Ssshh. Hello, hello and no, you aren’t in the wrong place. This is indeed Francine’s blog, but she is graciously letting me – Wendy Tyler Ryan - take over her blog for the day. She may regret this tomorrow! Do you think she’ll mind if I re-decorate while she’s gone? I just want to hang up one little picture. I think she’ll like it. What do you think? → → → → → → →
Some of you may already know that my book, Fire’s Daughter, was published this week. Very exciting stuff. I know that some of my followers have already purchased copies and I am very grateful for their support. I only hope that I can live up to their expectations.
It’s been a long slog, sometimes difficult and sometimes exhilarating. In the end, I’m so glad I stuck with it and I am also glad that I made the choice to self-publish. The enormity of the sense of accomplishment cannot be measured.
The stigma that once surrounded self-publishing has almost completely fallen by the wayside. Many good writers have made that choice and jumped in the ever-increasing pond and a lot of them have done very well. Whether you are published by the traditional route or as an indie author, a certain amount of your success or failure will be dumb luck. That you can most certainly count on. The rest will be up to you as an individual to keep your book “out there”. Kind of like what I’m doing now – commandeering people’s blogs to brag and show off!
If you’ve taken the plunge like I have, stop worrying about the numbers. Stop checking your stats every hour and get back to writing. Potential readers need to keep seeing your name out there. The more books you have, the better it will be for you all around. Make your name a Brand. That doesn’t mean you should just publish any old thing. Only put your best work out there. And I’m not talking about the odd little spelling oops that may sneak through. We’ve all seen these little oopses in traditionally published books – it happens. Just make sure you have done everything in your power to put your best work in front of potential readers.
Format, format, format. If you don’t know how, find someone to help you. Edit, edit, edit. If you don’t know how, find someone to help you. Read, read and re-read until your eyes bleed! When your own work becomes too close for you to see objectively, find someone else to read it with a fresh pair of eyes. Once you’ve done all that, get yourself a professional looking cover for your book. Not everyone can hire an artist, but if you look hard enough, you should be able to find a Photoshop savvy person who can take stock photography and turn it into something unique.
Does self-publishing mean you have to give up trying to get published by traditional methods? Of course not. Many self-published authors have been picked up by agents and or publishers because of the following they’ve garnered for themselves. All things are possible. You have to believe that.
If you find yourself interested in learning more about my book, feel free to visit my website: http://www.wendytylerryan.comor my blog:
http://www.waitingforpublication.blogspot.com/ or drop me a line at
wendytylerryan@gmail.com .
Thanks again, Francine, you are a dear and I had a blast dominating your blog for the day!
Hee hee, look what I found dropped on the floor!
