How Did I Learn The Business Side Of Indie Publishing
Ask the Author Podcast Transcript
Episode 44, 8th April 2024
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Ready for the best piece of writing advice ever? Jodi Gibson, author of REINVENTING EMILY BROWN shares a tip that will transform your craft.
Intro
In the intro, Jodi Gibson discusses the popularity of the last two episodes (including her guest interview) and thanks listeners for their downloads and feedback.
Show Notes
- Learn through research and trial and error
- Find some good podcasts
- Find blogs, articles and Facebook groups
- Learn through trial and error
- Learn about the business
- The industry is always changing
Episode Transcript
This week, as I said, I have a great question from a listener regarding indie publishing. So if you're heading down the indie route, considering it or just wanting to know more about indie publishing, then listen up. It is quite a meaty episode which I'm going to answer generally, and then I'll do a few follow-up episodes, I think, over the next few months, hitting more specific items in regards to this question. But for now, let's get on to the question. This week's question comes from Karen. Now, Karen follows me on Instagram and she's also a regular listener of the podcast, and Karen's question is:
When you decided to self-publish, how did you learn it all, as in everything involved in the business of self-publishing? Thank you, Karen.
That is such a great question, but definitely a huge question to answer. So, as I said in the intro. I'm going to answer it in a more general sense for this episode and then I'm going to tackle some more specifics about the business of self-publishing in future episodes over the next couple of months, because I think that there's a few parts in there that really do warrant a deep dive. So I think I will tackle that in future episodes. So keep an eye out for that. But for now, let me just answer in a more general sense.
Learn through research and trial and error
So how did I learn it all? The simple answer is through research and trial and error Pretty straightforward. A lot of the time that's the way we learn things best, and it really was that simple, I think, where to start with my decision to self-publish? So I had written a couple of manuscripts. I had one that I was feeling really good about and I'd started pitching it to agents and publishers. I'd gotten some requests for some full manuscript reads but hadn't been able to get it over the line. So I knew the manuscript had something, because if you're getting requested, there's obviously something there that's hooking the reader. So I knew there was something there, and I'm not sure how self-publishing came across my radar at that point.
Find some good podcasts
I think I was looking for options, and this was around 2015. So it was when self-publishing started to really impact the industry. So I think it was just turning up on my radar and I just started researching. I wanted to know more about it, so I started listening to the podcasts. I was listening to the self-publishing show with Mark Dawson and also Joanna Penn's The Creative Pen.
Now, both of those guys are huge indie publishers and indie authors and they have an absolute wealth of knowledge in the industry. They really are the gurus. So if you are interested, I absolutely suggest listening to those podcasts, going back and listening to the backlist, just as I did, because that's where my information started to come from and that's what got me interested and really piqued my interest about the industry.
Find blogs, articles and Facebook groups
From there I did a lot more research pretty much. I read blogs, articles, I joined Facebook groups and I started taking in all the information, taking notes and just learning about what is involved in self-publishing and from that moment I decided I wanted to go for it. It was very attractive to me because I retain a lot of control as an indie author and, being the type of person who likes to be in control, it was definitely well suited to me. You need to be organised, you need to be really on the ball, and that suited my personality to a T. So I thought I've got this manuscript, I want to get it out in the world, let's just do this. And that's, I guess, where the trial and error began.
Learn through trial and error
And with everything, it's an ongoing process. You can't be in the indie publishing sphere not make mistakes. It really is the best and, I think, the only way to learn. So from there I set some goals and deadlines and I worked towards publication. A very handy resource that I came across early in the piece was the Indie Author Checklist by Adam Croft, who is also an indie author. Adam Croft, who is also an indie author, and it's a great checklist as it sets out a path from manuscript to publication, to marketing and gives you a checklist of it's exactly what it says. It's a checklist. It gives you that list of things to work towards and to do in some sort of order, working towards publication. So I do highly recommend that as a resource if you are interested in self-publishing.
And from there I pretty much just followed that checklist and learned along the way trial and error. So once I had followed all of those processes, I had learned all about doing the editing, the cover design, the formatting, what platforms to be on, how print on demand works, how uploading to all of the digital platforms works. Once I'd learned all that and I was ready to go and my first book was put out into the world, I then had to think about marketing and promotion. Now, if you have listened to Episode 37, where I spoke about doing things differently trad versus indie you might remember how I said I set out to publish as an indie author by doing all of the things that a trad author would do, including marketing. Now, in hindsight, if you've listened to the episode, you'll know that maybe that wasn't the best idea I discovered and it didn't work all that well for me. But again, that was trial and error.
Reach out to Bookstagrammers
So what I'd suggest if you are looking towards indie publishing is do your research, do the trial and error and, with marketing, figure out what marketing is going to suit you and your lifestyle as an author and your strengths. Don't try and do all of the things, pick a couple of different things, particularly when it comes to marketing. So I'd suggest reaching out to Bookstagrammers, bloggers, booktalkers, getting advanced or early review copies out to them to build interest. You can look into which social media platforms are going to suit you local newspaper and media promotions. Social media ads via Facebook, grammars and ads and media promotions. Social media ads via Facebook, amazon ads. There are very like a multitude of ways that you can get your book out there. It's just a lot of, as I said, trial and error I'll say it again and just working out what suits you and what you have time and space for.
Learn about the business
And then there is, of course, the actual business side of things, which isn't necessarily related to the writing or publishing of the book. It's what's involved in running any type of business and you'll find it's either a strength of yours or a weakness. So if you're not interested in spreadsheets and numbers and data, you're best to outsource this to your accountant or someone you know who can do this for you. The basics that you'll need to keep track of are, of course, your expenses and income and sales. Then you'll be able to track your profit and loss and work out your breakeven point. So, at the very basic level, you do need to know that break-even point, because it will surprise you how far in the future that seems, but with every book you release, it does get closer and as you work out your processes, you refine your processes. As technology advances and the way we indie publish improves, you will generally work out that your break-even point can be lowered and you'll actually be able to meet it one day. But of course, you could have breakout success with your first book and that could change everything. But at least knowing your break-even point, that gives you something to work with and it can help you determine in the future where you can cut costs and where you can focus your investment in your publishing. It's really a process of working out what works and what doesn't when it comes to indie publishing. So much trial and error.
The industry is always changing
And the other thing is the industry is changing at an ever-increasing speed, and that's not just indie publishing, that is the publishing industry in general. Of course we can talk about AI at another time, but that is changing the industry. So it's really important to keep on top of all of those type of things too. But, as with any new venture, indie publishing has a steep learning curve and, as we're dealing with ever evolving technology, it is something you need to keep on top of learning, researching, keeping track of changes in the publishing space so important if you're going to step into the indie publishing world.
So, as I said, this was quite a meaty topic to delve into, but my number one tip for anyone considering or choosing to indie publish is to not dive in too soon. Do your research, and research well from a variety of reputable resources. There are so many sharks out there willing to take your money and advise you on how to self-publish, and some of them that will help you self-publish. Some of them who will say they will help you self-publish. In my opinion, you don't need them. The information is out there, but it is a matter of sifting through the rocks to find the gold. It's time consuming, frustrating, but it's also fun as you begin to understand and learn the ins and outs of the indie publishing process, what's involved, and learning the business side of the industry.
In Summary
There really is no easy way around learning at all. There's no one course that you can do that'll teach you everything you need to know. There are so many different courses out there that teach you so many different things. You really just have to dig in and do the work and learn it bit by bit, piece by piece.
Do your research, follow people in the indie space who are doing the right things and learn from them. Make sure you're getting your research from those reputable places and people who have skin in the game, so to speak, and from there, when you feel ready, take a little bit more time, because when you do decide to dive in, it is going to be a steep learning curve and there's so much involved in the process of indie publishing and the ins and outs of the business side of indie publishing, so it really does pay to understand, first of all, why you're doing it, but also the how to do it as well. So take the time to research and then dive in and refine your process, because you will make mistakes, there will be failures, there'll be some successes and you can improve every time you publish your next book.
As I said, in the future. I will break things down into more specifics in future episodes, because I think that's a really great topic and there is a lot of interest around indie publishing and particularly that business side of publishing the the running of an author business which in a lot of ways does apply to both trad and indie authors. But there are some big differences in being an indie publisher as well. So we'll get into that in future episodes. But for now that is all for this week.