing up on my industry. It's awesome! And when I think that I, too, will make a living this way (and a good one--that might sound boastful, but I believe in my writing), I just get goosebumps all over. Seriously!

What a hoot this all is. Self-publishing, which has moved far, far past the stigma once attached to it. Change is a good thing indeed.

Who out there has self-pubbed? Stories to share?

3 comments:

Widow Dyer said...

Haven't self-pubbed yet but have every intention of doing it. After many years of research on the publishing world, I'm officially thankful for having procrastinated all those years. Being a bit of a control freak, I'm looking forward to being in a position of being the master of my own ship.

Working in the corporation world as well as freelance, I've lived by deadlines for most of my life. And, for me, self-publishing seems like the perfect light at the end of the tunnel to break free from this. Instead of someone else dictating the success or failure of my writing career, I'll do it myself.

I can't wait! :)

amy kennedy said...

Jesi, you've got me convinced you can do this. And we do have such a wonderful resource in Romance Divas. But, I think you could do it no matter what, you've got the drive!

I agree with Widow Dyer too, "...in a position of being the master of my own ship." Exactly.

Jesi O'Connell said...

I know, I love the "master of my own ship" idea of it too, most of all. (Mm, except for the cover art. That, I'll hire someone else to do! lol)

Widow Dyer, I'm definitely with you on the control freak aspect. I've learned the very hard way over the years to be less controlling in some aspects. My writing career, however? Yeah, gonna control that. I imagine I'll sub some things to traditional e-publishers too, but I think that will come from wanting to experiment. And it's awesome to hear you can't wait to start steering your own ship. Go, go! :)

Amy, thanks for the vote of confidence. Despite my focus & drive, I still need external validation in the form of a cheering squad. I appreciate it from you very much, for sure. And I lob some cheering right back at you too!