My First Year in Publishing

It has been roughly one year since I began self-publishing. In many ways that year has been a success. I wrote more than in most prior years despite having a tighter schedule (more on that below); I have learned to attractively present my work to the market (already have some gorgeous covers in my portfolio - I'm as proud as if I'd done them myself); and most importantly, my work has been well-received.

Quite well, in fact. Better than I had expected. I've managed to wrangle some book blogger reviews as well as a number of non-solicited reader reviews (those always feel good). I've been personally contacted by readers who want to know more, and I've had some directly request a sequel to Twixt Heaven and Hell. Chances are I'll end up writing one, even though I'd not originally planned it. Hey, you give the people what they want!

I did experience some setbacks, of course. My sales for the year were, again, better than I really anticipated (I anticipated next to nothing). However, my net income on self-publishing is still in the negative due to the only real expense I have - purchase of cover art. Not that I regret making those purchases. Frankly, they're worth more than I paid.

Then, of course, there was the minor burn-out at the end of the year. I didn't really stop writing, but I certainly wasn't keeping up the pace that I had set. I don't regret it, honestly - I needed the break, and while I do need to get used to keeping self-imposed deadlines I can also remind myself that I'm not in any hurry. Better to lay down a solid foundation than rush the process.

All in all, a good start accompanied by a couple encouraging trends. First of all, my sales are increasing. Veeeeery slowly, but surely. Secondly, whenever my books do gain some small measure of exposure there is a marked uptick of sales - a miniature "press effect" that is so valuable to book sales. This gives me hope that should I ever embark on a real media campaign it might have some real effect. That, however, is still a ways in the future.

Publishing 2012, by the numbers:

Books Published: 5 (3 Novellas, 1 Novel, 1 Short)

Sales Made: ~300 (Sales, not free downloads!)

Reviews Earned (or Cajoled): 22

New Words Written: ~115,000

Old Words Cut: ~40,000 (Mostly on TWIXT)

Drafts Finished: 9

New Stories Started and Not Finished: 7 (1 Novel, 1 Novella, and 5 Shorts)

Tomorrow, we focus on the year ahead...

Step One

So I've made the decision - I'm going to publish an eBook. I have the story all picked out - in fact it was the positive reception this story got from all readers that cemented the decision in my mind. Now what?

I started with research, just as I did when I had traditional publishing front and center in my brain. Where to publish, how to publish, formatting, marketing, what the prices are like these days... I read just about every article I can find on ePublishing. Soon I'll get around to devoting an entire post to what I've found.

For now, though, I've divided my foray into ePublishing into a few separate topics/concerns:

Cover Design:
I put this one first because its the one I'm least capable of handling myself. I'm not an entirely hopeless artist, but I want my books to be represent by a much better artist than myself. As soon as I'd made my decision to publish I started putting out notices to all my art-minded friends. I wanted to talk to anyone who could draw well. If I hadn't found anyone that way I was all set to start trolling deviantArt (some amazing stuff on there) and asking strangers if they'd like to help me out. Fortunately, I've found someone who was willing to take a stab at my cover.

Formatting:
eBook formatting is the arena I'm least worried about. I'm currently a computer programmer by trade, and eBook formats are generally based off of HTML/XML. No problem. My writing in the future will be set up with a mind towards making the eventual eBook conversion easier, though. No more tab-indents for me!

Marketing/Promotion:
Here's the big one. If you're thinking of publishing at all you should be thinking about how you'll build your reader base. This is more important than ever with the advent of ePublishing - it takes nothing for somebody to put their work onto the net, and not much more for them to get it onto Amazon and Smashwords. How to set yourself apart?

First step I had in mind is making sure I have a good cover. I'm guilty of buying a book based on an attractive cover (which I have definitely regretted in the past, but there it is) so I want my cover to catch the eye of anyone browsing through a page of thumbnails.

Second, active promotion. As you may have noticed, you're reading my blog - started once I was sure I was going the indie route (I had always intended to start a blog, but... well, I'm not sure I'm the natural blogging type). Somehow, I also ended up with a Twitter account - @GregoryWrites. I'll no doubt be maintaining a Google+ and Facebook author page as well. What a workload! Fortunately I already was - and long have been - an active member of some writing groups. Then comes the fun "Tell everyone I know to tell everyone they know to tell everyone...". Repeat ad nauseum. Probably my loved-one's nauseum, but I hope they'll forgive me...

Finally, to wrap up this little checklist...


Finances:
I'm gonna go ahead and bet on myself. I may not make much, but I think I can make something. Certainly enough to attract the IreS. Er, the eye of the RS. Or perhaps the ire of the IRS, should I fail to report every measly cent to 'em.

The wonderful Victoria Strauss said something along the lines of "Most authors have the financial sense of a sea cucumber." Probably true, but I intend to buck the trend. Research, research, research, even when it's boring stuff like quarterly tax reporting and special cases for income earned on book sales...