My Key Takeaways From Self-Publishing

​(1) You will become your worst enemy

As I began to crack down and start writing on my novel I was surprised by the roller coaster of emotions I would go through. From being positive and optimistic to questioning what I was doing with my life.
 
Basically, I would start listening to the voices inside my head telling me that no one would ever read it or that I would never even finish it. Some days I would not be able to write a single word. After some introspection, I realized the only thing I could do was to tell myself to shut up…in the end forcing myself to keep going is what led to me finishing what I set out to do. Sometimes your doubts are valid perhaps you are on the wrong path but just as often they are keeping you from accomplishing your goals.
 
Solution: Push through your doubts (keep doing whatever it is your doing), eventually you will succeed and maybe gain some confidence along the way.
 
 
(2) You Should Go on an information diet
 
There are so many stories of both successes and failures in regards to self-publishing. You hear of people making millions and of others never selling more than a handful of books in X number of years.
 
The pitfalls of reading all of these is that you can become either over-confident or discouraged. Both are equally damaging. If you are unable to set realistic expectations then you will find yourself unable to proceed with your project.
 
I found myself spending several hours reading articles or blogs online worrying about what would where I would fall on the scale of complete success to complete failure. Of course, I had not even finished my story at this point. I should have been taking the time writing it rather than going over scenarios in my head.
 
Solution: Be careful what you are reading. Just because something worked or didn’t for someone does not mean that the same applies to you. Take everything with a grain of salt.
 
 
(3) Commit To Your Work
 
Maybe this is just a problem I encountered, but when I was halfway done my book I found myself seriously considering dropping it and starting from scratch. If I had been at the beginning of my story this may have made sense but halfway through something else was going on. I was finding the book hard to continue and was once again doubting my knowledge and skill. I took a break from writing but then returned with a new found energy. I quickly got over my writer’s block and I realized how much I would have regretted if I threw aside all my hard work.
 
Besides at this rate I would be setting a precedent of never finishing what I started.
 
When it came time to pricing my book I was once again on uneasy ground. I put a lot of time and effort into my work so I wanted to come up with a fair price. All of a sudden, those lingering doubts took center stage (once again). I simply had to put my foot down and say my work is worth this without feeling like I am ripping someone off. Committing to your work also means valuing it.
 
Solution: Stick with what you have started unless there is a legitimate reason you cannot continue. Take time to price your work carefully (your time is not worthless), ask around for opinions if you are unsure.
 
Conclusions
 
I would not have traded this experience for anything in the world. To be fair, self-publishing was a lot harder (and took longer) than I could have imagined when I started out writing. To all aspiring authors good luck! If anyone is interested below is a link to my recently published eBook.

You can find me on Amazon here