I first heard about the book The Martian on a list of books being made into movies in 2015. I loved it. Andy Weir wrote a thriller, memoir, and comedy all in one. I’d recommend the book to anyone. Then I heard it was self-published first and then picked up by a big publisher.
I was shocked.
Self-publishing certainly carries a stigma. Unless you have a huge following and already tested your idea, it can be extremely difficult to cut through the clutter and sell your work, even if you’ve done the diligence of paying for great editing and formatting services. Believe or not, many famous authors have done this. And they have been successful too.
Question And Caveat
Only if I’ve edited, had honest feedback, and built an enormous audience would I self-publish. Why? Because I want to be both proud of my work and give it the best chance to get in the hands of readers. Some would approach it differently and that is why I turn to you.
How about you? Have you self published or are you considering that? Would you ever consider it?
PART-TIME NOVEL 
Hi Robert, Where’s your word count? Have I failed at my job of accountability 🙂 ?
I have self-published and am continuing a series of photo-illustrated children’s books through Amazon’s Createspace – Gator McBumpypants and Friends’ Adventures. I chose to self publish because I love making the books and because I read that it’s harder to break into the children’s book market than become a player in the NFL. However, through my first year, my writer’s platform has failed to drum up many sales.
Wow thats a tough market!
I am at about 5600 or so and have carved out space to finish before midnight. I’ll be a good novelist and leave you with that cliffhanger and update you on tomorrows post!
I should have asked, how about you maria? Are you going to finish or update me tomorrow as well?
Yes. I will finish. It has been a great writing week for me. Please comment on my blog posts if you get a chance. I’ll post something this evening after my writing critique group and post the final results tomorrow morning. Thank you again for this challenge. Do you think you’ll be up for a slightly larger challenge next week?
Maria,
I have to bow out for the next two weeks or so and wrote about it in tomorrows post. Next week and the week after are packed so I’ll go back to my usual plodding pace. Look forward to reading your post on how you did! I’ll have another one next month.
I have self-published as well. The publishing landscape has changed drastically and so I’ve changed my approach to fit the new paradigm. Unlike some, I am not against traditional publishers. The slushpile has changed and agents are looking for new clients among the ranks of amazon’s best sellers. If I look at my approach I failed in that I did not write enough or kept at it consistently. I wrote too slow and allowed too much of life to interfere. I’ve changed that this year, but I also changed my approach yet again now that I’ve co-founded a small press with a bunch of other authors. If there is one takeaway here it’s that you need to be ready to change strategy at a moment’s notice. What hasn’t changed is the writing. Just keep writing.
I’ve definitely noticed a change in your output and focus. Well done. The key for me is to not get derailed when life gets hard. I don’t want any more excuses. You are right in saying that its all about writing. Just keep writing.
Working on anything at the moment? How did the launch of The Mercy Giver go?
So far 20 preorders, but I only have that first chapter out over on Inkshares. I should actually put out another one and do some marketing. Time is running out. Right now though I have Interspecies that is launching in a few months and I have Pied Piper 2.0 that I need to finish and I have to start with The Dead God.
Nice. I love having a lot of projects running at once!
Sometimes we have no choice. 😉
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