Possibly long thread ahead!

I thought I'd address a few points for why I think self-publishing is great, even if your ultimate intention is to get picked up by an agent and be traditionally published.

So buckle up, folks, let's have a ramble.
#WritingCommunity #amwriting
1/21

First thing's first: let's assume everyone reading this WANTS to get published. You have a manuscript, and it may or may not be polished and ready for the public to see, but that in and of itself doesn't matter. The point is you want to get published but you don't know how.

2/21

A lot of writers go into the writing game believing that, once their book is 'ready', they'll find an agent and a traditional publisher. Unfortunately a lot of writers still believe that if this doesn't happen then their book isn't good enough to get published.

3/21

But this couldn't be further from the truth! The problem is that lots of writers don't know what they don't know, and what they don't know is essentially the entire publishing and marketing business.

This is where self-publishing comes in.

4/21

Say you have a novel that you shopped around to a few agents but got all rejections/no response. You don't know any other agents that would be a good fit, because you're new to the game, but you don't want to give up on your book baby just yet.

5/21

You can choose to self-publish it exactly the way it is just to get it out there without spending a penny. What does this involve?

1.) Learning how to format for eBook and/or paperback
2.) Learning how to use KDP/Kobo etc.
3.) Learning basic cover design

6/21

So now you've learned three excellent things you didn't know before. And your book is out there for the world to see! What will you learn now?

1.) You need to promote your book for people to see it
2.) Friends & family may promise to read but won't
3.) People might HATE it

7/21

So what can you do to address these?

1.) Improve your book - editing, redrafting, proofing, better cover
2.) Learn a little about marketing and social media promotion
3.) Stop relying on friends & family and find some advanced review copy readers to get reviews

8/21

Phew, this is exhausting, but now you know so much more than you did before! And you've learned what you are and aren't willing to do, so now you know your limits. And that's just from one self-publishing experience that cost you absolutely no money (but plenty of time).

9/21

You may discover that you actually like self-publishing. You certainly have a whole lot more freedom than you would with a traditional publisher. You might now have learned about indie and hybrid publishers, too, who give you the best of both worlds.

10/21

But are those the right options for you? Check out what they've published already for the quality of their book covers (which you learn more about through trying to make one yourself than any other process). If they don't seem that great, generally avoid the publisher.

11/21

And that's not even getting started on vanity presses! By self-publishing you'll probably start getting emails from companies that claim they'll do an amazing job publishing your book and taking all the trouble out of it, but this will cost you thousands of pounds.

12/21

You know what you could do better with those thousands of pounds? Hire an excellent cover artist, editor and marketer (or invest in the plethora of excellent marketing/ad courses that exist out there) and still have money to spare. See? Self-pubbing isn't so bad.

13/21

There are a whole host of free services you can utilise to improve, too. Kindlepreneur is AMAZING for everything you need to know about eBook publishing. Get yourself signed up! 20 Books to 50K on Facebook is a wonderful resource, too, especially for fast writers.

14/21

You've probably now learned how much work your original manuscript actually needed just to compete with existing indie books, never mind top-tier traditionally published books. But those books have massive marketing campaign budgets - you don't, so don't worry about them.

15/21

So what if you decide that it's all a little too much, and you want to give traditional publishing another go? Then go for it! You're in one hell of a better position to do it now. By engaging on social media for self-publishing you've likely learned about Pitch wars etc.

16/21

This opens you up to a whole new world of finding agents and publishers you never knew you never knew existed. Your chances of finding the right people to publish your baby have just gone up! But now you're much more saavy and critical; you know who or what to avoid.

17/21

1.) If they sound too good to be true, they probably are.
2.) If they ask you for a monetary contribution, run for the hills.
3.) If they're an indie or hybrid model, their marketing budget will be modest at best.

18/21

At this point I should say that most everyone who gets trad-pubbed still has to do a lot of self-promo and marketing on social media. Only huge names or sure-thing books get big marketing budgets. Trad-pubbed isn't the guarantee that you'll do well that people think it is.

19/21

Okay, I'm gonna start wrapping this up. Self-publishing isn't for everyone but by at least giving it a go you'll learn A LOT. About preparing your novel for publishing, marketing, promo, cover design & so much more. It's much easier to learn this stuff by doing it.

20/21

You may discover, like me, that you really enjoy it, and actively turn down publisher offers. Or you may discover the exact opposite. Either way is fine. Either way is good! The point here is to learn more about an industry you want to be part of.

No, ARE a part of.

21/21

Extra: Wow I didn't expect to make this as long as it was. It was basically an essay. I must be a writer...

And now I'm very tired.