A Letter About Self Publishing
Table of Contents
Here is a letter I wrote in response to someone asking about self-publishing.
Josh,
I’m glad I got to talk with you a little tonight. It looks like you are on the same adventure that I am on. I really enjoy writing; it is my new hobby, but I have to keep reminding myself that it is more of a marathon than a sprint. I had written five first drafts (National Novel Writing Month), but only one of those did I ever revise into a book for others. I have a lot I could say, but here are some of those links I promised.
The main website for publishing for Kindle is https://kdp.amazon.com. If you don’t have an account you may have to create one. The help pages for that are here: https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G200635650. These will lead you step-by-step.
I found the easiest way to format the document was using Microsoft Word and this page: http://cjs-easy-as-pie.blogspot.com/2010/03/publishing-for-kindletake-out-ms-word.html. At the time this was far easier than what the kdp.amazon.com site had.
Here is a podcast that I love: http://www.writingexcuses.com/season001/ I gave you the link to season one, but all seven complete seasons are linked at the top of the page. If you just go to http://www.writingexcuses.com you will see each episode so far in season eight.
These guys are very good. I have learned a great deal from them and even thanked them in the acknowledgements of my first book. Brandon Sanderson writes epic fantasy, Howard Taylor writes a daily sci-fi comic strip, and Dan Wells writes horror and science fiction. Later they added Mary Robinette Kowal who writes a kind of fantasy.
Hugh Howey is a guy who made it big self-publishing a couple of years ago. He write science fiction. He wrote a very inspirational blog post that helped me with revising (http://www.hughhowey.com/i-dont-know-writing-but-i-know-what-i-like/#more-3223). There is a little swearing in it from time to time, but I liked what he said about being persistent at revision.
I found this guy very helpful and motivational as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cix5AcqOtI4&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PLK_bMOz0qH7yWEr3MxIIpaezL18jUygY5. You can learn a lot from his youtube videos.
The book I am just finished reading is called “Your First 1000 Copies:The Step-by-Step Guide to Marketing Your Book (https://www.amazon.com/Your-First-Copies-Step-Step-ebook/dp/B08HQZ4QXY/). They also have an audio version.
A bit overwhelming, right! For now, you will do well if you just work on revising what you have in front of you. Read the post by Hugh Howey to get inspired for this and don’t give up. You will get sick of your book after awhile because you will be reading it over and over to revise it. Eventually though, you will have something you can be proud of. You will probably even surprise yourself at times. I know I did!
Aaron