“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
Research, research, research. The last few months have been hectic, to say the least: working my way through hundreds of online articles, trying to learn everything I can about the ins-and-outs of the self-publishing process. I must confess, it has been overwhelmingly terrifying at times. It feels like I’m staring out over a vast minefield of potential disasters, but I must push on regardless. I am, however, starting to make firm decisions, and tentatively mapping out a plan of action.
The Fear
You might be wondering why I am so apprehensive? Well, it’s not merely my total lack of experience, but also the fact that most of my friends despair when faced with my Luddite ways. I’m not just technologically inept… I’m the kind of person who only needs to be in close proximity to laptops and other gadgets, and suddenly they stop working. I have never owned a smartphone: I think, to date, there have only been four mobiles in my life, and I think my current one cost me less than five pounds. When I discovered that it came with its very own built-in camera… well, that simply blew my mind!
So, when I began reading multiple articles, all stressing that one of the most important aspects to successful self-publishing was building what is known as an “Author Platform”: an online presence through Social Media and Twitter (for example), yep, that’s when the panicked trembling began. So please, bear with me and be forgiving of any faux pas which might arise as I get to grips with all this—or just do what most people who know me do, and laugh at my foolishness.
The Plan
After much consideration, I have decided to hold back a little on Steggie Belle & the Dream Warriors, and to work instead on first publishing my collection of short stories entitled Scapegoats & Crowbars. My reasons for doing so are quite simple and hopefully, make sense. Primarily, I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to showcase some of my recent work to a wider audience. Also, since I’m learning from scratch, this collection would be a kind of “dry-run” which will—touch wood—give me some much-needed experience with the whole self-publishing process. Lastly, releasing Scapegoats & Crowbars first will enable me to build a little revenue to invest in the publication of Steggie Belle & the Dream Warriors. I have a couple of Top Secret ideas which, with a bit of extra money, will make the novel even more special.
Hoping to be of some Help
It is also my intention to build a comprehensive list of some of the most useful articles that I have found along my journey, covering the various aspects and stages of self-publishing, from start to finish. I am doing this in the hope that, were I to succeed against the difficult challenges that lie ahead, the path that I have taken could be used as a trail of breadcrumbs through this minefield, for other writers (in a similar position) to follow.
With many miles still to go, and the landscape littered with concealed hurdles, I am hesitantly pinning down a distant objective: of publishing my collection of short stories by March 2020. Right now, I’m making final changes and adjustments to the stories and doing my best to shuffle these twenty-two unusual tales into the best order possible. The next stage—which is filling me with fear and trepidation—is the formatting process, about which (yes, by now you have probably guessed it) I haven’t got a clue. Fingers crossed, and wish me luck.
To end this post on a positive note:
My first exciting update is that I am currently talking to an incredibly talented Illustrator, about possible concepts for the Cover Design of Scapegoats & Crowbars. More news to follow soon...