As of December 2nd, it has been a year since I have been a published author. To mark my one year pub-iversary, someone suggested that I blog about what I have learned during my first year as an author. So here are a several things I learned:
1) Those you expect to support you will not. Although I have heard from other entrepreneurs this would be the case, I was still surprised when it happened for me.
2) Those you least expect to support you will. I was pleasantly surprised when people I hadn’t spoken to in years bought a book.
3) Some people will support you only when they see others are supporting you. Although I am grateful for the support it’s weird to see.
4) I am pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoy going to book fairs/events. I get to meet different people, new readers, and fellow authors. Being an introvert, I thought this was going to be my least favorite thing to do.
5) Writing the book is the easy part. Marketing and thinking of creative ways to promote my book has been challenging to say the least. You can only market so much on social media.
6) A follow up on #5, it may seem easy to market on social media, just click and upload. But you must pay attention algorithms and know your reader.
7) I was surprised by how often I had to read my work when it came back from the editor. Not due to mistakes, but checking and making sure the typesetting, the cover and the font (just to name a few) were correct. Although it’s worth it, it’s tedious and can be redundant.
8) The process is what you make it. It can take 60 days to publish or 6 months. It depends on effort, time, and in my case other responsibilities.
9) There are so many platforms to upload and market a book.
10) As with any industry there are trends, the latest and greatest technologies, etc., but you must know what trend works for you and what you are willing to do. You have to do what is best for you and know every trend will not work for you. The same goes for which social media platforms to post to.
Bonus: The process can be overwhelming, but with the best team, mentors, publishers, and editors, the process can be easier to navigate. I also attended many conferences and did a lot of research before moving forward with publishing.
Overall, I enjoyed the process. I have a group of people that help and support me. As I enter my second year of publishing, I look forward to what’s ahead.
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