I joined a self-publishing school’s 10-day webinar by chance. The founders and hosts have confirmed what I already knew, but they taught me the terms, techniques and tips that will be useful at some point. They’ve delivered good value to their new members by offering this course. The encouragement and motivation are invaluable, but how to implement what you’ve learned is another story. Other than that, I think they’re a scam–a bunch of money-grabbers.
However, they’ve encouraged me to relaunch my book—just like my friend said I should publish a second edition. Suppose that’s the joy of self-publishing because you have full control over your product. It does require constant hustling, self-promoting, etc., as opposed to being under a contract with a traditional publisher who would own your work. They pay you a six-figure number in advance, but you have no control over anything.
It would be fine for me because I want my work read.
After all, you can’t dodge hard work as a self-publisher—your book is a business you created, and self-marketing is crucial–it’s something I should’ve thought about before publishing. Still, I was so caught up with editing, redrafting, more editing, and formatting. And then, I mutilated the book cover.
And it took me two years to finally fix a typo on the back cover too. I’m not planning to change my design, except for the writing, because it’s dreadful. I still have to reach out to someone to fix it for me—somehow.
Anyway, encouragement is all I needed. Friends told me to move on and start on a new project, but my baby hasn’t actually seen the light yet. Try at least one more time.
I have so far created three websites and own four domains.
What do I do?
I have no fucking clue.
Meditation has taught me to focus on the positive things in the present. Therefore, I guess it’s a positive thing that I am learning—I’m learning about what I hate the most, namely, marketing and advertising.
What webinars teach self-publishers is to reach out to podcasts, local media and other advocates. It involves so much talking to strangers that it terrifies you. They make it look like there’s no other way.
And all you want to do is hide underneath a blanket and sleep it off. What else can you do?
-Host your own podcast! Oh, wow. I remember that I’d kept some vlogs on YouTube over ten years ago. They weren’t good, no, but okay enough to put a smile on Rivers Cuomo’s face. So that meant a lot to me. By now, I should bring at least some professionalism. I need the right equipment. And perhaps listen to more podcasts than just Joe Rogan. You just gotta self-everything.
