This week, Some Nerd Girl opened its virtual doors to all self-published writers in the way of a free review opportunity. As a self-published author myself, this is kind of near-and-dear to me. These days, there’s generally three ways to get published:
- Self Publish
- Publish via a small / medium press
- Get picked up by a major publishing company
There are pros and cons to each one of these – I can’t speak to the last two bullet points, but I can very much attest to the first.
I have been writing since the age of 13 – now 29, this whole self-publishing thing is a brand new ballgame. I published my first book in March of 2015 – a complete rookie to the process. I used the power of the internet to learn the ropes. I joined some self publishing online communities and I ran, full force, towards my goal.
Like made an online presence or market myself or my book. Just two small things that are, oh, what is that? Completely essential to your success? Balls.
Let me back up for a minute before I really dig into that point. There are a lot of known expenses when you self publish. Off of the top of my head, they are, as follows:
- Editing / Proofreading
- Cover Design
- Website Domains
- Website builders
- Maybe even a web designer (for the fancy types with extra cash)
- Print copies to provide visuals to possible local readers
- Marketing (Facebook, Goodreads, Amazon, BookBub)
- The risky (and IMO shady) paid review
One expense that we don’t really talk about is this one:
The putting yourself out there, naked and afraid, emotional expense
As I mentioned, I ran as fast as I could to market with my first book, Children of the Fallen. I made a lot of mistakes, and one of them was not understanding that the world was not waiting for my book. The world didn’t know about my book. They didn’t really care about my book. It was my job to make them care.
My job.
Introverted, loves-to-write-alone-by-myself-in-a-quiet-room-for-fun, me.
And so, I made some attempts. I bought some Facebook advertising services (why this made sense, I have no idea), and I posted on Reddit a bunch.
And got caught in spam filters a bunch.
And told by moderators a bunch that self-promotion was a no-no.
The only places that were safe for self promotion were places that were 100% dedicated to self promotion, where the only people subscribed were only interested in promoting their own thing.
Well, crap.
I tried another approach – I began to submit my book for reviews. And got turned down all but once. I saw approximately zero difference in sales after my review ran. That is to say; none. None sales.
I attended self published panels (that turned out to be mostly bickering), and workshops where most folks there were scratching their heads the same as me when it came to building a readership.
So I went back to the drawing board and started watching what amounted to self-help videos. One of them recommended publishing more books, then offering some for free in order to build a loyal readership.
That’s cool, bro. Only a few problems with that – getting a book to market, the RIGHT away… it ain’t cheap. If I had a couple grand to plop down on each venture, I’d feel better about it. Quality editing alone is enough to make my bank account clutch its purse. The other problem is allocating the time to write multiple drafts to even get to the editing process.
Don’t get me wrong; this IS a good plan. And I will be utilizing it, but it’s a slow process. And I don’t like slow. I like to run. Like Forrest Gump, if you will.
The cold reality of the situation is that we live in a world, and on an internet, that rather dislikes self-promotion.
It’s ironic, and I would be amused by it if it weren’t so real for me. Who will promote me, if not me? Do you see the paradox here, grumpy moderators?
I went a self-publishing route in part to avoid the crushing, drawn out rejection process that is querying major publishers. Now I understand the process is basically reversed for self-publishing – a quick start up, and then the real work starts. The emotional work of being a constant advocate for yourself – which is an odd exercise. And, again, not entirely welcomed with a warm embrace by people who are not your friends and family.
And I get it; nobody wants a flood of people crying for them to buy their book (not even me!). And I don’t really have a solution – other than to say I know in my gut there is a way for us self-published authors to band together in order to devise a source for interested readers to have a chance to find us. I’m going to let that one simmer for a while – to be continued, if you will.
I think step one is acknowledging that there is an emotional expense to self publishing. And yes, true – for all publishing. We are all human, and we all doubt ourselves (severely at times – we are writers, after all). But in a small or large press situation, you will usually have some backing. Some team of people helping you to achieve your goals. For the self-pub crowd, it’s us, our friends and our family that keep us going. We believe in our stories enough to put them out there – naked and afraid – for your approval.
It’s kind of nerve wracking.
But we’re going to keep going. Because some stories can’t be contained, and these running shoes are barely worn out!
Eve is the founder of Some Nerd Girl and the author of urban fantasy novel Children of the Fallen and science fiction novel Colony One. She has been writing since the age of 13 and has been flying her nerd flag for the past 16 years. Fandoms include Star Wars, Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica. Basically if it has ‘star’ in it, she’ll give it a shot. You can visit her website at www.somenerdgirl.com.
Some Nerd Girl 
December 3, 2015 at 5:51 pm
Eve, I think you’ve brought up some really great points, and I absolutely agree–I never realized the emotional (or financial) toll of self-publishing prior to hitting “publish” on my first book. Sure, I researched the self-publishing process and chuckled at everyone moaning over trying to get approved by BookBub, but I never grasped the struggle until I was knee-deep in the process.
Want your manuscript edited? Okay, great. THAT’LL BE ALL YOUR LIFE SAVINGS.
Want a professional-looking cover with stock images someone bought off of iStockPhoto for $2 and little swirl of photoshop thrown in? Give me your first born.
Want to market your book beyond your friends and family? Whew, lordy, don’t get me started.
All of these services are necessary evils I can’t afford. How can I separate myself from the masses of self-publishing half-attempts if I can’t pony up for these bare necessities?
I don’t have an answer or a solution. I’ll echo your same sentiment: I keep chugging along, because I’ve got stories to write and, no, they can’t be contained.
Maybe it’s stupid or brave or downright delusional to write down your thoughts for the world to see, consume, and dissect–especially after being rejected by agents for a long while, being told your work isn’t marketable or your story isn’t intriguing enough. Despite the rollercoaster of emotions I’ve experienced throughout the self-publishing process, I continue to wake up inspired and ready to write.
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December 3, 2015 at 5:59 pm
Great points, Grace! The thing about editing / proofing / graphic design is that I know the folks performing these services are worthy of being paid for their time and effort. And I WISH I could pay them what they’re worth (or afford someone who is worth as much as they want), but it can be really tough.
An alternative route is networking and making partnerships with talented people. Maybe we need a social networking site where editors, writers, and artists can form partnerships and help elevate their crafts by working together. Money will probably still be in the equation – no one should work for free (although as writers we often do! It’s our cross the bear).
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December 3, 2015 at 6:09 pm
Crushing rejection and frustration have always been part of the creative game. I think they’re getting more perplexing as time goes on, though, as you found out with self-promoting on websites (and with the self-promotion echo chambers). I’ve been in various creative industries for 10 years, and I’m never sure if things are getting better or worse for creatives. Tools are accessible, but work—and the cost in time and money to work!—seems to increase, even as the pay (sometimes) decreases.
And, yeah, self-promotion is the most awkward of the unpaid work. (I feel it every time I advertise my services, and that feeling is compounded if you’re a woman.) The problem everyone runs into is the lack of authenticity. Considering there’s only some evidence that the returns are worth one’s effort—unless we’re to think Twitter users who “followback” 500,000 people are doing well—I question how much creative people should bother with it. We have to self-promote, to some degree, of course, but as regularly as I see some do? Twitter, Goodreads, and old-school forums and blogs are the best ways for writers to connect to readers, but how many of us, as readers, have connected with obvious advertising attempts on those platforms? How many of us are actually reading the same post topic, which was clearly written for SEO purposes, for the thousandth time? I just don’t buy that it works, or that it should.
For me, I’m more interested in authenticity than I am self-promotion. Most us feel that way, I think—man, I hope I’m right about that. If I like you, I’m going to look up a way to support you. If I find out you’re a writer, that means I’ll probably try your book. This personal post here is what will make me check out your books and add them to my massive reading list, not any blatant self-promotion effort.
This is why I don’t think it’s always a good idea to give away large, finished works for free. There are just too many unknown variables, and I’m not convinced writing can be a loss-leader rotisserie chicken. It’s too hard to produce (good) content. (I’ve never read a free ebook that someone spammed on Twitter, and I suspect a large minority of those who do just look for free stuff, in general.) Working far below minimum wage is not sensible or sustainable. Maybe for a few people it’s worth it in the long run, but when one considers what giving away work does to creative industries over time, I think it’s safe to say such strategies are damaging. They’re partly why so few people think creative people should even want to be paid.
As an editor, my advice is to focus on the quality of the writing and cover, above all else. Then strive to be yourself, not a marketing drone. My other advice is that the internet allows for a multitude of creative pricing models, and writers should be more open to trying them. Sure, the easiest, most straightforward way to self-publish and market a book is through Amazon, but who says more writers can’t make use of tools like Patreon, or embrace quirky marketing strategies through sites like Humble Bundle? Craftiness seems preferable to starving artistry and forced, dogged self-promotion that may be ineffective.
For what it’s worth, I found this via /r/selfpublish and have now subscribed to the RSS feed. I was drawn in by the normal, non-clickbaity headline. I stayed for the gifs and the writing.
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December 3, 2015 at 6:34 pm
There are so many more gifs on this website. Please to enjoy! And thank you for the very thoughtful and insightful response.
I agree with you about authenticity 100%. That’s a big reason Some Nerd Girl exists – to build content that we think is valuable, collaborative and engaging – because at the end of the day, that’s the only way to keep people reading. And we want people to read! That’s the whole point. And also a weird compulsion I ponder often. Something something, wanting to be immortal.
Anyhow! The journey continues. 🙂
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December 3, 2015 at 8:47 pm
I also learned that promoting yourself on Reddit was viewed as if you were kicking a field goal with a puppy. Twitter and Google Plus have been most helpful. Facebook I feel would be helpful if I had the money for it. I’ve tried a few dollars and did see a tiny boost.
Godspeed, Some Nerd Girl.
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January 11, 2016 at 2:43 pm
This is definitely an expense that isn’t really talked about a lot. While it can be nerve racking to put yourself out there, you should have the utmost confidence in your own work. If you think it’s good enough to be published, then other people will, too!
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