Self-publishing & the Learning Curve
There’s less than a week to go for Book 2 of my series, so I’m doing a million things at once. So please forgive the mini-rant!
I took some time to reflect on parts of the journey that have been the hugest learning curve for me.
Super-solid Photoshop skills
I appreciate that my Photoshop skills have definitely improved over the past six months!
This certainly wouldn’t have happened if I had loads of money to spend on graphic design for teasers and promos, so this journey has been well worth the ride!
Some things I figured out on my own, others I YouTube’d to learn how to do!
So now I feel like I can easily slap together a teaser, or create the book jacket, without panicking! Woop!
Algorithm Appreciation
Yeah. I still don’t understand algorithms. Like, at all.
I do, however, appreciate that it’s a numbers game — the more freebies you give away, the more people see your book and then may purchase or read on Kindle Unlimited beyond the promo.
The more reviews you have, the more people may be seeing your book (I think).
Not sure how this entire tangle of algorithm mess actually works, but I appreciate that any tips fellow authors offer may be valuable. WORSHIP the algorithms!
Patience & Know-How
I have gotten more organised. Thank God. I needed to.
I now have three book file folders. In each of them there’s:
- The raw master Word file
- The PDF export of that Word file
- A raw master Pages document [I no longer use Kindle Create; I had those files earlier before I moved to Pages because Kindle Create was awful!]
- The EPUB export of that Pages document
- The MOBI version from that EPUB file (I use Calibre for the conversion)
Then I have:
- The book cover for the print version
- The book cover for the ebook version
- The book jacket (PSD editable file)
- The book jacket (PDF file ready for upload)
- The book cover with the 3D mockup
- Smaller version of the book cover (for web use)
Then there are the “preview/sample” files :
- A raw Pages document of the Chapter 1 & 2 excerpt with cover
- The PDF & EPUB & MOBI files for this (for my Prolific Works giveaways)
- Another version with no cover (for use on my website) and its corresponding PDF & EPUB & MOBI files
PHEW.
That’s for EACH BOOK. AND I HAVE THREE! So, every time I find a typo, it’s like F@$#$@#$#$#$#@$#@$##$@!K — because I have to update things 20 times!
Yeah. Being a self-published author is AWESOME on some days, and on other days, a TYPO can ruin your life!
To all the fellow folks out there proud to be a self-published author, hang in there! I feel your pain, and you’re not alone.
Anyone else want to share their major learning curve items, feel free to do so in the comments! I’m sure #3 resonates with us all! ?????
