Lessons learned on my self-publishing trip

I am enjoying my life as an author – fulfilling the purpose of God in my life and doing what I was born to do even though how I became an author was not my original plan, I believe there are no accidents in this writer life.Sola Olu
Below are my lessons learned from my self- publishing project for “The Summer Called Angel”

Lesson 1 – Research, research, research.

Lesson 2 - Would I self-publish again? – Not sure -but I never say never.

Lesson 3 – Don’t grab the first package that comes your way – Even though I spoke with people who had self-published, I guess we didn’t get to the nitty-gritty details. I did not grab the first, but I sure grabbed the third. There are items I would specifically scrap for instance:

- Editing – Instead go with an editor you’re familiar with or by word of mouth. After paying for “editing” services, I made so many revisions I had to get a refund. After that, I worked with three more editors, each one finding more items that needed work.

- Paid reviews – I am not sure the hefty bill warrants this – a good piece of work will speak for itself, and if you’re just beginning in the writer’s world, go with blog reviewers and your target audience.

- Book cover packages – Again research – there are databases out there with tons of free pictures or book cover designers who will do an excellent job at a cheaper price.

- Promotional text or press release packages – Tons out there that in fact bundle other services with it that give more value for your buck.

Lesson 4 - Sales men are sales men – there is never a package that expires today that you have to “lockdown” be ready when you’re ready.

Lesson 5 – Recognize that self-publishing is exactly that – you become your own expert pretty quickly. You have to do the pre-work marketing and the post work marketing which is critical to the success of your book.

Those are my tidbits, they’re not cookie –cutter and I am merely sharing what I learnt which may not be for everyone. For my upcoming work, I plan to try the traditional route for as long as I can, while researching my self-publishing options as a plan B.

My guiding principle this time more than the last is my biggest lessons learned as a debut author – research, research, research – and more research.