Self-Publishing: Failing

Hello everyone! Sorry about not posting yesterday. I tried to set up my MailChimp mailing list, but it turned out that nothing goes as I expect. They have changed their policies, and now I need to find a new mailing list provider (which doesn’t suck big time. You cannot automate your Welcome email or anything with free MailChimp as was possible in the past.) I’m not sure if I even want to have a mailing list, but all the self-publishers say that it is a must. So, here I am, trying not to suck with this publishing thing, which gets to me into my today’s blog post.

The last couple of days, I have had this persistent thought that I have done everything incorrectly. That I’m failing. That I’m not paying attention to marketing and getting my book out there. That instead of writing, I should have been making more noise about my book. The past year I have concentrated on creating an online presence, and only a fraction has been about my book, Worth of Luck, and it shows on my book sales. All my lack of doing the usual book marketing weighs down on me now as I’m about to launch my new book, and I’m afraid I mess it up because I’m doing all the wrong things. (And I’m too tired to care about the stupid launch guidelines internet is full of.)

Then what do I think are the right things? Ads? But I’m not sure if they work. Some swear by them and say their revenue comes from Amazon ads or Facebook ads (I don’t have a Facebook account, the evil ‘little’ fucker.) I think Twitter advertising is like shouting into the wind. Nothing sticks as there are roofs full of other writers and advertisers making noise. How about Instagram? Don’t get me even started. (Perfect for book bloggers, but for a writer? I’m not sure.) Then the only other way is connecting with readers. Reddit? Blogs? Discord? Goodreads? LibraryThing? You can spread yourself so thin that you fail in all of those accounts. I have been doing Reddit and Goodreads, but I have ignored them at the expense of my blog and twitter, and I think that has been a mistake. But at least, I have tried to be active there. But my biggest mistake is not contacting book reviewers and other lovely people who love to read books and state their opinion about them. Another error is that I haven’t come part of the (some) writing community. To be honest, I don’t know how or where to start. The writing group I got into was a farce.

All comes down to the fact that self-publishing takes a lot out of you. There is some much to do, and only one of you. I thought I understood how much work self-publishing was when I decided it as my path, but I underestimated it and big time. What I didn’t take into account was the life outside writing and publishing. It’s not like you can control every event that will happen to you nor you should. Life gets boring that way. But it’s challenging to find a balance between writing, publishing, and the rest of your life. At the moment, all I want to do is snatch my cat on my table (she is sleeping next to my mouse pad) and head to the couch and take a nap.

All this stress is affecting my writing, which is a bad thing. It’s difficult to let go of this idea of trying to be a superhuman who can be perfect all the time and do everything 24/7. That is impossible. I’m failing because of myself and not because the task is too enormous. We all know it is. But there are ways to get around it, and that is time and task management, and critting enjoying your life every day. And with the enjoyment, I mean realizing that you do the best you can, you have an opportunity to do what you love, and you have a right to take moments of rest, do something goofy, or anything really that makes you happy, (and not feel guilty about it.)

Take care of yourselves! Have a lovely day ❤