10 Things I Wish I Knew Before Self-Publishing

Today I’m going to share some things I wish someone had told me when I started the self-publishing journey!

But first, I’d like to share a little about how I ended up self-publishing…

My Writing Journey

I initially started writing because I wanted to write a fictionalized version of my grandfather’s story—he was born in a concentration camp in Siberia and has a very inspiring story. I first started putting pen to paper during a difficult time in my life with my health—I was basically bedridden and couldn’t work, so I started writing. It was very therapeutic for me. Eventually, I went on to get my MFA in creative writing at the University of Tampa, where I live now. I learned SO much in that program, but I didn’t learn a single thing about how to self-publish!

I wrote a draft of my grandfather’s story, but it was ROUGH. I don’t think I had the skills or historical knowledge to pull it off at that time in my life. It’s something that’s still in the back of my mind, something I’m constantly mulling over how to pull it off, but I turned to other story ideas.

I wrote and polished two different young adult novels that were sci-fi-esque and tried really hard to get an agent and have those published traditionally. Coming from the MFA background, that was really all I knew. I honestly hadn’t read a self-published book until last year. In the MFA community, there’s this idea of self publishing that it’s for books that couldn’t “make it” on the big scene. Now I know that’s not true, but it really kept me from exploring that as an option.

So I wrote one book and then tried to get an agent. I had a list of about 150 different agents that I queried and got rejected by most of them—the rest I never even heard back from! The traditional publishing world is so slow and bizarre in that way. I would get rejections nine months or even a year after querying an agent.

I wrote a second book and did the same song and dance. I really felt good about this book—I knew it was well written and had a very compelling, timely story. I went to NYC and pitched it in person to agents there and it was such a disheartening process. I queried another hundred or so agents and got rejected again.

At this point, it had been seven years of me writing and trying to get a traditional publishing deal with literally nothing to show for it except these books no one was ever going to read.

I was on the brink of giving up—and for whatever reason, I didn’t want to self-publish these books. I felt overwhelmed by the process and the competition in the YA sci-fi market.

How I Began Self-Publishing

I was driving one day with my mother-in-law and she said, “What if you write a horse story?” And I thought, “Yeah I think I have one horse story in me.” I told myself I’d just start writing and see what happens and that first week I wrote like thirty pages of the story. And I knew right then: I’m not doing the traditional publishing thing with this story. I want people to read this story no matter what it takes. I was ready to take that leap of faith and believe in myself enough to step out on my own. I ended up going on a writing retreat one weekend and I wrote an entire rough draft of the story in one weekend.

I wrote that first draft in November 2022, it went to beta readers in November and December, then to an editor at the end of December. We polished it through January and then I published it in March of 2023.

The series is now completed; it’s called Equestrian Dreams. It follows Mila Kozak, her sister Anya and their trainer Trina as they compete and fall in love. Each of the books is really about overcoming fears, letting your walls down, and the thrill of competition and becoming the best version of yourself.

What do I wish someone had told me from the beginning of my self-publishing journey?

1. Find your community. – I didn’t know the first thing about self-publishing. I didn’t know a single person who had self-published! So I did a lot of Internet searching and taking random courses, but I wish I had taken the time to find my community and learn from the people in that community. Now I’m connected with so many people in the Equestrian Fiction community and the Clean Romance Bookstagram community and I can ask questions, get advice, and learn from others who have already done it before.
2. Be okay with making mistakes. – It’s really true that perfection is the enemy of done. I’m such a perfectionist, but that works against me when I’m trying to publish a book because the reality is it’s never going to be perfect.
3. Keep working on your craft. – Writing is never-ending learning. Don’t stop just because you have a book out there! When you read a book, really digest it. What’s working here? What’s not working? Why does this resonate (or not)? Take courses, go to conferences, learn from other writers. Never stop learning.
4. Find a good editor who’s invested in your work. – When I first published my novel, I hired a very good editor but she wasn’t invested. She did the bare minimum. Now I have an editor who is not only an equestrian, but she’s a fan of my work. Which means she’s invested in the outcome of the story! She wants it to be good as much as I do. This is priceless and takes some searching for “the one.”
5. Don’t give up. – You’re going to run into SO. MANY. Pitfalls. Literally every time I publish a book, something goes wrong. It’s just part of life. But don’t give up! Keep pushing through and learn from the mistakes or setbacks for next time.
6. Beware of scammers! – I’ve fallen for a few bookish scams, and it’s heartbreaking. People who promise the moon, but don’t have the credentials. Reviewers who charge you money. Bloggers who want you to pay an arm and a leg for reviews. I had one guy reach out to me from a press release who said he wanted to interview me on this radio show. I thought I’d hit the jackpot – until he asked me for three thousand dollars! There are so many people like this out there unfortunately. Writer Beware keeps track of a lot of them, so if you’re in doubt about whether something is a scam, check there first. Also, as a general rule of thumb: if someone who is supposedly in the publishing community reaches out to you and they have terrible grammar, just pass. It’s probably a scam.
7. Don’t pay for unknown marketing schemes. – I tried ALL sorts of things to market my first book. But it’s better to go with known commodities rather than unknown, risky ones. That’s why I put together a list of ‘known’ bookish email marketers that I trust and that I’ve seen results with. Download the list using the form below.
8. Write a freebie and build your email list. – This is the single best thing I’ve done as a self-published writer. In one year, I’ve gained thousands of email subscribers and tons of committed readers just from my free novella. Use a platform like BookFunnel to build your email list. Make sure to utilize the group promos (sign up for promotions within your niche) and the author swaps.
9. Be intentional about reading reviews. – Read your reviews when you’re in a good head space for it. It takes wisdom to know which negative reviews to take into consideration and which ones to discard. That being said, if multiple reviewers are saying the same things, pay attention! Whether they’re pointing out a strength or a weakness, learn to hone that. The beautiful thing about self-publishing is that you can give readers what they want! When I saw multiple reviews saying, “I wish I’d had Alex’s POV…” I incorporated him more into the second book in the series. Lastly, don’t read reviews when you’re already feeling down. Just…don’t do it.
10. Enjoy the journey! – Don’t get so caught up in your to-do list that you miss out on the journey of publishing a book. It’s a fun adventure!

That’s all for now! I hope you found these self-publishing tips helpful. Don’t forget to download my Trustworthy Book Marketing Sites printable!