With a first self-published book, finishing the first draft feels like crossing the goal line. The second time around, you know better.
The first time I produced the manuscript of a novel, I was blissfully ignorant of what self-publishing was all about. For that matter, I was only slightly more aware of the ins and outs of following the traditional route. After spending a few months learning about query letters and then researching which agents might (a) be interested in my genre of books, (b) actually have published authors in that genre, (c) have indicated that they were taking on new authors, and then crafted inquiries in the various forms each of them mandated, I spent a few more months collecting form rejection emails.
After absorbing the fact that this was, as the Brits’ say, a mugs game, I then turned to researching what self-publishing was all about. That was equally challenging and time-consuming. When at last I felt myself sufficiently well-informed to take the plunge, I cut a check to a POD outfit that would help me turn my manuscript into actual eBook and print formats and submit them to the various outlets.
Following that decision, I spent more months holding up my non-financial part of the bargain, and became acquainted first hand with the advantages and disadvantages of the approach that I had chosen.
And, of course, I set my feet upon that long, tragi-comic, (how to say this delicately) “character-building” path of frustration referred to as “book promotion.”
And then, for reasons that demonstrably have little to do with documented success, I decided to do it again.
For starters, that proved to be easier said than done. I turned out the first draft of book number one in thirty weeks, posting a new chapter a week at a different blog from this one, missing my self-imposed weekly commitment only once. I followed the same course the second time around for a dozen weeks until I set it aside to focus more fully on marketing book one.
Picking book two up again proved to be far more difficult, with more fits than starts interrupting my troubled progress. The reasons were many, but suffice it to say for now that finally – after almost three years – I finished the first draft of my second book last week.
So… I find myself today at the second stage of producing a book, much more knowledgeable about next steps than first time around, but also painfully aware of how many steps there are, and how long it will take me to bring a book to market that I can be proud of.
My intention is to detail these steps here as I take them, and my hope is that by doing so I may save others some of the time and effort I expended, not to mention the mistakes that I made, finding my way the first time around.
Well, I for one am looking fws to both, those updates, and the second book. (smiles).
I need an edit option, I meant of course “forward” to both 🙂
Thanks, Felipe – I appreciate the encouragement. I’ll likely post a few chapters of the new book along the way, so you will get some early looks.
That’s great, Andrew. Heartfelt congratulations on the completion of a second first draft. It looks as though I’m also working on a three-year timescale for mine, so I’m in good company! Best of luck with the rewrites.
Thanks very much, Marcus – it has been a marathon. Or perhaps I should say the first step of a triathlon, since after the rewriting and other pre-launch efforts comes the third and hardest part: promotion. Best of luck in your own efforts as well.
Congratulations on completing your second novel! Good luck with the next steps toward publication. With one self-published novel and a completed first draft of a second, I’m at the same stage as you. However, I didn’t market my first book at all. I’m resolved to do things differently this time, but I’m not quite sure how. The idea of self-promotion makes me anxious.
Thanks for the congratulations, and my own back to you – I know how much hard work must have gone into it.
If it’s the “self” part of “self promotion” that makes you anxious, remember that it’s only “self” to the extent that you’ve poured yourself into your book. It’s more than okay to be proud of what you’ve written and want to share it with others. And remember – people want to read books, so why shouldn’t it be yours? If authors didn’t make their books visible to readers, what would readers do?
Andrew–
You are a serious person writing on serious matters–I look forward to reading about how things go with your second title.
The whole marketing thing is really a nightmare. But for what it’s worth, I’ve come to believe that indie writers must produce lots of “product,” or they have little chance. Marketing or no marketing. One number often referred to is five. Five novels, preferably released over a relatively short time, maybe a couple years. Preferably in series form, not stand-alones. If this is true, then indie writers need to think in terms of a long time line. More titles mean more opportunities to distribute covers, descriptions, sample chapters, etc. And indie writers need help, especially editorial help. A good editor can serve to greatly reduce the time between rough draft and finished book. Or so I have come to believe.
Barry,
That certainly seems to be the prevailing wisdom, doesn’t it? If so, and sadly, I’m not likely to ever get there, at the rate I write. The people who seem to be best positioned to work this way are the people who were previously published the traditional way and have now been able to recover the rights to their own back lists. They’ve had the good fortune of writing an inventory of books “the old way” (i.e., being paid an advance, and receiving editorial, proofreading, cover design, etc. services) and build up a following, and can now market their back list the “new way,” making much better royalties, while continuing to write new titles.
For anyone just embarking today, though, this reality seems to encourage what might be called “binge writing.” If someone’s lucky enough to be able to write four books a year and still turn out a quality product, well, my hat’s off to then. The ones who are really successful, of course, would be able to hire editors (or perhaps co-authors might be a better word for it, where the author is just handing off a rough draft), proof readers, etc., which would make it a lot easier to maintain such a pace, assuming they’re writing full time.
Overall, though, that doesn’t sound like a good way to turn out fiction except in the top genre categories. That’s great up to a point, because there’s a huge market for genre fiction. But if leaves me wondering how more thoughtful work, or books in narrower categories of interest, will manage to be discovered.
Oops – I meant to also thank you for your kind opening words.