Step One: Write & edit a book.
Step Two: ???
Step Three:: Profit!
1. The Basics
There needs to be words. Words put together coherently. Preferably clumped together in an order to create a story. Here is overview.
- Write & edit
- Send to editors (line, copy, proofers)
- Send to betas
- Edit again
- Create book cover
- Format the book
- Send to ARC readers
- Publish
- Market
Easy peasy! Right?? 🤓
2. The Release Strategy
One of the first things I discovered is there are many ways to approach this business. In the traditional world of publishing, it could take up to a year or more to publish one book. You have a of crew of people specialized in all aspects of publishing. In self-publishing your stories, you become jack-of-all trades. You don’t have the benefit of other people, so you need to plan. Plan well. To discover how you want to approach this is to understand what your goals and motivation are.
My last newsletter I had a goal, this goal is income focused. I want to create books I love on a part-time basis and provide a viable stream of income.
Questions I asked myself:
- What subgenre of romance to write in?
- Who is my ideal reader?
- How many books in a series?
- How often to release books?
- Publishing wide (everywhere) or only Amazon?
- Print on demand and ebooks or only ebooks?
- How much time & money am I willing to invest?
3. My Current Plan
This is going to sound like a business plan. It is.
- My current self-publication strategy is to rapid-release novellas in the contemporary romance genre with specific tropes.
- The ideal reader is someone who does not have the time to commit to a full romance novel. This novella can be finished in an afternoon or on a plane ride.
- My debut will have three novellas in a series, published about five weeks apart.
- It will only be on the Amazon Kindle Unlimited program, no print copies.
- Each novella will take approximately two months for the final product and I will spend approximately $750 per book.
Timing is everything. Set the date and work backwards. My debut will publish in January. If I plan this well, one book will be in the final stages when I work on the next one.
Understand that this plan requires a lot of time, focus and management. In my day job, I utilize these skills everyday so I use a work ethic that is familiar to me.
If you have questions on why I made these decisions, let me know!
TLDR:
- Understand the basics on what it takes to self-publish.
- Understand your motivations and goals.
- Create a plan and timeline.
- Commit.
