Today I am welcoming Misha Gerrick to my blog to share her experiences of publishing her two books, The Vanished Knight and The Heir's Choice. Take it away, Misha...
Five Less Than Nice Things About Self
Publishing
Over
the past few weeks, more than a few people have been interested in why I chose
to self-publish, and why I think it’s a good idea.
However,
there are a few things about the process that’s not as nice. Especially when
you’re like me and doing everything yourself. So I thought I’d share them to
give a more balanced view of self-publishing…
1) There’s no one to tell you that
it’s time to let go.
This
is the worst thing for me. When I published through a publisher, I had an
editor who told me “Congrats! You’re done. Now the book’s going into
formatting.”
Without
the publisher, there’s no one to tell me everything’s okay to publish. I have
to decide for myself. And even though the books are out there now, I’m still
cringing, waiting for people to tell me I didn’t work hard enough on getting
the book ready. This brings me to my next point.
2) Impostor syndrome.
You
know how sometimes, people live in perpetual fear that they’ll be called out
for not being “the real thing?” This could be anything, from being a smart
person to being a “real writer.”
I’m
trying really hard not to feel this way. I put ten times as much effort into
getting my books up to publishing standard. And I know my standards are higher than an average publisher’s. But I
just can’t help thinking that some people will point out that something is
somehow… not standard and that my self-publishing efforts failed.
3) Conflicting feelings
At
the same time, I’m actually much prouder of my accomplishments self-publishing
my books than I was selling them the first time.
Which
makes my head a really interesting place to live in at the moment.
4) Time
I
haven’t written anything fictional in three months, because I was too busy with
all the publishing related things for my books. Writing this is actually the
last purposeful thing related to publishing that I’ll do for these books.
Except
that in order to hit my goals aimed at making a living at this gig, I need to
publish another book very soon. So I might have about two weeks before this
roller coaster starts again.
5) I’m my own nightmare boss.
Oh,
you thought things are cool, calm and collected when I’m doing everything
myself? Not like I have any deadlines or anything like that…
If
you thought so, you’re dead wrong.
I
measure everything I do against: Would I
have paid someone if they delivered me this service at the quality I did it
myself?
Which
means that I am relentless in driving
myself to get tasks done, while being absolutely focused on doing it to the
best of my ability. There’s no such thing as “I can’t do this, so I’ll pick
something easier” in my process.
There’s only “I better learn how to do this and how to do this well in two days or less.”
So although I love
self-publishing, there’s a definite cost to doing it. Good thing the process is worth
the effort.
What
about you? Do you self-publish? What’s your least favorite aspect to doing so?
The entity living inside Callan’s soul orphaned her at age eleven. By the time she’s sixteen, it’s ensured her being shunted from one foster family to another.
Her thirteenth foster assignment should be routine. Except... it's not. A psycho in medieval armor kidnaps her and she ends up in a magical world. There, she accidentally discovers a secret her parents had kept until the day they died.
Both actually came from this magical world, but left before Callan was born. To cover their tracks, they’d lied about everything. Even who they really were.
Driven to find out where she comes from, Callan’s trapped in a race for life and death. Walking away isn’t an option, but if she stays too long, the entity will find its next victim.
In this world where secrets are sacrosanct and grudges are remembered, finding the truth will be near impossible. Especially when Callan has her own homicidal little secret to deal with.
One with a taste for destroying her life.
The Heir’s Choice
After discovering her parents had kept a whole world secret, Callan races to discover her past. Not easy to do with an increasingly agitated entity living in her soul.
Going to her long-lost elvish roots should answer all her questions. Instead, she ends up in the middle of a nightmare.
The elves are on the verge of an apocalyptic war. Their enemy, King Aurek of Icaimerith, will only be appeased if Callan marries his heir. It’s either her life getting messed up, or an entire country’s lives lost. Simple enough, right?
Wrong.
Because when the entity wants the elves blotted out of existence, saving them gets taken to a whole new level of complicated.
Bio
Misha
Gerrick has been creating stories long before she could write and is currently
going after her dream of making a living as a writer.
If you’d
like to see how that’s going, you can visit her on her blog, where
she also discusses all things related to writing and publishing.
Or, if
you’d just like to know what she’s reading and get updates on what she’ll be
publishing next (Sorry, no newsletter just yet.):
Thanks so much for hosting me! :-)
ReplyDeleteYou're so welcome, Misha :-)
DeleteThanks a lot for sharing that, really insightful indeed. Greetings!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by! Glad you enjoyed my post. :-)
DeleteHi Blogoratti, thanks for visiting :-)
DeleteOh, how I know these things. And I'm my own worst boss too. I'm much more forgiving of others than I am of myself. Have a wonderful weekend!
ReplyDeleteYeah I think it's generally a good thing when we self publish, but only if we can keep our impulses under control. ;-)
DeleteTime would be my greatest problem - although all the others are a close second :-)
DeleteMisha captured the whole self publishing thing perfectly. I find the marketing aspect to be exceptionally difficult. Good luck to her- sounds like she's got well written books and a lot of energy to get them out there.
ReplyDeleteThe marketing is tricky, but you know what? I decided to settle for doing my best. ;-)
DeleteMarketing is so hard. I've never really figured it out, sadly.
DeleteI'm considering self publishing next year and Misha has just scared the hell out of me!
ReplyDeleteNah it's nothing to be scared off. It's just something to keep in mind when you make the decision. People are highly positive about self publishing these days (and it's a good thing), but they don't always share the tricky bits, which means that people following their examples are in for a surprise.
DeleteI'm considering self-publishing next year too, although at the moment I'm still submitting it.
DeleteMisha's right though, Liz, as long as you go into with your eyes open, you'll be fine. I think there are negative aspects to being traditionally published too.
*Nod, nod, nod* Yep. You seem to have captured it well :) I reckon I can live with all that, though, if only there wasn't that dreaded uphill marathon called "marketing" at the end of it all. That has to be my least favorite aspect, though it sounds like that's no longer something a traditionally-published author can avoid either.
ReplyDeleteI hear you. About the only thing that would make me excited to sign a trade publishing contract is if part of the contract said something along the lines of "The publishing house will devote $1mil (okay maybe a bit less) to market this book." :-D
DeleteI'm learning that doing everything yourself can make one really doubt yourself and like you said, making one fear being called out for not being a "real writer". Though, you said everything in your post above and I agree fully. You have worked hard Misha. Anyone that reads your blog, guest posts, or books know it. Wishing you the best.
ReplyDeleteThanks Murees. I just hope it pays off. :-)
DeleteHi Murees :-)
DeleteThe line about your head being an interesting place right now made me chuckle.
ReplyDeleteHehehe thanks for stopping by. :-)
DeleteHi Alex, thanks for visiting :-)
DeleteSelf-publishing done right looks like a lot of work, with amazing results as I've read fantastic self-published books. I haven't done it yet, but I'm willing to try it.
ReplyDeleteYes, there are some brilliant titles and authors out there!
DeleteYeah it is a lot of work, but it's worth it if you like the sense of control. To me, it's absolutely worth it to be able to pick when to publish, with which cover, at what price.
DeleteSeriously, I'd *love* to say I could self-publish, but when I already know how much of a crap procrastinator I already am... dear Lord, I'd get nothing done... SO... I have only huge admiration for you, Misha, AND everyone else who self-publishes.
ReplyDeleteYou rock to the rhythm of your own beat - and *I* think *that* rocks :)
So, rather than being a 'crap' procrastinator, you're a 'brilliant' procrastinator? :-)
DeleteI have to admit, I'm terrible with procrastination too. I'm way behind at the moment because I just can't seem to motivate myself to get stuff done. I suspect I'm tired.
DeleteI've looked into self-publishing,but haven't gotten any farther than starting to format a book. My day job always seems to take over and I don't get around to much else. I love how Misha is her own nightmare boss. LOL.
ReplyDeleteFormatting actually isn't all that hard to do. Use Smashwords' instruction sheet. :-D
DeleteI agree with Misha - formatting looks harder than it is. But it is time-consuming.
DeleteI find doing pub for my self-published books difficult. Why? I have no idea....
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your evening, Annalisa.
I find that publicity is hard for either type. But then, I suspect that marketing is actually a small part of sales anyway.
DeleteSome people seem to hit that sweet spot with their marketing. I've never managed it.
DeleteWhile I'm aiming for traditional publishing, at least initially, I absorb everything I read about self-publishing. I know I'll be my own nightmare boss, too. Congratulations on finishing up your blog tour!
ReplyDeleteIt's good to absorb info on self-publishing. Doing so helped me a great deal. :-D
DeleteI think a mixture of traditional and self publishing can work really well.
Delete