My Experience as a Published Author in the Last Year

In the last year since publishing my book, More Than Human, I have learned tremendously. I would like to share with you what my experience has been.

Publishing a book is not cheap, by any means. It’s expensive in both time and money. Sure, you write a whole book (by the way, it took me about 6 years to get this book out of my head, piece it all together, and complete it), but through writing you’ve made subconscious typos and mistakes. Therefore, you have to read it over again and again and again, catching new errors every time. Then, you’re too familiar with your own work to find all of the inconsistencies and misspellings, so you need someone else with fresh eyes to look it over. Sometimes this takes several people, which is why having beta readers is a phenomenal asset. Once a few other people have read it over and made their suggestions or corrections, you need to read it over yet again. This takes a lot of time. Reading a 50k word novel can take at least 8 hours for most readers, and that’s just for casual reading, not for critiquing.

Then, assuming that you don’t know how to format books yourself, you need to hire a formatter. Rarely will the formatter be finished and have your work ready for you by the next day. So, we have yet another waiting game. If your formatter has other clients, you may have to wait even longer until they can have the time to complete your work.

Cover art is another expensive part of the book. Some digital artists will sell basic cover designs for as little as $25. I, however, didn’t want to go this route. I wanted to showcase a friend’s work on the cover of my book. The cover art took quite a while to create, as well, since it was drawn digitally by hand rather than stock photos slapped together and altered. The more time it takes, the more expensive it is. It also has more meaning to me. My cover art is special to me. It was my very first (and currently only) “fan art”, and I love it. So thank you, Kelsey, for doing the artwork for me and I look forward to creating more covers with you!

- One of the biggest things that I have taken away from this is not to be too hasty. I published my book before I should have, honestly. Two copies of my book got out with a few major errors still existing within. Thankfully, one of my readers caught the errors and notified me, so I pulled my book back off of the site and corrected the mistakes, which again took some time. About two weeks later my book was ready to publish again, this time with no errors! It was an impatient mistake that I will not make again. My next book will NOT be published until I am 100% certain that there are no errors in it. Again, this is why beta readers are so valuable. I had one reader catch a timeline inconsistency that was completely missed by several people, myself included. Whoops!

-Marketing is a whole ‘nother world that I have been too intimidated by to really delve into. My strategy has mainly been networking and connecting with potential readers. This has been a fairly successful approach that has saved me a lot of money. Talking and engaging with people is free, so why not? I love connecting with my readers – getting to know who they are and what other interests they have. Some have even become good friends and my best supporters!

-Creating a Facebook group for my readers is probably one of the best decisions I have made! It’s a wonderful way to engage with readers, ask them to answer polls, and responding to inquiries about my work.

- There are ALWAYS trolls lurking about. Someone, somewhere, is going to hate your work for no apparent reason. I have seen this happen quite often with authors, and it’s a harmful struggle. That one trolling review can be detrimental to future sales, especially if you have a small amount of reviews to begin with. But, it’s okay. As more people become interested in your work and bother to give it a read, you’ll receive the real, honest feedback that truly matters. Sometimes, that one terrible review can have the opposite results of what the poster was intending. I have seen a few authors’ sales and reviews soar after receiving a bad review.

- Getting your book out there takes just about as much effort as it does to write one to begin with. If you don’t have a marketing team or some kind of representation, your book’s exposure all falls on you. That’s a hard game to play and a very competitive area. All kinds of people have published books and are desperately trying to make money from it. Some hastily did it with little to no care on their book’s appearance and worth, over-pricing their short works filled with countless typos and mistakes. These people are out there competing with those of us who have spend a ridiculous amount of time working on our stories. Please support the latter!

- Scammers are rampant. As soon as they see “author” attached to your profile, get ready to be bombarded by promises of gaining your book exposure, getting you more reviews, and all these other promises as long as you send your book to them for free and pay them. Guess what? They take your money and more often than not, that’s the last you’ll hear of them. So, if you are considering becoming a writer, please be aware of the scams lurking around every corner. Connect with other authors and ask them about any propositions people come at you with – don’t get scammed!

- In the last year, I did not expect to have sold nearly 100 copies. I did not anticipate the incredible and wonderful feedback that I have received. I expected more haters, honestly. I didn’t think my book would become an audio book. I never even considered doing a graphic novel until just the other day.

- When I started this book, I could only see as far as the end of it. By the time I was halfway done, I had already developed most of the plot for the sequel (and thought it would end there). Now I have four books planned out! So, don’t ask me how long this series will be. I’m letting it take the helm and end itself when it is good and ready. Will four be all? Will I go all the way to 10? Who knows? I’m just along for the ride and I hope you are, too!

- I was hoping to receive some fan art by now, but alas, I cannot make it happen.

- Writer’s block sucks! However, I have found that reading other works really helps clear my writer’s block. Maybe that will work for you?

In conclusion: Writing and producing a book is not as simple as many view it to be. It requires, nay, it DEMANDS time and money. Without trying to gloat, it is an impressive accomplishment to produce a book worth a damn. I am incredibly proud of myself as I continue on this path. At times, I let people’s negativity get the best of me. Sometimes I feel like I shouldn’t be writing at all. But when I read the comments and reviews from people who love my work, that’s what really keeps me going. Their positivity fuels my fire. Never give up, and always be your True Self!

Current sales and reviews as of one year:

Amazon sales: 78

Amazon Reviews: 24 (One 1-star; Two 4-star; Twenty-one 5-star!)

Amazon Average Rating: 4.7

GoodReads Reviews: 6 Ratings; 4 reviews (all 5-star)

To add: I have sold about a dozen copies in-person, bringing me to just shy of 100 copies in the first year!