Resolutions of a Self-Publisher

by David Wogahn, @wogahn

Self-publishing is a humbling experience. When I started, I was in fear of my work being ripped off, good friends didn’t review my book, blog readers and subscribers didn’t flock to my website, I was (still am!) frazzled by all the social media and marketing options. On top of that, Amazon takes a huge slice of my sales.

Who among us have not had these thoughts? Heck, I admit to still having them. It’s not productive.

To begin this New Year, I’ve written down 5 resolutions to help me stay on track. At least one is easier than the others—in fact I have little choice. But keeping them all in mind will make for a healthier, and more productive mindset for 2017. I hope they help you too.

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Think: Reciprocity.

How often have I uttered the phrase, “I write blog posts but no one reads them. Why should I bother?”

Or I show up at my local writer meetup and wonder why no one buys my hot-off-the-POD-press book.

The next time I ask myself one of these questions, or a variation—why no one follows me, likes my posts, joins my mailing list—I will ask myself: “how do you help others?” Did I buy that new author’s memoire (even though I probably won’t read it)? Have I sought out authors like me and like/read/retweet/join them in their journey? Or do I whine?

I will contribute to the success of my fellow self-publishers.

Go deep, and narrow.

I love shiny new objects just like the next person. I was one of the earliest members on LinkedIn. I signed up for Ello even though I never use it. I’ve answered a bunch of questions on Quora.

In the meantime, I admit to being a laggard in my use of Facebook. And I’m on what you might call a yo-yo diet with Twitter, six years of on again, off again engagement.

I will participate only where I can make a meaningful contribution until I am the master of my domain!

Have gratitude for self-distribution.

Ugh, Amazon Advantage takes 55% of my sale and charges me $99 a year for the privilege of selling. IngramSpark charges me a fortune to print and mail just one book. KDP charges me a fee to deliver eBooks to buyers.

In the fall of 2014 I had the privilege of hearing the Godfather of self-publishing speak—the late Dan Poynter. I remember cringing when he said “Amazon is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to self-publishers.” I was momentarily stunned until I realized what a world this would be without some company—any company—that can provide access to more than half the book shoppers in America. Think of that world. We’d be trying to sell our books to thousands of stores, each with percentage market shares too small to safely justify our investment.

I will acknowledge distribution is critical to my success and be grateful that someone has helped level the playing field so I can get a turn at bat.

Get an A on homework.

I often think of how to price my book when I’m staring at the KDP input screen. I follow anyone that follows me without taking time to research those I should proactively follow. I write the back cover of my book when the designer says she needs it before she can finish the cover.

Worst of all, I write the book I know, a book in my comfort zone, instead of investing the time to research the book readers want to read. And then I complain when it doesn’t sell like I expect.

And why do I do these things? Because I’m too lazy to do the research. Or maybe I don’t want to know the answer. As Steven Pressfield says, Do the Work.

I will do the work.

There is no difference between expression and copyright.

I know how hard I work on my writing. Or when one time, after spending more than an hour creating a custom graphic for my blog, I discovered it’s use—without attribution—on another self-publisher’s website.

And yet… I didn’t think twice about downloading “Gin and Juice” from Napster, and I rationalized downloading 1984 because I already owned the paperback.

I must remind myself that copyright does not require registration or labeling. If I can find an image/song/text online, it is protected—no registration or label required. I can rationalize all I want, but aren’t I too in the business of idea expression?

I will treat the intellectual proper of others the way I would like them to treat mine. (See #1, Reciprocity.)

David Wogahn is the author of Register Your Book: The Essential Guide to ISBNs, Barcodes, Copyright and LCCNs, the Lynda.com course Distributing and Marketing eBooks, and the president of AuthorImprints.com, a professional self-publishing services company that helps authors publish books and metadata.

Photo via VisualHunt.com