Self-Publishing Mistake: Everything, Everywhere, All at Once
From book idea to publication and beyond.
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Happy Saturday! In today’s newsletter you’ll learn:
📚 What I’m learning about self-publishing
📝 Resources you might consider
👉 How you can help
A few weeks ago, I wrote about pivoting from traditional to self-publishing for my next historical novel, Like Water for Weary Souls. You can read it here. I did not take my decision lightly, and knew my decision came with, well, loads of other decisions.
As I navigate the self-publishing world, I’m finding lots of great resources, including the Self-Publishing Authors Podcast with the SPA Girls. I particularly love their Kiwi accents, probably because I lived in New Zealand for eighteen months in my twenties and it reminds me of that time. I also attended a variety of online workshops through Inkers Con to learn more about being a self-published author and found a kind and supportive community.
It’s impossible to list everything here, but for those of you considering self-publishing, this is a short list of the steps I’ve taken:
Developmental edit done by my book coach,
, and made substantial changes to the overall novel. Kim is an Author Accelerator book coach and writer.Hired a copy and line editor. Ellie Barton is a fellow Author Accelerator book coach and member of Book Coaches Canada, as well as a freelance editor. I’ll make necessary changes in August.
Formatted my manuscript in Atticus for both print and e-books. Mac users might use Vellum for the same purpose.
Wrote a tagline and book cover copy.
Applied for ISBN through the Government of Canada. It takes about ten days to get your account, then you simply input your book information and voila, you get free ISBN numbers.
Created a BookFunnel account and attended a workshop. Once I have a cover, I’ll post a lead magnet there and perhaps participate in book promos. I still need to figure out how to use BookFunnel, so more on that at a later date.
Hired a cover designer who also works for my friends at Mountain Ash Press and has a great track record of creating lovely covers.
Approached a group of trusted writers and requested blurbs. When they agreed, I sent them the ARC copy of my manuscript, indicating that the draft version still needed editing. Thanks to my writer friend, Emily De Angelis, who indicated I’d neglected to send a whole chapter, I was able to send a revision before most of them had read it. You can read the first blurbs here.
Created a marketing plan for the coming months with a calendar and checklists about what needs to happen and when, leading up to the book launch in mid-October.
Researched the publishing and distribution options, including Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Barnes and Noble, Apple Books, Kobo Writing Life, Google Play Books, as well as aggregators like Draft2Digital, Smashwords, PublishDrive.
And I’m learning about creating an audiobook version either by hiring a voiceover actor or doing it myself. Hmm. We’ll see.
Oh, and I applied for a Local In-Person Events Funding Program grant through The Writers’ Union of Canada to help with the expense of a book launch. Fingers crossed!
Does that sound overwhelming? It could be, but the key is to be organized and don’t try to do everything right away. Pick one thing and learn about it. Create a spreadsheet and keep everything in one place. I created a Google Classroom just for this purpose, and keep all my files neatly organized into sections. In fact, I have created a course about using Google Classroom for book coaches, but it can be used for practically anything.
Know that you don’t need to know everything. Get an overview of what needs to happen, but focus on the shorter-term pieces first, while learning about the things you’ll need later. For instance, will I use all the publishing and distribution options I listed above? Probably not. At least, not at first. Baby steps. There’s no need to do everything, and be everywhere, all at once.
At the moment, I’m waiting on editing and cover design, and once I’ve made my revisions, I’ll be able to send out the ARC manuscript to folks who are interested in writing advanced reviews, hopefully in August or early September. Are you interested in being an ARC reader? If so, check out my ask below.
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📚 Request for ARC Readers
I’m looking for ARC readers for my historical novel Like Water for Weary Souls. Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) readers will receive a free digital copy of the book before the release date. My ask is that if you choose to be an ARC reader, you leave an honest review. Reviews help readers decide if this is a book they may like, and help authors get their books to their audience. Here’s the description of Like Water for Weary Souls.
In Nolin Creek, the water runs deep and the secrets run deeper.
In the harsh landscape of a Depression-era Northern Ontario mining town, Finnish immigrant sisters Hanna and Essi Kivi scrape together a living as domestic workers, sharing a room in a disreputable boarding house owned by a fierce, yet protective madam.
When Hanna's body is discovered in the icy waters of Nolin Creek, the police call it a tragic accident. But Essi knows better. Her sister would never have risked crossing unstable ice—not after they lost their youngest sister Martta to drowning years before.
Haunted by guilt and driven by loyalty, Essi begins to unravel the secrets Hanna kept hidden. As Essi digs deeper into her sister's final days, she discovers that in a town built on desperation and dreams for a better future, everyone has something to hide.
A gripping tale of love, family, sisterhood, and the search for truth.
If you would like to be an ARC reader, please type YES in the comments and I’ll add you to the ARC readers list. Thanks for considering!
Happy writing!
Yes! I would love to be an ARC reader. I live in Winnipeg, but was born in Matheson Ontario, near Timmins.
Yes