Next week, I will return to blogging about how to make each piece you write more literary. This week, I will give you the boiled-down, simple steps to self-publication. If you want more detail and further instructions on this process, you can look up online classes like https://thewritepractice.com/ and https://www.childrensbookformula.com/. They have been amazing. But here are the steps I followed just recently to break into print. As I said last time, you're welcome to pursue an agent and regular publication. But if you know your pieces don't follow a regular formula, if you don't want to be tied down with contracts, if you're tired of getting refusals, this may be the route for you.
Here are the steps and(and some of them can be done in any order--the first two should really simultaneous):
1. Write, polish, get feedback from alpha and beta readers, polish again, send to a freelance editor, polish again. Basically make the best piece(s) you possibly can. If it's a kids' book, Fivrr and similar websites can direct you to an illustrator and cover designer for which you need to pay very little. If you want to illustrate it yourself, that's fine, though keep in mind that a cover may do better if it's professionally done. If you're just writing a short story or other short piece, you could find a picture you like from Pixabay, Unsplash, Pexels, or other free-for-commercial use image. It's great to cite your source, but you don't need to pay for it. Make sure to read carefully all legal issues involved.
2. Set up a writer's platform and make friends among the writing community, so they can share your stuff even as they share yours. This includes a blog, a web page (it can be free, though it looks better if it is paid and has your name as the domain, for which you have to pay) on which you allow (through mailchimp, mailerlite, etc) the opportunity for readers to subscribe to an email list, Pinterest (which gives you permanent and free advertising), Twitter (get followers by following those eager to follow back, especially fellow writers), a FaceBook page, and any other social media you can find, with special emphasis on getting an email list.
3. Publish your story to KDP (Amazon's indie publication branch) and/or Draft2Digital (publishes to everything, including Amazon, though that requires extra steps) in order to get it into the hands of readers everywhere. If you want to read your own piece or hire someone This is really the easy part and really only takes a few minutes.
4. Invite your writer and other influencer friends to read your piece and write reviews, the more the better. Send out messages to all of your social media, email lists, etc. that you're going to launch. Launch. Send out messages that the piece is available. Get everyone you can giving reviews because anything fewer than about 25 reviews means you're not very visible on Amazon. The more you can get, the better.
Those are the bare-bones steps. After that, it's just a matter of finding people to come and read your piece. There really is a lot more to getting your piece known about and read. Just doing this doesn't necessarily make you a lot of money. But it will get you published. If the goal is to be published, the only thing holding you back from publication is you.
The hard part I'm still working on--as are many writers--is getting attention to the piece. For that, you can think about media, ads, paying a PR firm, etc. There are many classes and webinars out there to help you figure out the advertising end of things. But if just seeing your name in print is the goal, it's easy. I just don't want you to fall into the trap I did and pay someone to do this for you. I let a company publish my academic theses, and they've been making all the money I haven't for my hard work. I haven't seen a dime, yet I could have done all of this myself. Don't let someone tell you that you have to pay for this.
You can do this for yourself. You don't have to wait for someone to publish you. Publishing firms do have PR for themselves and will get you read if all of this sounds like too much. The drawback is that you are then, as I said, under contract, signing your work away for someone else to make money, and you're only seeing something like 10%. On the other hand, 100% (minus Amazon's 30% or 70% fee, taken off the price people spend per book) of nothing is nothing if you can't get it read. And once it's published any way, many publishers won't look at it. Consider carefully. Research. Listen to some free webinars. Figure out which is the best way for you, and just do it. I sat on pages of writing for years. I'm just now actually getting it out there. I wish you the best.
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