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Things I would do differently the next time I self-publish

Erin (E.A.) Whyte

I am a huge fan of organization. I am also one of those people who hates not being good at something immediately, so the process of trial-and-error really isn't my friend.


That being said, it is a great way to learn. And after self-publishing my first book, I learned a lot. While most of my planning did pay off, there are some things I'll be adjusting.


  1. Marketing


I suffer from the delusion that I can work three full-time jobs at once. While that may be true temporarily (very temporarily), it's not a great choice for longevity. With my first release, I didn't put a ton of stock into marketing. Sure, I sent out ARCs and I researched BookTokers and Bookstagrammers. I even paid for ad runs. But I knew as an indie author with a small following and virtually no foot in the market, my book would be hard pressed to reach above the noise.


What I realized was that, in the end, my best supporters weren't the ones I paid for. ARC readers were by far the kindest and loyal-est marketing team.


At the time, I wasn't really ready to put together a street team - it was only one book, after all. But I think it's worth investing in a few good people who are willing to put boots on the ground for you. My friends and family were the ones who talked me up the most, and I didn't even ask them to, really!


So what does that mean the next time around?

  • Instead of focusing efforts wide, I'm going to hone in on ARC readers.

  • I may hire out a street team manager for each release to do that work for me.

  • I'm going to create a stronger plan leading up to release, but in ways that balance with my day-to-day schedule.


  1. Pre-orders


I had a lot of fun with pre-orders, but it was also really hard to guess at the stock I needed, the time it would take to package and ship, the effort expended, etc. I ended up buying a short run of 40 copies, and then needed to double that before release day, which left me scrambling to get the second run on time.


Because of the systems in place at the time, too, I had to do all of my pre-orders manually through my website. I couldn't do physical pre-orders through Amazon or Barnes & Noble. It made it a lot more challenging to keep track of all those moving parts.


What I plan to do instead:

  • A small, limited-edition first run that includes some goodies. This short run will go up on release day only, and once I sell out of signed copies, that's the end of it.


This option boosts sales on release day where pre-orders don't, as those sales are spread over a month or so. It also means I can do one or two runs to the post office, instead of having to visit multiple times over multiple weeks with a full-time day job.


By having a limited run, I don't have to worry about scrambling for last-minute copies.


The one downside is that it means many won't receive their copies on release day, as I'll have to ship them out. However, I think at this point, that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.


  1. Giveaways


I love hosting giveaways. I mean, who doesn't want a free book? But I've also learned a lot since running a few. Mainly that I need to have an age limit and specific parameters with each post. It would help to plan farther in advance of the giveaway, as well, rather than one or two weeks. That way I can make my wording clear and I can advertise that it's going to happen.



  1. Metrics


I'm not going to worry so much about the numbers. Yes, I think it's important to know how much you can put into something financially or time-wise, and it's also important to know how many copies you need to sell to break even. But I also know that a backlist is a bigger seller than one book alone.


I think every writer has the hope that their first book will be the one that makes it big. That suddenly you can quit your day job and focus on writing full-time. Rarely is that the case. I knew that going into it, and still I hoped it would find the right people and it would explode.


This time around, I'm going to focus more on putting out quality work, on writing the next story so I can build that backlist to get to full-time writing quicker. This method takes the stress out of meeting certain metrics.


I might also change what I'm looking for to focus more on positive feedback (what are reviewers saying?) rather than a specific sales number.


  1. Delegation


This point ties into hiring out work mentioned above. I'm fortunate enough to be in a position where I can start to consider this. I think one thing that's often overlooked in self-publishing is how much work the author actually takes on. Where in trad publishing, you have some kind of team to help you through, first time authors really don't. It takes years and a lot of work to get a book to publication - even more to make sure it has an audience by the time it hits shelves.


This time around, I'm going to look at ways I can hire out aspects of the work so I can focus on writing rather than marketing.


Things I'm thinking of delegating:

  • Social media management

  • Marketing plans and execution

  • ARC/Street Team managers

  • PR box creation and shipping

  • Research into potential collaborations with other content creators

  • Content creation


These are the areas I found myself whittling down my hours when I could have been doing other things. They're also easy enough to hand off.


While I have a background in marketing and social media management, I am so burnt out on the whole thing. (Also, why is it always so much harder to audit your own social media than someone else's???)


The benefit is that these tasks can be one-off payments or ongoing payments. Depending on budget, you could pay for one month of services, or you could keep someone on your team year round.



I'm sure there are other things I'll come up with as soon as I post this, but these were the biggest areas I noticed I could revamp. The short of it is: at this point, my time is better spent making sure I'm putting out stories I'm proud of than by researching, marketing, and doing a lot of that behind-the-scenes work.


I wish you all the best in your publishing journey! If you have any questions about my experiences, feel free to email me (info[at]eawhyte.com) or fill out my contact form.


Happy writing,

Erin

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©2023 by E.A. Whyte. | Privacy Policy. | Terms and Conditions.

I acknowledge that I live and work on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee Peoples. I am thankful to those of the First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples who have--and continue to--care for these lands here and across the province. To this day, Indigenous people in this region and beyond continue to face oppression, inequality, and violence as a result of historic and ongoing colonialism. Though these lands are protected by the Dish with One Spoon agreement, settlers and institutions continue to fail to uphold their responsibilities. In order to change, we must understand the gruesome history and stand in allyship with Indigenous peoples through action.

 

To learn about the treaties and histories of the land your work or home is on, you can head to https://www.whose.land/en/.

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