One day in the life of a self-publisher
My debut novel wasn’t selling, so I pulled it from the market to gamble time, money, and energy int a revision and a new cover. Today was typical:
- I contact the new cover artist to say I need more time. He wants the spine width, but I can’t provide that until the manuscript is completed and formatted. I jot a note to rewrite the blurb too.
- I contact the developmental editor to say I experimented by removing some PoVs. Is he available to assess the new manuscript? If so, what’s his fee and how much time does he need? (His fee turns out to be reasonable, but the costs are piling up.)
- I check the calendar to navigate the few hours the editor and cover artist will work over Christmas and New Years. Lucky them. I will work every day except Sunday and Christmas.
- I decide my book’s relaunch should be low key. No, it should be a big party. No, it . . .
One question hangs over everything: Will the book be ready in time for my sci-fi party in a few months?
The day half-gone, I turn to editing the manuscript. This is what all the fuss is about, after all.
To get my author copies before the sci-fi party, I need to edit 100 pages every day, which is a lot for me. Then, oops, ideas bubble for books 2 and 3, so I take notes. Hmm, does the series need a book 4?
I’m on the verge of feeling snowed under by all the work and the decisions to be made, and become tempted once more to seek traditional publishing. But I remind myself trad pubs are no bed of roses either. It would mean handing over my rights, as well as creative control over the editing, the formatting, and the cover. And I’d still have to do most of my own promo. Trad pubs focus of their time and resources on their cream of the crop.
Update: I edited 90 pages that day. Whoop, whoop! The next day, 35 pages. Boo.
I never did get the author copies in time. In fact, the whole launch became a public example of what not to do.
But when I finally held that author copy and revelled in its rich story, sharp formatting, and brilliant cover, I thought:
THIS WAS WORTH IT ALL.
Someday I might beg a trad publisher to take my books, but not yet.