Thinking about Self Publishing

The time has come when I’m starting to think about self-publishing as a serious option for some of my novels.

I write what I love to write. I write the books I would like to read that I can’t find on the shelves. I know there’s no point in following trends and so I don’t. But I’m also aware that the market is very trend driven, and so there is a large element of luck involved – if you hit the right trend at the right time then your book will sell. If not it won’t.

Making the decision to self publish is a big commitment. I have to be prepared to put in the effort, to make sure the product I put into the market is as good as it possibly can be. And I have to be prepared to put in the time and money to do this.

I also know I’m unlikely to make any profit. Without the weight of the marketing and publicity departments of a trade publisher my reach will be small, unlikely to extend far beyond my own circle of contacts. I have to be prepared for that fact that it probably won’t sell.

I’m also aware that the best way to market a book is to bring out another book. For this reason I’m going to hold fire on self publishing for now. I’m going to wait for two things:

1. Having the time to dedicate myself to this project properly.
2. Having a portfolio of books to follow up with.

I’m not going to try to self publish my MG books. I’m going to go with my SF thrillers. I have one in a good complete state, one that needs some reworking and two that are in progress, but not very far.

So I need to get on with some writing, and get on with some research into what I need to do in order to give them the best chance I can.

Any tips or resources that you can share please do.

And I will share my progress with you on this blog.