No, I’m not still at the beach. The waters I’m navigating are the *gulp* self-publishing ones. They’re deep and a bit uncharted for me. I have many friends who have successfully self-published. They have had similar experiences to me in that they’ve previously been traditionally published, but for various reasons have made the switch.
The business side of writing is my least favorite. I cannot live without writing. It keeps me sane, even if I have to go long periods without writing, I’m always thinking about it. I don’t mind revising the story, it’s a needed part of the process, even if every critique feels like an attack.
I’m TERRIBLE at cover design. I have absolutely no artistic talent whatsoever and have no idea what is marketable or not. I am absolutely dreadful at marketing. I hate it so much. SO MUCH. I have no idea where to buy ads, and I despise putting my book out there and trying to get people interested in it.
There are so many services out there to help self-published authors, but they all need to get paid, and besides not having much spare cash (read, none) I’m also nervous about getting scammed. If I drop $2000 to get my book edited, have cover art, and have someone market it, will I make that money back? Who knows? As much as I’d love to make millions writing, I’m honestly just hoping to break even at this point.
Like I said, deep and troubling waters…
