Five Things I was Told About Self-Publishing (That Aren't the Whole Story)

I started self publishing in 2015. Less than a decade since the first Kindle came on the market, less than a decade since Amazon KDP was launched, and in a time when self publishers were still thought of as failed authors.

Despite that, I didn’t find myself alone. I very quickly discovered a vast community of indie authors online, who were generous with their knowledge, expertise, and time, guiding me through the process of coding my first ebook and releasing it into the world. I honestly wouldn’t have managed it without them.

But not everything I was told was helpful. Not all of it was useful. And some of it almost stopped me from writing altogether.

So, here are five things I was told about self-publishing that did not turn out to be the whole story.

It’s often said that the best marketing you can do for book 1 is to release book 2. I agree. I do.

But rapid release is often held up as a gold standard in the indie world. Whether authors are bunching up books, only releasing when they have three ready to go, or whether they’re churning books out like a machine, rapid release maintains that ‘all-important’ momentum. Even before the dawn of GenAI, I knew authors who were publishing a book a month.

But not everyone is capable of that. And not every genre requires that. And your readers might not want that. It’s far better, far more important, to find a pace that works for you. Don’t burn yourself out trying to keep up with someone else’s schedule.

There are endless places you can have an author presence online. There are countless social media platforms. There are places like Goodreads, your mailing list, your website, blogs, podcasts, videos, articles, interviews…

Being everywhere all at once is a great way to get overwhelmed. It’s a great way to pour your time into something that doesn’t always give back. It’s far better to be in fewer places, and to do those places well, than try to spread yourself too thin.

• Where are your target readers?

• Which platforms do you enjoy?

• What kind of content do you enjoy producing?

These are far more important considerations than which social media platform is the shiny new one.

Authors put a lot of emphasis on release day. They have spent months planning it, from ARC readers and paid ads to signed copies and book tours.

But the truth is, that release day is just one day in the life of your book. All it really needs to do on day one is exist.

As an indie author you have the freedom to re-release your books with new covers, update the interiors, run sales and offers, release special editions. And you can do these things at any point. Not everything hinges on one day. Get busy writing your next book instead of worrying that release day wasn’t what you’d hoped for.

No one knows how to be the perfect indie author with their first book. In fact, no one even knows by their 17th or 100th book, because the market is constantly changing. There is no ‘perfect’ book, just like there is no ‘perfect’ author.

Much of publishing is on-the-job-learning. And, as an indie, you have the freedom to go back and rectify the mistakes at any point. Can’t afford the best covers right now? Re-cover your books at a later date. Made a formatting mistake? Fix it any time.

Don’t let a need for perfection stop you from publishing. Done is better than perfect. You can make improvements further down the line.

This is the one that almost killed my writing career before it even started. An insistence that, if you’re not writing from 9-5 every day and treating it like a real job, you’ll never be a ‘serious’ writer. The truth is, that just isn’t possible for most people.

And treating your writing like a business isn’t the goal for a lot of authors. You might simply write for fun, for family, or just to get thoughts out of your head without any ambition to make a living from it. Which is no more or less noble than writing for income.

When writing becomes a business, there’s a risk that the fun, the passion, and the reason you started in the first place can be eaten up by deadlines, bottom lines, and the daily admin of running your own publishing house. If you’re focused on experimentation, or creation, or just enjoying the process right now, you’re not doing it ‘wrong’.

Remember: there is no single ‘correct’ way, and most advice is dependent on life circumstances, goals, and personality. What matters is building something you can keep doing, something sustainable, and something you can continue to find enjoyment in.