My New Release: What I did Wrong; What I did Right
Okay, I can hear it already. What was she thinking? Why would anyone make a cover using CreateSpace cover maker, and even worse, she used the same image used on the template. Anyone familiar with CreateSpace cover maker would recognize this as the journey theme.
So why did I do this? I happen to like trees and paths through trees and it fit what I wanted to portray of dying being a journey. Also, I actually have a buyer! I have someone who wants a hundred copies of this, sooner rather than later. I don’t have the expertise to create a cover myself and my cover designer is on her way to Korea to teach English for one year so I thought, why not?
And publishing non-fiction is different from fiction. There are thousands of fiction books being published every day. You have to do everything in your power to try to draw attention to your book. Whereas I only found 12 books listed on Amazon under non-fiction dying process. I know it may be foolish but I’m thinking people might actually buy my book for the content!
Besides this, I can always change the cover. That’s one of the benefits of self-publishing. I can get the book out now to meet my deadline and worry about updating the cover later if I decide it is necessary.
The other thing I didn’t do – a Launch. I’ve yet to do a real “launch” for any of my books. I know, another mistake, however not as big a deal when you are self-publishing. With traditional publishing you have a short amount of time to make a big splash with your new release before the publishing world moves on to the next newcomer. This makes the launch very important.
But I’m more like the tortoise than the hare. I’m better at plodding along, following my path in the hope that eventually I will reach the goal. With self-publishing, you are the one putting your work out to the world, promoting it. You can always pick up a back list copy and do a new promotion if you want. You aren’t tied to a publisher telling you what you can or can’t do.
So what did I do right? I had the book copy-edited. I’m always surprised at what the copy-editor finds that I have missed. I also went through several revisions. Each time you make a change of a proof copy it has to be resubmitted and reapproved. I thought I had it ready. After a careful read through I came to the page with definitions of terms and saw that the last definition did not have a period. No big deal. But then I saw that there was a gap between the end of a sentence on the back cover and the period. Picky, maybe, but this was the back cover, the second thing people look at, after the cover. It had to be right. So yet another revision requiring resubmitting the material and another day of delay.
Sometimes I feel like I’m being bombarded by information on self-publishing on the Internet. I sign up for webinars that put me on email lists that are constantly telling me how to get more sales. Just when I think I know what I’m doing, something changes. It can feel overwhelming.
Sometimes you just have to go with it. Put your work out there. So that’s what I’m doing.
How about you? Have you ever gone against the “experts” in your journey to publish?
Check out my book, Walking with Families Through the Dying Process, on Amazon.
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