So you want to start your journey with self-publishing? Or maybe you are still trying to decide between that and going traditional? 

Originally, my heart was set on traditional publishing. However, as I was in a writing group with many traditionally published authors, and others trying to go that route, I started to change my mind.  I watched friends get beaten down under rejection. I saw traditionally published author mostly abandoned in terms of support for the books coming out. Others got an agent, but didn't get a publisher. Or finally got that deal - and saw a timeline of least 2 years before their book would come out.

Not don't get me wrong. I saw a few hit that dream deal. Some six figure deals were announced. It's possible.  Yet for me, in the end, the cons outweighed the pros when it came to trying to go traditional.

Now - I'm not saying I wouldn't take an agent or think about a deal now for my series. And it may still be what I pursue for my Young Adult Fantasy novel. But at the time, and still, for my romantasy, Self-Publishing was the way I chose. I don't regret it. So what should you know?

1. Do your research.

This is not to be taken lightly, and lately with AI books flooding the market (and art, and editors, and everything), you need to know what steps you are looking at.

2. Set A Budget.

Seriously. Know what you are willing to spend, and on what. What is the cap amount you can afford to not make back? There are many indies who don't sell more than 100 books.

3. Be prepared to put in the work.

It's not an easy journey. Also know that used to, if you did traditional, less was on the author. With the land of social media though, I think that's less true than ever. You will need to market yourself, and your book. And constantly be looking at new websites, technology, social media, etc. Not to mention - the writing.

4. Set Deadlines - but not before you need to

You will have to pick a publishing date. Don't set up your book to publish before you have it finished, and you've at least self-edited it once. You can talk about it social media, and do all the things. But don't be halfway through your book and decide you can publish it in a month if you've never done this before. You might have a goal that you have set, or a hard deadline for yourself, but don't put it in writing anywhere. Save yourself the stress, and do it as you feel prepared to. You might be able to speed it up later (I have) - but don't if you aren't ready. It's okay! That's part of the point. Also note that the zon can get annoyed if you push back dates a lot.

5. Network!

This applies for finding readers, community, and people you want to work with. Joining groups is a great way to build community, find new resources, avoid being scammed, and even find readers. It's also important to look around and find who want to edit your books, or be a alpha or beta reader, or find ARC readers, or design your cover, or do your formatting, or what you want to do yourself.

6. Back to the Budget

You can design your own cover or pay someone. Same when it comes to formatting, marketing, editing, etc.  If you can only pay for a couple of things - a cover and editing are your best bets.  Look around. I've seen good covers for $25. You can spend thousands - you don't have to.  Don't spend more than you can afford. Look around. Understand what works in your genre.  Get what you can for what you can afford - you could always upgrade later.

7. Editing - Get a sample

Make sure you understand full stop what comes with your editing costs, and what the final price is. Make sure they are experienced, and you know what it looks like. Get a free sample edit. Check all the boxes you can before you give away any money.

8. What kind of editing?

This varies a lot. There is Developmental, Line and Proof editing. Developmental focuses on the story. Line editing is the grammar. Proof is catch the last mistakes.  All will costs different things. Very few people do all three. And, you generally don't want the same person doing the line and proof editing (you catch less when you've read it before. Same reason the author misses stuff. We know what it should say.). What you need and get depends on you, as an author. I generally don't need developmental editing. It varies.

9. Know what tools you want to use.

What are you writing in? How will you share it with certain readers? What social media are you using? What are you paying for? Doing yourself? Figure out that. It can change, but it's good to research.

10. Start your socials.

Start your social media journey as soon as you can. Figuring out what works can take a while - and so can getting followers. It never hurts to start eraly.

Okay - that's 10 starting tips. What do you want to know in the next one?