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The What, Why, and How of Self-Publishing #TuesdayBookBlog

shelleywilson72

On Wednesday 8th March it is International Women’s Day, and what better day to attend a Women in Business Conference where I get to listen to influential speakers from a variety of backgrounds and businesses.

I’ve only been a member of the Socially Shared Member’s Group for a short time, and yet I’ve learned so much and met some incredible ladies. I can’t imagine a better way to spend my day than in the company of like-minded individuals.

To add to the excitement, I was invited to run one of the workshops during the afternoon sessions on self-publishing. Having published seven books with a further two titles due out this year, I should be able to fill my forty-five-minute slot quite easily. However, get me talking about books and writing, and you might have a problem shutting me up!

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I’ll be blogging about the conference and sharing what I learned next week, but as I polish my presentation, and iron my frock, I started to think back to the time before self-publishing my first book. What do I wish I’d known back then? Would I have done anything differently?

It gave me the idea for this post which I may expand upon if enough people leave a comment. It’s the what, why, when, where, and how of self-publishing. So, if you’re an independent author, I’d love to hear your story. Is there anything you want to share about your self-publishing journey? What excited you? What terrified you? What’s the one piece of advice you would give a wannabe self-publisher?

For me, self-publishing changed my life and introduced me to a host of new friends and a hugely supportive community. Do you feel the same?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on all aspects of self-publishing. Perhaps I’ll be able to share some of the comments in further posts as top tips for a newbie writer?

Wednesday will be an empowering day for many people, not just the attendees, but also for the speakers and workshop facilitators. Sharing our passion for a subject, any advice we can offer, and motivating others is something that’s very close to all of our hearts and I, for one, can’t wait.

You can find all my books on Amazon UK or US

Thanks for visiting my blog, I hope you enjoyed this post. Want more? Connect with me here:  Twitter @ShelleyWilson72, Instagram or check out my Facebook pages http://www.facebook.com/FantasyAuthorSLWilson and http://www.facebook.com/MotivateMeBlog. You can also find me on Pinterest

Published by shelleywilson72

Hello, I'm Shelley, an English multi-genre author. I write young adult/middle-grade supernatural and fantasy fiction and motivational adult self-help. I'm a proud mum of three and live in the West Midlands, UK. I love travelling in my VW camper, reading about Tudor and Viking history, and obsessing over to-do lists!

22 thoughts on “The What, Why, and How of Self-Publishing #TuesdayBookBlog”

  4. Oh have a great time I’m sure you will be awesome! Before I got really sick I was a member of a women’s business forum and regularly spoke at meetings. It’s one of the best feelings to speak about something you are passionate about.

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  5. I’m still trying to make it as a self-published author. By make it, I mean sell some stories. So I’m interested in the insight you have. I’ve heard from people that I have unique/cool ideas and I’m trying some ideas to get my writing out there more. I have a very tight budget to spend on promotion and (worse yet) a poor understanding on how to market my writing.

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    1. I think that’s a common issue for all of us. Writing is the easy bit – selling is where the hard work begins! Might I suggest you read Rachel Thompson’s book 30-Day Book Marketing Challenge (£4 on kindle). It’s full of great advice that you should find useful. The writing community is hugely supportive so follow other people in your chosen genre and bounce ideas off each other. I’ve learned so much from interacting with other writers’ on Twitter. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment. Good luck with your writing.

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  6. What a fabulous thing to do Shelley! You will be brilliant at it 🙂 There was one thing about self-publishing that initially terrified, then eventually excited me, and that was the social media aspect. I had never been on any social media platform before so the whole thing was daunting, but I was delighted by the wonderful world of indie authors I found. I’ve never come across such a positive, supportive and endlessly generous group at any other time in my life. 🙂

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    1. I can totally relate to that, Georgia! Fortunately, I’m fairly outgoing (online and in real life!) so I took to Twitter and FB quickly. However, if social media is an entirely new concept then I can imagine how daunting it can be. I also have Terry Tyler and Rayne Hall to thank as they were my first ‘friends’ on twitter and have taught me so much over the years!

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  7. Good luck tomorrow, Shelley 🙂 I’m sure you’ll be fabulous! One thing I wish I’d known and understood more about is the promotion aspect – I had nothing in place really before I published so was playing catch up all the time at the beginning. I think having a plan is essential.

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  8. Good luck 🙂 My advice for those wanting to self-publish is to check and check and then re-check before pressing the publish button. I didn’t and had to withdraw my book from sale until I’d fixed the errors. It had been professionally edited but between the formatting and the actually published book it had several missing words and paragraphs. No idea how this happened but it scared me and it’s a mistake I will not be making again.

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  10. Sounds like it will be a great day. I’m sure you’ll be great and look forward to reading about it. A series on self-publishing is a good idea. As for many others, the need to learn (and put into practice) marketing and promotion was a big shock. When I put No More Mulberries out as an ebook all I did was put up one Facebook post. I wasn’t even on Twitter in those days. And sat back thinking readers would find my title amongst the millions out there. Although I have learned a lot since then, I know I have much to learn and would value reading the input from others.

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