Or: three lessons in overconfidence and impairment
LESSON ONE: Manuscript feedback.
After working with many advanced readers and professionals, I believed my book was ready. So I published it on KDP and ordered 100 author copies. Then the real-world critiques crashed in. Oy. Some simply revealed unfamiliarity with my genre, but others were painfully perceptive, such as not getting past the poor cover or the outre opening chapter, or finding the plot too confusing.
To market my books, I need confidence in them. This one wasn’t ready. So I pulled the book for revision and shoved my hundreds-of-dollars-worth of author copies into permanent storage. Years later, I’m glad I did.
Why? I understand better the purpose of opening chapters, plot structures, and good covers, which are critical. And while flogging a manuscript to death is a danger, so is a service provider who isn’t pulling his/her weight. Now I’ll walk away from a formatter, editor, or cover artist (and hefty deposits) who isn’t performing as contracted. Constantly switching service providers works against publication, but on occasion, a book is best served by change, as costly as that can be.
LESSON TWO: Fatigue means impaired cognition, and that means potentially disastrous decisions.
So far, I’ve made minor and mildly embarrassing decisions when overtired, but disaster lurks nearby. If I’m overtired and tempted to send a newsletter or, worse, approve anything, like final cover or edit files, I tell my few snapping synapses to stop and wait for a saner moment. That’s the theory, anyway. In reality, it’s tricky to have that degree of objectivity and follow-through in those moments, right? Better to not be overtired at all (a foreign concept for me).
LESSON THREE: Preparing for publication and its aftermath requires persistence and wisdom.
How do we get that? By engaging with author communities. It’s taken me years, but I now have a community of authors (as mutual gifts and not career-advancers—no one likes feeling used.) This experienced circle keeps me steady and helps me develop the tough skin and tender heart needed to grapple with criticism, mistakes, and steep learning curves. And hey, it’s nice to celebrate milestones and successes.
BONUS LESSON: Should I move my self-published book to a traditional publisher?
Perhaps you decided trad publishing would be best after all. That could be true, and people have switched successfully, but not by my method. I once told a trad publisher that my self-published book was selling poorly but I was sure it’d do great with them. Ha, ha, ha, so not funny. I never heard back. Trad publishers are interested in books on the market that have gained traction. Duh.