I've been at this writing lark for a little under two years now and even in that short amount of time it feels like the entire publishing industry has changed so much. When I first decided that I wanted to try and publish, I was under the impression that my only option was to go the traditional route and do the whole agent, then publisher, then years of editing thing.
Frankly, it scared the heck out of me. Not only because it's such a difficult process to begin with but because of the lack of control that I hear writers have over their own work. Then I met all you wonderful bloggers and writers and discovered the world of self publishing. Now it feels like I have all the options in the world. I only need pick one and go for it (Ha! Because it's that easy!)
I've made it my goal this year to publish at least one thing I've written. Being Australian, I think that brings with it a whole different kettle of challenges than it would if I were from say the States or the UK. For a start the market is a lot smaller here and it could take years for a book to prove itself in Australia before international publishing is considered. For another, self publishing hasn't caught on the way it has elsewhere so I still get those blank looks from anyone when I mention Kindle or Kobo or Nook.
I don't even want to delve into the scary world of self marketing, formatting, book covers and everything else that goes with it. I am neither an artist nor an accountant and I am the absolute worst at following any kind of advice unless it is written in easy to follow steps and everything happens exactly as instructed. Not exactly a stellar start point for a writer. But despite all that, I have a dream and I will see that dream to fruition no matter what.
So, I've decided to document my Australian publishing journey on this blog. I will write about everything that I do in order to get my work out there. So that all those writers who come after me don't have to suffer the same kind of anxiety that I have been! And if anyone comes across anything that might help me, please feel free to post it in the comments :)
Watch this space!
So, er, you chose self publishing because it was EASIER? In what way? :)
ReplyDeleteI suppose mostly time wise. It'll take me much longer to through traditional publishing than it will or me to bite the bullet and learn all that is involved in self publishing. Plus I can pay someone to do all the hard stuff for me. I haven't made up my mind yet. I just know I want to either publish this yr or land an publishing deal.
DeleteI love that you're aware of all the challenges and are going after your goals anyway. That's so awesome, Lan!
ReplyDeleteGood luck on your endeavor Lan! Hopefully everything will go as planned :)
ReplyDeleteLan, I think it is so awesome that you are going to do this! I had no idea is was so hard for Aussie writers. Can you sell your books through the regular US Kindle Direct store, or do you have to go another route?
ReplyDeleteI think my books will be available through the usual US store but I don't have access to the sales that the US has and I'm unable to lend anything I've bought. There are probably a lot of other small differences that I'm not aware of too :/
DeleteSelf-publishing has a learning curve for everyone who does it, but if you can learn to write fiction professionally, then you can learn to self-publish. Just look at all the fail that has been self-published because those authors didn't take the time to actually learn to write, but they managed to self-publish their books and promote them just fine. ;)
ReplyDeleteI know absolutely nothing about self publishing but I want to at least say good luck and I know that anything you write is going to be awesome!
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading about it!
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