Do You Have the Moxie to Self-Publish?

My friend, the author Diana Nixon, is blog-touring for the month of February and I was one of the lucky blog sites she has chosen to visit.  Today, she is talking about the guts and glory of self-publishing, a topic that is near and dear to my indie heart. Please enjoy her thoughts....I sure did.

Day 3.

Hard work of self-publishing

by Diana Nixon

               First of all, I should say that self-publishing isn’t easy. Unlike traditionally published authors, we have to solve all the problems we face on our own. We don’t have agents (though I know that some self-published authors do have them), we need to find editors, cover designers, choose which publisher is better, find the ways to promote our books and find financial support to spread them all over the world.

               The biggest problem I faced while publishing my books was my residence. I live in Belarus and publish my books via Createspace that’s a US company. It complicates matters significantly. For example, when someone asks me to sing a book, he or she needs to send me a copy (or I order it myself) and pay for shipping that not every reader can afford. When I order books for signing, it costs less, because I’m the author and I have a discount. The only thing that disappoints me about Createspace is that they don’t give any free copies for the authors who use their services. We have to pay even for the copies that are not approved yet! I think at least one should have been free:)

Finding a good editor is the main thing everyone should pay attention to. I had the imprudence to publish my first book without proofreading it properly. Thank God, one of my first readers volunteered to help me with the text to make it look better:) I’m not a native speaker, though I write my books in English, I need an editor to edit them for me. I found one on Goodreads that is a great forum for readers and writers. If you need any advice or help with your work, you can always find it there.

               I did the first covers for my books myself. I still do them, but I’ve found a cover designer who creates colorful covers for my books’ Gift editions that are signed digitally and are created especially for those readers who would like to get signed copies.

               When the manuscript is ready and proofread you need to promote your book. And here starts the most interesting part:) Most new authors don’t know what to start with. I suggest starting with creating an official page. Once I wrote a post about my experience in self-publishing where I listed the methods of promotion I used myself. 

You can find it here:

http://diananixon.webs.com/apps/blog/show/20914886-my-experience-in-self-publishing

I created my author pages everywhere I could: on Goodreads, Shelfari, Facebook, Amazon, Lulu. I post about my every step in getting my books ready to be published. I create events and invite my friend to celebrate my new cover or book releases, and I’m sure that commutation is the key to every self-published author’s success:) The more we spread news about our books, the more readers we will find.

               One of the biggest advantages of using Createspace services it that now they sell books in the UK and Europe. Kindle editions are also available in Canada, Brazil, India and Japan. If you know people who can translate your books, or if you can do it yourself, you will find audience everywhere!

               I don’t know if I would be able to work with a publishing house, because despite all the difficulties we face self-publishing our books, we control the whole process of publishing and it’s always hard to lose control over the situation and let someone else decide what to do with your works:)

               If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask them. If I can help you with anything, I always will:)

               Thanks everyone for following my Book tour and a special thanks to Samantha for hosting it!:)

No worries, Diana.  I was so happy to have you on the bloggy.  Be sure and check out Diana's hot new release, the Love Lines series and please stop by all the other blogs as well.  It's a great tour!

Schedule for the Blog Tour

February 1^st – Amina Black’s blog http://www.aminablack.com/

February 2^{nd –} Into my world of reading and writing http://beefranklin.blogspot.com/

February 3^rd  – Samantha Combs writes http://www.samanthacombswrites.blogspot.com/

February 4^th – Rătăcitori în lumea cărţilor http://bookaholic29.blogspot.ro/2013/01/recenzie-68-

moarte-subita-de-jk-rowling.html#uds-search-results

February 5^th – Book Nerds across America http://www.booknerdsacrossamerica.com/

February 6^th – A blog of the author Jason Ellis http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fauthorjellis.wix.com%2Fhollysilverstone%2Fapps%2Fblog&h=vAQFU5xN

 February 7^th – Valsul Fluturilor http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fvalsulfluturilor.blogspot.ro%2F&h=vAQFU5xNC

February 8^th – Curling up with a good book http://curling-up-with-a-good-book.blogspot.com/?m=0

February 9^th – Me. Just me http://bestfriends4ever-group.blogspot.com/

February 10^th – Amina Black’s blog http://www.aminablack.com/

February 11^th – The Cover Contessa http://thecovercontessa.blogspot.com/

February 12^th – The Book Town http://thebooktown.blogspot.ro

February 13^th – The Book Mystress http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thebookmystress.blogspot.com%2F&h=WAQEdQAB5

February 14^th – Aripi pentru a visa http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fspatiulmeupersonal.blogspot.ro%2F&h=WAQEdQAB5

February 15^th – I’m wide awake and I love books http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fi-am-wide-awake.blogspot.com%2F&h=_AQEl8zRg

February 16^th – Nic’s Nominations http://nicsnominations.blogspot.com/

February 17^th – Books and their Wordly realm http://booksandtheirwordlyrealm.blogspot.com/

February 18^th – The Indie Bookshelf http://theindiebookshelf.blogspot.com/

February 19^th – Self publish or die book blog http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.selfpublishordie.com%2F&h=iAQEYtrb5

February 20^th – As you wish book blog http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fasyouwishreviews.blogspot.com%2F&h=mAQFzv8AU

February 21^st – Fantasy World www.fantasy-link.blogspot.ro

February 22^nd – Bibliophile Mystery http://bibliophilemystery.blogspot.com/

February 23^rd – Lady Amber’s Reviews http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fambersupernaturalandya.blogspot.com%2F&h=mAQFzv8AU

February 24^th – A Blue Million Books http://abluemillionbooks.blogspot.com/

February 25^th – Bianca M. Calin’s book blog http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbianca2b.wordpress.com%2F&h=mAQFzv8AU